More than 3,000 undocumented Connecticut youth have applied to shield themselves from deportations, and nearly 70 percent of them have obtained provisional legal status, a study says.
A new report from the Brookings Institution says a year after President Obama used his executive authority to halt deportations of undocumented children, more than 435,000 youths applied for “deferred action for childhood arrivals,” — 3,069 of them in Connecticut.
Using information gathered through a Freedom of Information request, the report said nearly 75 percent of applications nationwide have been approved.
About 24 percent were in processing and only one percent denied.
The approval figure was lower in Connecticut. About 69 percent or 2,127 applications were approved.
Audrey Singer, author of the report, said the lower approval rate in Connecticut does not mean youths in the state are less likely to win approval of their applications.
“The most likely reason for this is that this is a program without a deadline and a lot of applications are still in the pipeline,” Singer said.
The DREAM Act, a bill that has had trouble winning congressional approval, would give undocumented children legal status. Obama’s action does not do so. But it gives approved applicants two important advantages — temporary suspension of deportation and the right to work in the United States.