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Yesterday, in yet another attack against the security of young immigrants in this country, the Trump Administration took the next steps in its years long quest to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program. In response to the June 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that the administration’s 2017 rescission of DACA was unlawful, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a memorandum that guts the DACA program.
It does this by refusing to accept new DACA applications and by reducing the time DACA is granted for renewal applications from two years to one. DHS signaled that this policy memo is the first step in the Trump Administration’s goal of permanently ending the DACA program, stating “the DACA policy, at a minimum, presents serious policy concerns that may warrant its full rescission.”
“This is a huge blow to the 6,000 plus DACA recipients in SC, their families, and the thousands of young people across this country who thought, just last month, that the Supreme Court had given them a path to pursuing their dreams in this country” says SC Appleseed’s Immigration Policy Attorney, Louise Pocock. DHS’s new DACA policy closes the door to the thousands of young people who have been waiting since 2017 for the chance to apply to be protected from family separation and economic insecurity.
Given the Trump Administration’s commitment to throwing away our country’s investment in Dreamers and their families by ending DACA, now more than ever, Congress must pass legislation to protect Dreamers and create a path to citizenship for them.
DACA United SC and SC Appleseed are partnering to help eligible South Carolina DACA recipients renew their DACA. If you have DACA or have ever had DACA in the past, you may be eligible to renew. Schedule an appointment today to get free help to renew your DACA status. DHS is expected to increase fees for DACA renewals soon, so we encourage people who are eligible to renew now.
