TWO SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS IN US IMMIGRATION LAW
EXECUTIVE ORDER BY PRESIDENT ALLOWS FOR TEMPORARY RELIEF FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
WITHOUT IMMIGRATIONSTATUS
More significant news occurred on June 15, 2012 when President Obama, by Executive Order, announced
that, effective immediately, individuals brought to the United States as children who do not pose a risk to
national security or public safety and meet other key criteria will be eligible to receive “deferred action.”
Deferred action stays any removal procedures and provides eligible individuals with the right to apply for an
employment authorization document (“EAD”). This new policy applies to eligible individuals who are not in
removal proceedings, as well as individuals with final orders of removal and to those who have never been
placed in removal proceedings. The grant of deferred action is for a two year period and is subject to
renewal.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services has advised that it will take 60 days to implement a formal
application process for eligible individuals. Core criteria for eligible applicants include:

• Be 15-30 years old, and have entered the USA before age 16
• Have been present in the USA for 5 years as of June 15, 2012
• Have maintained continuous residence
• Have not been convicted of one serious crime or multiple minor crimes
• Be currently in school, graduated or have a GED, or is an honorably discharged veteran

There are close to 800,000 young people present in the USA and for all intents and purposes are
“American”, and may be eligible to receive this benefit. These individuals will also add further innovation,
creativity and growthto our US economy. It is important to note that deferred action provisions are not an
amnesty, nor currently a route to US citizenship. In the absence of substantial immigration reform from
Congress to fix our broken immigration system, the deferred action provisions provide a path to
undocumented young people to regularize their status and become productive members of American
society.
E2 VISA PROGRAM NOW AVAILABLE FOR ISRAELI INVESTORS
One June 8, the President signed a bill into law allowing Israeli investors to apply for the E2 visa, which lets
beneficiaries live and work in the USA for an extended period of time in order to oversee a major
investment in the United States. The bill was approved in Congress on May 31.
In order to qualify for an E-2 visa, the applicant must either have invested, or be in the process of investing
a substantial amount in the United States. The majority of the foreign investing enterprise must be owned
by nationals of a country that has entered into a treaty with the United States that provides reciprocal
benefits for traders and investors. The enterprise’s principal investors and those foreign employees
seeking admission under the E-2 program must be nationals of the qualifying treaty country. Although E-2
beneficiaries are granted an initial two year period of stay, this period can be extended almost indefinitely.
While Israel has, for many years, held E-1 Treaty Trader status, the new E2 provisions will likely allow for
significant investment in high tech companies, IT companies, chemical and other endeavors in the USA.