Status Check on DACA Protections
By Julie Sparks in DACA | on 2023-05-13 13:58:50
The state of DACA protections is unsteady. If you need any type of immigration help, contact an experienced immigration law firm right away.
Various laws were enacted and regulations enforced in efforts to curb the flow of illegal immigration. Deportation of those in the country illegally stepped up over the years. Children broughted to the U.S. when they were just babies are casualties of these laws.
Many such children are now adults, and they assimilated and lived lives no different from those lawfully here. Because the law requires those here in the U.S. illegally to be deported, many of these children found themselves subject to deportation to countries where they have never lived or know anything about, including the native language. Lawmakers set out to address this issue in recent years.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
There are about 800,000 young adults living in the U.S. who are recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), through which they qualified for temporary protection from deportation and legal work authorization for a renewable period of two years.
DACA cover was one of former President Obama’s signature initiatives. Immediately became a target of the Trump administration for elimination, and the future of DACA was unclear for some time. The Supreme Court saved the initiative in June 2020 when it refused to approve the Trump administration’s abrupt ending of the program.
DACA protections still face a lot of challenges and uncertainties, but it is at least still alive, and those who applied for benefits under the program still get to continue enjoying their protections.
Indeed, on July 16, 2021, Texas federal court Judge Hanen published his opinion on a DACA case. The legality of the DACA policy was once again challenged in federal court. Hanen stated that DACA is not a lawful policy. But for now, he will allow those with existing DACA to continue to renew. However, first-time requests won’t proceed.
So, if you currently have DACA benefits and your work authorization has not expired, your DACA and employment authorization is still in effect, and you are eligible to apply for renewal when the time comes to renew. If you applied for advance parole, the application won’t proceed. We recommend that you consult with an immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative before traveling abroad.
Speak with an Austin DACA Attorney for More Information
For more information about DACA, do not hesitate to reach out to J. Sparks Law, LLC. Please contact me today to schedule your consultation.
Julie Sparks is Board-certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Immigration and Nationality Law, one of a few such attorneys in Texas. After 15 years of practice in this field, she has represented immigrants from more than 70 countries.
Ms. Sparks is a member of the Texas Bar Association and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). Julie has also been a featured speaker at Southwestern Law School and at the national 2015 AILA Fundamentals Conference.
- 15 years of practice in this field.
- She also founded and managed a non-profit organization representing indigent immigrants seeking asylum.
- Julie is a former immigration law instructor at the Pepperdine School of Law in Malibu, California, and California State University – Los Angeles.
