DACA, also known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provides two things for undocumented immigrants: protection from being deported (under certain conditions) and a work permit. The work permit is valuable for undocummented immigrants as those trying to make a living–which is absolutely necessary–is difficult as undocummented people do not have the necessary identification numbers/permits to be able to work. The DACA program was started in June 2012 by the Obama administration and it has certainly served its purpose, giving work permits to over 643,560 recipients who paid over $9.4 billion in taxes each year.
Additionally, DACA has stringent qualification requirements, such as proving presence from a specific date in 2007 until now, that you came to the US at a certain age, etc. So, it is already difficult to qualify.
But, in July 2021, those who were planning to apply to DACA received bad news: a Texas judge ruled the program unconstitutional. What does that mean? How does it affect undocumented imimmigrants? The ruling prohibits new DACA applications from being processed, but renewals will be processed and accepted. You can send in a DACA application, but they will sit there in processing.
Will this ever change? The answer is that we do not really know. There are efforts to appeal the decision by the Biden administration, so we have to wait for those processes to play out and see where it goes. Historically, DACA has been challenged multiple times. The best advice is to reach out to an attorney who specializes in DACA-related cases to see its status.
This blog post is part of the CIMA Law Group blog. If you are located in Arizona and are seeking legal services, CIMA Law Group specializes in Immigration Law, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, and Government Relations.
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