What DREAMers Need to Know About DACA Now
On September 5, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the administration is rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), leaving almost 800,000 people who immigrated to the United States as children open to deportation to countries they may not even remember.
In his speech, he said that the “Department of Homeland Security should began an orderly, lawful wind down, including the cancellation of the memo that authorized this program.” But he did not detail what the plan would entail.
Here, courtesy of the Department of Homeland Security, is what DREAMers need to know about what will happen next with DACA.
- No applications for DACA or for related employment authorization documents (EAD) submitted after September 5 will be accepted.
- Individual current DACA recipients will maintain their deferred action status until it expires, which is generally two years after it was issued. The same goes for their work authorization documents.
- People who submitted DACA requests and renewals as of yesterday (September 5) will have their applications vetted by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Click here to check the status of your pending application.
- Current DACA recipients whose permits are set to expire between September 5 and March 5, 2018, have until October 5 of this year to submit a renewal request, which will be evaluated by USCIS.
- USCIS will not approve any previously or newly submitted advance parole permits—which allow non-citizens to re-enter the United States when they return from traveling abroad—but says it will “generally honor the stated validity period” for previously approved advance parole.
As Business Insider reports, many are concerned that information supplied to the government via DACA applications will be used for by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) deportation efforts in six months. The DHS website says that:
Information provided to USCIS in DACA requests will not be proactively provided to ICE and CBP for the purpose of immigration enforcement proceedings, unless the requestor meets the criteria for the issuance of a Notice To Appear or a referral to ICE under the criteria set forth in USCIS’ Notice to Appear guidance. This policy, which may be modified, superseded or rescinded at any time without notice, is not intended to, does not, and may not be relied upon to create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable by law by any party in any administrative, civil, or criminal matter.