Delays in DACA renewals leaving some recipients in limbo
Some DACA recipients say their renewals are taking much longer to process than in previous years, putting their immigration status and livelihood in jeopardy as they wait.
“It’s no longer something that really feels safe,” said Em, a mental health therapist who lives in San Diego and has had DACA for nine years. “I’m kind of in this limbo at all times of, ‘What’s going to happen next?’”
DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival, is the policy enacted under President Barack Obama to provide work authorization and protection from deportation to undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
There are more than 500,000 DACA recipients across the U.S., with about 7,850 in the San Diego area alone as of last fall, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency under the Department of Homeland Security that processes those renewals.
Recipients must renew every two years and remain in good standing with no criminal history. In the past, that renewal process has typically taken a few weeks, but has recently stretched into several months, some still pending past the expiration date, causing recipients to then also lose their jobs without proper employment authorization.
Em submitted their renewal in February, four months before it ends in June. They’re still waiting and now having conversations with management at both of their two jobs about the uncertainty.
“I've already been talking with my employers and saying, you know, like, ‘Will you wait for me?’ Em said. “And I tell them I don’t know how long it’s going to be.”
“Under the leadership of President Trump, USCIS is safeguarding the American people by more thoroughly screening and vetting all aliens,” USCIS Spokesman Zach Kahler said in a statement, when asked about the delays.
“DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country,” the statement continued. “Illegal aliens claiming to be recipients of DACA are not automatically protected from deportation. Any illegal alien who is a DACA recipient may be subject to arrest and deportation for a number of reasons, including if they committed a crime.”
Advocacy groups and members of Congress say they’ve seen huge upticks in requests for assistance with all kinds of immigration casework, including DACA.
“What we're seeing is people really scrambling,” said Alondra Alvarez, a community educator with non-profit organization Universidad Popular, who helps North County residents navigate the immigration system. “Slowing down this application review process is putting people in very direct economic instability, really ensuring that people are living in fear. And I think that's the point.”
“You're also looking at a loss of their health insurance, of their dental plans,” Alvarez continued. “You're looking at families that don't have enough to pay rent now, families that can't buy groceries now because breadwinners... are not being allowed to work, because they don’t have DACA anymore.”
“I think it’s heartbreaking,” said Rep. Scott Peters. “These are, by definition, the people we want to be our neighbors.”
Peters said in recent months, his office’s immigration casework has doubled, with staff advocating for constituents with USCIS on an individual basis.
“It shouldn’t be like pulling teeth. We should not have to do a letter for every single one of these renewals,” Peters said. “It shouldn't be an ad hoc thing. It should be something that we do as a country.”
Congress twice considered but did not pass the DREAM Act, the fate of DACA has swung under each administration. In a lawsuit challenging the program, a federal appeals court last year upheld a decision finding that parts of DACA were unlawful, ruling that the federal government does not have to accept new applications, but must allow current recipients to continue to renew.
“He’s going around that by dragging his feet,” Peters said. “This is part of a larger, anti-immigrant agenda for the Trump administration.”
“This should be the easiest immigration problem to solve,” he continued. “The fact that they've been jerked around like a political football, I think, as they say, it's really, really shameful for us and really, really terrible for them.”
Em was brought to the U.S. from Mexico at age 3 and said they feel “sadness and grief” at the idea of possibly being deported.
“I mean, all I've known is California. All I’ve known is my life here,” said Em. “So to think of anything outside of that… brings a lot of a lot of fear of the unknown, a lot of anxiety.”