Department of Homeland Security to Comply with Court Order to Restore DACA

DHS has announced that it has taken steps to comply with the December 4, 2020 federal district court order requiring them to restore the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to its 2012 form.  To learn more about the DACA program please click here.

According to the USCIS website, USCIS will now:

• Accept first-time requests for DACA based on the terms of the program in effect prior to September 5, 2017;
• Accept DACA renewal requests based on the terms of the DACA policy in effect prior to September 5, 2017;
• Accept applications for advance parole documents based on the terms of the DACA policy prior to September 5, 2017;
• Extend one-year grants of deferred action under DACA to two years; and
• Extend one-year employment authorization documents under DACA to two years.

First time DACA applicants and renewal applicants can now submit applications to USCIS. Individuals who were issued one-year DACA benefits under the restrictive Wolf memorandum can expect USCIS to take steps to issue one-year extension evidence in some form. It is possible that DHS could try to terminate DACA before the new president transition. Biden’s team have stated that the DACA program will have priority in their initial days in the office.