DACA moving forward but with challenges

By Mayra Becerra

The celebration of the June 18th Supreme Court ruling in favor of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) did not last long. In this ruling, the Supreme Court declared that the United States Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS) must go back to its original stance on DACA which includes accepting new applications, granting advanced parole, and continuing the same renewal process for DACA recipients. 

As DACA recipients let out a sigh of relief, many future applicants were working hard getting their paperwork in order to be able to submit their initial applications after years of limbo in the program.  Lawyers, organizations, and advocates continued to work diligently to help submit DACA renewals while advising future applicants to gather all their necessary documents for when USCIS will give a date of when they would begin to process new applications. 

Nevertheless, the current presidential administration worked to attack the program once again by attempting to prevent new applications from advancing.USCIS instead released a statement on July 28th, not only rejecting the courts’ ruling, but also limiting current DACA recipients’ deferred action to 1 year instead of the standard of 2 years that was in place until now. Some of the key changes to DACA are as follows:

• USCIS will reject all initial requests for DACA and associated applications for Employment Authorization Documents
• USCIS will reject new and pending requests for advanced parole, absent exceptional circumstances
• USCIS will limit the period of renewed deferred action granted pursuant to the DACA policy to one year

With this announcement, DACA recipients will now have to pay a fee of $495 every year in order to renew their application. Organizations like Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative, United Farm Workers Union, among others, are offering aid with DACA renewal applications and some continue to offer financial assistance for applicants.

 If you or someone you know needs to renew your DACA application make sure you submit it 6 months prior to expiration date. For more information and assistance on processing DACA applications you can contact the following organizations:

• California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, 559-486-6278
• Centro La Familia Advocacy Services , (559) 237-2961 
• Education & Leadership Foundation,  (559) 291-5428 
• Kids in Need of Defense, (559) 240-4184
• Services Immigrant Rights & Education Network, (559) 840-0005
• UFW Foundation, (559) 496-0700