On August 30, 2022, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published the final rule to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, strengthening the policy as a federal regulation.
The DACA program allows certain individuals that arrived in the United States as children without legal status to be granted protection from deportation and renewable work authorization for two years. Since DACA was established on June 15, 2012, DACA has allowed more than 825,000 young people to remain in the United States and to make substantial contributions to their communities and the country.
This final rule becomes effective on October 31, 2022, and does the following:
- Maintains the current criteria for DACA eligibility;
- Keeps the current process for DACA applicants to apply for employment authorization;
- Affirms that DACA does not provide lawful status, but allows DACA recipients to be considered “lawfully present” for certain purposes and protected from removal;
DHS clarified that USCIS will consider circumstances when deciding eligibility for, or the termination of, a recipient’s DACA. This means:
- Convictions that have been destroyed, juvenile delinquency decisions and immigration-related offenses that are considered felonies or misdemeanors under state laws will not make an individual automatically ineligible for DACA;
- If a DACA recipient departs from the United States without advance parole authorization, USCIS will consider case circumstances to determine whether to terminate the recipient’s DACA status or to allow continued protection from removal; and,
- USCIS will provide the DACA recipient a Notice of Intent to Terminate before terminating an individual’s DACA, unless the recipient is convicted of a national security offense.
DHS also clarifies that an individual’s work authorization received through DACA ends only when the recipient’s DACA status is terminated, not when deportation proceedings have started.
DHS continues to process DACA renewal requests. However, DHS is unable to accept new, initial DACA requests at this time due to the July 16, 2021 ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
To renew an individual’s DACA, applicants seeking to renew their DACA must file Form I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, and Form I-765WS (I-765 Worksheet) and pay relevant filing fees.
If you have any questions regarding DACA eligibility or renewal, or any immigration related matter, please do not hesitate to contact KILO Immigration, a Sacramento law firm by filling out this contact form.