Washington, D.C. — Today, the Center for American Progress is releasing a new analysis of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data highlighting the number of Dreamers who could see their Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections expire in the coming months.
Among the key findings:
- The overall number of people who remain protected by DACA is down.
- Most DACA recipients’ applications are being approved, but applicants are waiting longer before applying.
- More than 100,000 DACA recipients still need to renew their protections before the end of the calendar year, more than one-third of whom hold DACA that expires in October.
In 2017, when the Trump administration announced the end of DACA, it gave individuals whose DACA was set to expire in the next six months just one month to apply for renewal—and more than 75,000 DACA recipients did so. Over the past two years, legal service providers and immigrant rights’ organizations have worked tirelessly to mobilize, creating renewal funds and supporting DACA recipients as they submit their applications. Now, two years after these DACA recipients renewed their protections, they need to do so once again, making this October the biggest test to the renewal infrastructure to date.
“Seven years ago today, the world changed for hundreds of thousands of Dreamers as they received the chance to begin applying for DACA. Now, as a result of the Trump administration’s attempt to terminate DACA, nearly 56,000 individuals could see their protections expire in October,” said Nicole Prchal Svajlenka, senior policy analyst of Immigration Policy at CAP and author of the analysis. “It’s incredibly important that DACA recipients renew their protections before they expire, and that stakeholders such as advocacy groups, service providers, funders, and others get the word out and assist with preparing applications and offsetting costs.”
While there are many reasons DACA recipients might be waiting longer to renew, Svajlenka postulates that it could be due to confusion surrounding the program’s uncertain status. On November 12, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether the Trump administration’s termination of DACA was lawful. Despite this uncertainty, DACA recipients remain legally entitled to renew their protections. DACA recipients who would like information or assistance renewing their protections—and individuals interested in identifying DACA renewal funds to help defray the application costs for eligible Dreamers—should visit https://www.informedimmigrant.com/resource-type/daca/.
Read: “Without Action, More DACA Recipients Than Ever Before Could See Their DACA Expire in October” by Nicole Prchal Svajlenka
Related: Resources on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals By the CAP Immigration Team
For more information on this topic or to speak to an expert, contact Julia Cusick at [email protected] or 202.495.3682.