The Philippine Consulate General in New York, in cooperation with the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) and the Filipino-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (FALDEF), held a Town Hall Meeting on August 21 at the Kalayaan Hall of the Philippine Center.
The meeting was held on the occasion of the 29th death anniversary of the late Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. in commemoration of the Senator's belief in the promise and potential of the youth.
Focusing on the just implemented Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Employment Authorization Program (DACA) of the Obama Administration, the event provided an opportunity to enlighten the Filipino-American community on the components of the new policy, the requirements for availment of the DACA, and the ways by which Filipino-Americans can assist members of the Filipino-American community who may be covered by the program.
In welcoming guests to the town hall meeting, Philippine Consul General to New York Mario de Leon stated that this initiative is part of the Consulate's mandate to help in providing timely and responsive information to the Filipino community on this historic immigration initiative. He likewise thanked NaFFAA and FALDEF for lending their expertise and time to this initiative.
FALDEF and NaFFA likewise introduced a platform called Providing Access to Hope for Dreamers (PATH) which would enable Filipino-American community members to either endorse potential DACA applicants or volunteer in helping to pre-process or review potential DACA petitions under the guidance of the FALDEF.
The PATH is a project supported by the Consulate as a means to provide a platform or program where Dreamers will be given accurate, sound, timely, and free legal advice on the filing of their DACA petitions with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). This is also to ensure that Filipino DACA petitioners do not fall prey to unscrupulous immigration facilitators.
Atty. Merit Salud, NaFFAA Chair for Region 1, encouraged the Filipino-American community to take part in the PATH initiative as part of a unique community-based approached to helping young Filipinos who may want to avail of the benefits of DACA.
FALDEF president, Atty. JT Mallonga, likewise explained the finer points of the DACA policy including the qualifications, procedures as well as a cost-benefit analysis for all potential applicants.
An open forum followed the presentations on the PATH and the DACA.
FALDEF and NaFFAA with the support of the Consulate issued a call for Filipino community associations to take part in this ground-breaking initiative and to volunteer their respective facilities as possible DACA processing centers.
The initial DACA-PATH processing intake/clinic of FALDEF and NaFFAA will take place at the Philippine Center on August 24. Other Town Hall Meetings and DACA legal clinics are being planned in other areas with a large concentration of potential DACA applicants.
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