How Mexico Helps Pay for Some of Its Citizens to Remain in the U.S.

An immigration program created in 2012 to help people who came to the U.S. at a young age remain in the country longer might have roadblock: money. But a report from NPR pointed out that Mexico is helping with some of this cost, thus allowing its citizens to remain in America.

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The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was announced by the Department of Homeland Security on June 15, 2012, allows "certain people who came to the United States as children and meet several guidelines [to] request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal." According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, these people are eligible to receive work authorization, but it "does not provide lawful status."

According to NPR, fees for this application total about $465 and could be preventing some people from applying for deferred action. Some Mexican consulates in the U.S. have financial assistance to meet this need though.

The Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles, for example, dedicated $250,000 for financial assistance in DACA applications, according to NPR. It has helped more than 260 Mexican citizens with part of their application fees thus far.

As a whole, the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C., is not sure how many consulates have provided financial assistance for DACA, according to NPR.

Julian Escutia with the embassy told NPR that the funds for financial assistance are limited.

"This is on a case-by-case basis," he said. "We are not in the position of assisting all of them financially."

He added that the intent of this assistance is not necessarily to encourage Mexican citizens to live in the U.S. permanently but to help "our nationals wherever they are."

"If it's a program that helps youth to work in this country, well, that helps our nationals, and that helps us," Escutia told NPR.

Listen to NPR's full report about the financial assistance program on its website.

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