Two organizations are presenting town hall meetings in the Salinas area to clear possible confusion created by recent immigration decisions at the highest levels.
The United Farm Workers union will host a town hall meeting Friday in Greenfield to talk about "deferred action," the decision by the Obama administration to stop deporting undocumented immigrants who came to this country as minors as long as they meet certain conditions.
"There is a lot of happiness and enthusiasm from the community due to the announcement of deferred action," said Diana Tellefson-Torres, executive director of the UFW Foundation, in a statement. "But there is also a lot of confusion."
The confusion stems from another decision reached soon afterward. The U.S. Supreme Court nullified parts of an Arizona law aimed at addressing the issue of illegal immigration, but upheld a provision that allows law enforcement to ask people about their immigration status.
"With these changes, people want to know what their rights are and how the changes will affect the immigrant communities in California," Tellefson-Torres said.
The Mexican government is concerned about people being targets of abuse, so officials decided to launch an information campaign about deferred action, said Nuria Mariné of the Mexican consul in San Jose.
The consulate is sponsoring a Saturday workshop at Hartnell.
"Until Aug. 16, nobody should be sending any application. We don't even know what the requirements are," she said.
Every time news of immigration changes hits the streets, reports of fraud and scams bubble up. Unsuspecting immigrants will be promised quick fixes at hefty prices, only to find out later their entire immigration cases were jeopardized by scammers.
"That's what we're trying to avoid," Mariné said.
Deferred action will be available for people who came to the U.S. illegally before they were 16 years old, have resided continuously here for at least five years, have no criminal record and have graduated from high school or at least obtained a GED.
But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has yet to define what types of offenses could disqualify an applicant, and the rules are scheduled to be announced Aug. 16.
"What attorneys are recommending is for would-be applicants to start gathering their school records, proof that they're good citizens and that they have not left the country," Mariné said.
The UFW town hall meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Friday at Joanna's Restaurant, 104 El Camino Real, Greenfield.
The workshop "The Dream, Documented" will take place 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the cafeteria of Hartnell College, 411 Central Ave., Salinas.
Claudia Meléndez Salinas can be reached at 753-6755 or cmelendez@montereyherald.com.
