DACA Update

Last September, the Trump administration designated March 5, 2018 as the start of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) phase-out.

Last night, a U.S. District Court judge in San Francisco issued an injunction blocking the administration’s rescission of the DACA program. Unless overturned by a higher court, the legal order would allow DACA enrollees to renew their status. The Trump administration will likely challenge the ruling and, should it be overturned, the March 5 deadline would continue as originally announced.

Prior to yesterday’s ruling, President Trump and a number of bipartisan leaders in Congress met to negotiate terms of a potential agreement on a legislative solution. Reports indicate that the meeting principally focused on DACA and three immigration policy areas: border security, family-based immigration, and the diversity visa lottery program.

If yesterday’s ruling is overturned and a new policy isn’t implemented before March 5, individuals (also known as “Dreamers”) currently enrolled in the program will begin to see their protected status and work authorization expire on a rolling basis. An estimated 1,700 people will begin to lose their DACA status each day. In fact, some Dreamers who were not able to renew their status during the one-month window provided last fall are losing their protections even before March 5.

APLU’s top priority remains that, at a minimum, the deferred protection and work authorization afforded through the DACA program continue uninterrupted. We continue to communicate to Congress and the administration the urgency of action to support Dreamers.