On Living off the Grid and Legalization

Alexandra Starr, A Catch for Undocumented Immigrants in Recent Reforms, touches on a problem that is arising with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that previously arose with the “amnesty program” of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and is likely to be a problem with any path to legalization program:  “Years of hiding mean squeaky-clean youths out of school don’t have the paper trail to prove they’ve been in the U.S.. Those with infractions on their records can be better off.”  Put differently, effectively living off the grid — or in the so-called shadows — makes it difficult to prove presence in the United States.  This will be an issue with respect to the implementation of any legalization program.

KJ