Campaign Action
Without so much as an official press release, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) quietly began accepting Deferred Action for Childhood (DACA) renewals this past weekend after a federal judge ruled that Donald Trump’s decision to end the program last year was "arbitrary" and "capricious,” and ordered the administration to resume accepting some applications:
The agency said on Saturday that people who were previously granted deferred action under the program could request a renewal if it had expired on or after Sept. 5, 2016. People who had previously received DACA, but whose deferred action had expired before Sept. 5, 2016, cannot renew, but can instead file a new request, the agency said. It noted that the same instructions apply to anyone whose deferred action had been terminated.
But according to the New York Times, “officials also said they were not accepting requests from individuals who have never been granted deferred action under DACA.” Additionally, the National Immigration Law Center warned that “this might be a short window to file DACA renewals, given that the Trump administration is likely to appeal the court ruling that forced them to reopen renewals in the first place.”
While a victory for undocumented immigrant youth and their allies, the judge’s ruling coupled with the administration’s secretive actions—“it is completely unacceptable for USCIS to begin accepting DACA renewals without so much as a press release,” tweeted the Congressional Hispanic Caucus—make it clear that DACA protections remain fragile under this administration. Another thing is clear: what immigrant youth need is permanent protections in the form of the DREAM Act, and now. Make a call to your members of Congress today and call on them to stand with Dreamers.