DACA/DAPA
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) offer certain immigrants protection from immediate deportation and other benefits. Learn more about these policies, how they affect America, and our work to strengthen them below.

A Judge Fully Reinstated DACA, but Dreamers Are Still in Danger
A federal judge in New York has overturned the Trump administration’s latest effort to limit the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. DACA temporarily protects certain people without immigration status from deportation and provides them with a work permit. The Trump administration’s previous effort to end the initiative altogether… Read More

Who Is Alejandro Mayorkas? The New DHS Secretary Will Spearhead Biden’s Immigration Agenda
The incoming Biden-Harris administration has announced its choice for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security: Alejandro Mayorkas. If confirmed, Mayorkas will represent several historic firsts for the department—he will be the first Latino and immigrant to lead DHS. This is a significant departure from the… Read More

Federal Court Invalidates Changes to DACA Because Chad Wolf Was Unlawfully Appointed
A judge has ruled that recent changes to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that were a veiled attempt to gut the program are invalid because Chad Wolf—the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—was not lawfully appointed to his position. The federal judge’s decision may signal that… Read More

Statement for the House Committee on Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship Hearing on “Oversight of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services”
The American Immigration Council submitted a written statement to the House Committee on Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship for a July 29, 2020 hearing on “Oversight of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.” The statement shares the Council’s analysis of the true causes of USCIS’s $1.2 billion budget shortfall, including… Read More

Efforts to End DACA Would Destabilize Communities Across America
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released today a memo on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals initiative that would deny all pending and future initial requests for DACA and reject all pending and future applications for advance parole absent exceptional circumstances. It would also shorten DACA renewals and the accompanying work authorization to one-year, rather than a two-year period. Read More

What You Need to Know About the Partial DACA Rescission Memo
After nearly six weeks of inaction following its stinging defeat before the Supreme Court on June 18, the Department of Homeland Security released a memo gutting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. This will set the stage for a full rescission of the initiative in… Read More

The Supreme Court Gave DACA a Lifeline. Now Trump and Congress Need to Create a Path to Citizenship for Dreamers.
The Supreme Court issued its long-anticipated decision in DHS v. Regents of the University of California—the case challenging the administration’s attempt to dismantle the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. The Court ruled on June 18 that the administration did not adequately explain its decision to end… Read More

U.S. Supreme Court on DACA: Blocks Trump’s Cruel Attempt to Upend the Lives of 650,000 Community Members Across America
The U.S. Supreme Court today blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a critical initiative that has offered deportation protection and work authorization to hundreds of thousands of young people who arrived in the United States as children. Read More

DACA Made It Possible For Me to Fight Against COVID-19. The Supreme Court May Soon Make That Impossible.
My name is Sonia Martinez. I am a Certified Nursing Assistant working to help treat patients with COVID-19 at University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, Colorado. I am also one of the 650,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients in the United States today. According to… Read More

If the Supreme Court Terminates DACA, President Trump Can Still Fix It
The coronavirus has disrupted all our lives. Native-born Americans and noncitizens across the United States are experiencing many of the same challenges—the disruptions to day-to-day life, the struggle to find work to provide for their families, and the difficulties in obtaining adequate medical care. But many noncitizens are navigating these… Read More
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