Federal judge restores DACA, orders DHS to accept first-time applications from immigrants
Dec 4th, 2020
Thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children are immediately eligible to apply for an Obama-era program that grants them work permits, a federal judge in New York ruled Friday.
U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis in Brooklyn said he was fully restoring the eight-year-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program to the days before the Trump administration tried to end it in September 2017. He ordered the Department of Homeland Security to post a public notice by Monday to accept first-time applications and ensure that work permits are valid for two years.
Effective December 7, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is:
- Accepting DACA renewal requests based on the terms of the DACA policy in effect prior to September 5, 2017, and in accordance with the Court’s December 4, 2020, order;
- Accepting applications for advance parole documents based on the terms of the DACA policy prior to September 5, 2017, and in accordance with the Court’s December 4, 2020, order;
- Extending one-year grants of deferred action under DACA to two years; and
- Extending one-year employment authorization documents under DACA to two years.
DACA Updates & Information
Jessica Hernandez, Program Manager for Immigration Legal Services at Catholic Charities Dallas breaks down the latest information about the DACA updates.
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Ready to get started?
Please complete the questionnaire if you are interested in an initial consultation for DACA and we will schedule you an appointment for an online screening.
DACA Requirements:
- You entered the US before June 15, 2007 and have lived here since
- You came to the US before your 16th birthday
- You were under 31 years old on June 15, 2012
- You are currently enrolled in school or graduated High School
Complete the form to get started. Be sure to answer all six questions. Our immigration legal services team will follow up with you via phone or email.
What is DACA?
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals with unlawful presence in the United States after being brought to the country as children to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for a work permit in the U.S. To be eligible for the program, recipients cannot have felonies or serious misdemeanors on their records.
