Did you Know? DACA is Back!

DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and was an executive order passed in June 15, 2012 by the Obama administration. DACA shields immigrants brought to the United States as children (and without documents) from getting deported and provides them with work permits. 

These recipients are also known as DREAMers, referring to the DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act. The DREAM Act was first introduced to Congress in 2001 to provide a pathway to citizenship for immigrant youth. Unfortunately, Congress didn’t pass it, leading to the creation of DACA.

Since DACA was created through an executive order, presidents after Obama had the authority to repeal it at any time. This is exactly what happened on October 5, 2017; DACA was repealed by the Trump administration. Because of this action, multiple lawsuits followed and even reached the Supreme Court, who on June 2020, ruled that the Trump administration had illegally terminated DACA. However, the lawsuits continued because first-time applicants were still being denied the opportunity to apply.

Surprisingly, on Friday December 4, 2020, a Federal Judge in the District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled that USCIS must accept new applications. These applications will be decided based on the terms of the DACA policy in effect prior to its attempted termination on September 5, 2017.