It’s been about 12 hours since the US Supreme Court announced their decision about DACA. The happiness buzz has been incredible – we haven’t had much good news regarding immigration lately! What does it all mean?
It means that DACA recipients can live without fear for the immediate future. It means that USCIS needs to start accepting new applications (for the last three years, they’ve only been accepting renewals) and it should mean that they should start accepting Advance Parole (authorized international travel) applications for DACA recipients. We are anxious and ready to begin filing these applications!
As a reminder, to apply for DACA, applicants must:
- Have to have been born after June 15, 1981
- Have come to the US before they were 16
- Have lived in the US since June 15, 2007
- Must be at least 15 years old to apply
- Be in school, have a GED or HS diploma
- No major criminal issues and no DUIs
DACA still isn’t a permanent solution to immigration status. It’s a band-aid and we still need Congress to act and make a path to citizenship for the over 800,000 DACA recipients. DACA does not lead to a green card (though it can be part of the steps in some cases).
Is DACA safe? It is for now, but the Supreme Court said that their decision wasn’t about whether or not DACA legal – it was about how the program was terminated. President Trump could start the process to legally terminate the program, but it would take many months and it would not be done by January 2021, when his term ends. If he’s re-elected, then I think we have more to worry about.
If you have questions or want to apply, let us know! We are THRILLED to be able to continue to help people apply for DACA.
-Tracie