The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Jan. 13 that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will again accept renewal requests for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) as a result of a federal court order.
“Individuals who were previously granted deferred action under DACA may request renewal by filing Form I-821D (PDF), Form I-765 (PDF), and Form I-765 Worksheet (PDF), with the appropriate fee or approved fee exemption request, at the USCIS designated filing location, and in accordance with the instructions to the Form I-821D (PDF) and Form I-765 (PDF),” the announcement stated. “USCIS is not accepting requests from individuals who have never before been granted deferred action under DACA.”
A federal judge from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that until a case challenging the Trump administration on its suspension of the DACA program is decided, DACA renewals must continue.
The announcement is clear that those whose DACA status expired before Sept. 5, 2017, are not eligible for the renewal, but those individuals can submit an initial DACA request.
“Deferred action is a discretionary determination to defer a removal action of an individual as an act of prosecutorial discretion,” the release stated. “Further, deferred action under DACA does not confer legal status upon an individual and may be terminated at any time, with or without a Notice of Intent to Terminate, at DHS’s discretion.”
The Justice Department is expected to respond and again try to suspend DACA moving forward.
This comes on the heels of a row last week when Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called President Trump a racist and said he used the term “s—hole” to describe Haiti and Africa in a closed-door meeting on immigration at the White House. The president said he used strong language in the meeting but denied saying what Durbin alleged. Over the weekend, Sen. David Purdue (R-Ga.), who was at the meeting as well, said the president didn’t use the term and called Durbin’s allegations a “gross misrepresentation” of what was said.
Read the DHS press release here.