DACA , or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is currently at the center of the standoff playing out on the Senate floor that could lead to a government shut-down over the weekend. DACA, a program implemented by President Obama in 2012, permits immigrants who were brought to the United States as children by their families to live and work legally in the U.S. DACA currently protects about 800,000 young immigrants from deportation. The Trump White House repealed the order in September of last year, and gave Congress a deadline of March to come up with a legislative fix.
Senate Democrats and a handful of Republican Senators want a spending bill that includes a long term fix for DACA. With the high-profile deadline to shut down the government looming, Democrats are hoping to force the Trump administration to finally take a stand for the thousands of young immigrants, also known as Dreamers, who received protection under DACA.
The Senate standoff comes just a few days after the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a nationwide order that provisionally requires USCIS acceptance and adjudication of DACA renewal applications until a final decision is reached on the case. This order came almost four months to the day after the Trump Administration announced plans on September 5th of last year to end DACA. Under the announcement made in Sept, USCIS accepted renewal requests through Oct. 5, 2017 for those recipients whose DACA and work authorization expired between Sept. 5, 2017 and March 5, 2018.
The latest order, which is from a District Court and can be overturned by higher courts, provisionally requires USCIS acceptance and adjudication of DACA renewal applications. This order appears to apply only to renewal applications and does not require USCIS to resume accepting new initial applications or applications for advance parole. In response to the order, the Department of Justice has reconfirmed its position on the termination of DACA.
If you are looking for affordable way to renew your DACA status, let InStepp Inc. help you. Our agency, which is recognized by the Department of Justice to provide low-cost immigration legal services in the Triangle area, is helping to transform the lives of individuals and families in the Triangle area through its Immigration Legal Services Program. Call the InStepp office at 919.680.800 for more information or contact us via our online form.