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LAUSD Parents Warned About Potential Immigration Scams

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A warning is being sent out to Los Angeles Unified School District parents about scams related to President Barack Obama's executive order on immigration, district officials said Tuesday.

A letter signed by representatives of LAUSD, the Service Employees International Union and United Teachers Los Angeles is being sent to parents advising them to be cautious of "so-called 'notaries' and dishonest lawyers (who) prey on the hopes of individuals and families seeking a better life" and to turn to trusted resources for guidance and information on the application process.

Obama announced an executive order last month to protect roughly 5 million people living in the country illegally from deportation, while ordering border authorities to target "felons, not families."

The order will allow immigrants who are the parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents to request relief from deportation and authorization to work for three years. To qualify, they must have been in the country for more than five years, pass a criminal background check, pay fees and show that their child was born prior to the issuance of the executive order.

The executive order will also expand on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which protects immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children, by removing the upper age limit of 30. The DACA program will also be amended to offer three years of protection from deportation, up from the previous two years.

As the second-largest school district in the nation, it is estimated that thousands of current and former LAUSD students may qualify for relief under Obama's expansion of DACA.

Many parents of children enrolled in LAUSD schools may also qualify under Deferred Action for Parental Accountability.

(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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