On Sept. 5, 2017, President Trump announced the rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program. DACA was established by the Obama administration in June 2012 as a change to immigration policy that would allow people who entered the country illegally as minors to receive two-year deferments from deportation as well as eligibility for work permits. Since then, around 800,000 people—known as “Dreamers”—have enrolled in the program.
According to information released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the rescission will have several major impacts on immigrants and their families, including:
Current DACA holders will no longer receive deportation protection or have valid work permits after their deferments expire.
People receiving deferred deportation action and work permits via DACA will lose those benefits when they expire two years after their date of issue. At this time, the DHS states that information obtained by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) regarding DACA recipients won’t be passed on to ICE for immigration enforcement proceedings, but the policy is subject to change.
DACA permits expiring Sept. 5, 2017 – March 5, 2018 can be renewed until October 5, 2017.
The DHS indicates that no one will lose benefits under President Trump’s DACA rescission before March 5, 2018. In addition, the DHS says that anyone whose permit is set to expire between Sept. 5, 2017 and March 5, 20178 will be eligible to renew it–but that renewal application must be received by October 5, 2017. From August through December 2017, more than 200,000 DACA permits are set to expire, and 55,258 people have submitted requests for renewal. Around 275,000 are set to expire in 2018 and more than 320,000 will expire in 2019.
As of Sept. 5, 2017, DACA recipients can no longer obtain Advance Parole travel permission.
The USCIS will no longer approve new Form I-131 applications for travel outside the country. However, people whose parole applications were previously approved are likely to retain those benefits until they expire. The USCIS states that it reserves the right to revoke or terminate advance parole documents at any time.
With 800,000+ DACA recipients facing uncertain futures between now and August 2019, it’s more important than ever for immigrants and their families to have the legal protection they need while they’re living in the U.S.