On June 15, 2022, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) will mark 10 years of its anniversary since immigrant youth won the program. The administrative relief program offered eligible youth without papers who entered the country prior to 2007, and later 2012, protection from removals and deportation, receive a work permit, attain a driver’s license and attend college.
In order to qualify for the program, the applicant must be at least 15 years old and younger than 31 while residing continuously in the U.S. prior to June 15, 2012, applicant must also have attended high school or received a GED and must not have committed a misdemeanor or felony.
More than 640,000 immigrants are currently enrolled in the program.
Although DACA was a welcomed relief at the time of its announcement, it is noticeably clear that DACA has never been enough and on the 10th year of its anniversary, DACA should be able to pave ways to permanent protections for millions of immigrants in the United States.
For years, immigrant communities have lived in limbo and uncertainty through Band-Aid solutions to the festering wounds of documentation and immigration status. The ongoing fight surrounding DACA exemplifies why temporary solutions are not enough and can have harmful impacts in the long run. This is why immigrant communities have been advocating, organizing, and mobilizing to win and protect DACA, yet it still remains at risk under Republican attacks, with some questionable changes, in the face of continued court challenges exposing millions more immigrants to face the threat of detention and deportation without any form of protection.
The Trump administration attempted to terminate the program, temporarily pausing any new applicants, while US Citizenship and Immigration Services has kept applicants’ $495 application fees without taking other steps to process applications. After the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to uphold DACA, the new application window reopened temporarily. But its long-term status remains in doubt after a Texas federal district court declared the program unlawful last year which closed the doors for anyone not already enrolled in the program. There are thousands of immigrant youth currently left out of the program and over 89,000 with their DACA renewals currently delayed.
No solution short of access to permanent solutions will address the crisis the DACA program continues to face. Immigrants are tired of temporary solutions. Biden and his administration have had the power for over a year to prioritize the safety of the over 11 million undocumented people in this country. Biden and Congress have the power to take immediate action and deliver for the DACAmented communities and the immigrant community at large.
Please take action by demanding the Biden administration and Congress protect the hard-fought and won program. After a decade of temporary relief, DACA is still being attacked in the courts, and nearly 2 million deportations, and no pathway to citizenship, immigrant communities need the permanent security and protections to keep their families together and continue to build their lives here in the United States.
Can you add your name to this petition? Call on President Biden and Congress to lead and deliver permanent protections now.
