As of this week, a federal court has reinstated the DACA program to its original parameters set during the Obama presidency; new applicants, those who have been a part of the program in the past and current participants are eligible to be granted a two year work permit.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, is an Obama-era program allowing undocumented children who have migrated to the U.S. to be granted temporary legal status and work authorization if they meet certain requirements regarding age, presence in the U.S. and education. With over 800,000 Dreamers, DACA has been an important topic in the struggle for immigrant and migrant rights. Colloquially called “Dreamers,” those who have met the rigid parameters for DACA, are subject to strict deadlines within the program that have frequently changed due to the Trump Administration’s numerous attacks against it.
Almost immediately upon taking office in 2017, the Trump Administration rescinded the program. Challenged in several courts across the duration of the Trump presidency, the program’s survival was uncertain. In lieu of a legal decision made by the courts regarding the DACA program’s future, no new applications to the program were accepted, but previous applicants were allowed to re-apply to the program. In June, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against the discontinuation of the program, citing the tactics the Trump administration used to abolish the program as illegal, but sustaining that if done legally, they had the right to cancel the program. These many changes to DACA had Dreamers concerned about changes to their legal status, as the legal battle waged on. Subsequently on Dec. 8, a federal court in New York ordered the restoration of the DACA program back to its Obama era parameters.
This comes with some new information about DACA for current Dreamers and potential applicants. In a bilingual online presentation on Dec. 10, Catholic Charities and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) covered the requirements for applications, as well as the changes and uncertainties current to the program. Restored to its parameters from its 2012 inception, the program still has age, presence in the U.S., education and good moral standing as requirements.
To be eligible, applicants must have been under the age of 31 as of June 15 2012, migrated to the U.S. by their 16th birthday and be at least 15 years old by the time of filing their request. In addition to age, applicants must show that they have continued to live in the U.S. since June 15 2007 and were physically present in the U.S. on June 15 2012 when the program was first announced.
Applicants can submit this information through school records, leases, monetary records and other documents with their application, showing that they have remained physically present and residing in the U.S. This would mean that all applicants should have about one document per month to every three months throughout the past 13 years proving their residence in order to meet the physical presence requirements.
For the educational requirements, applicants must currently be in school, graduated, have obtained their GED, received a certificate of completion or have been honorably discharged as a veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States. In terms of good moral standing, applicants must show that they have not been convicted as an adult of a felony, significant misdemeanors, more than three misdemeanors and that they do not otherwise pose a threat to national security and public safety.
As the Biden administration enters office in 2021 with the promise of maintaining and possibly expanding DACA, there are still many fights that the Immigrant and Migrant Justice movement has ahead. While DACA grants temporary legal status and work authorization, as a program it has no clear and accessible paths to citizenship for Dreamers. Adhering to the strict parameters defining what it means to be a Dreamer, those in the program are given temporary security with no permanency.
However, Dreamers work in the United States, bolstering its economy, pursuing higher education within the U.S. and paying $5.7 billion in federal taxes and $3.1 billion in local and state taxes in 2019. While important, the DACA program is just one of many programs that must be created and expanded to provide clear, accessible and equitable pathways to citizenship for migrants.