As of July 2021, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program no longer receives new applications.
A ruling by a federal judge in Brooklyn, New York, has denied an injunction that sought to allow new DACA applications to be processed. This amparo sought to reverse the decision of the Texas federal judge, who in July of last year determined the illegality of DACA and suspended the processing of new applications. However, the Brooklyn judge's decision does not affect all Dreamers.
In this sense, current DACA beneficiaries, with their current permit, continue to enjoy the benefits of the program. For example, the possibility of working legally, accessing university benefits in some states, protection from being deported and even the possibility of traveling outside the country with a special permit.
However, there are three specific groups of Dreamers that will be affected after the denial of the protection. First, undocumented youth who were eligible for DACA but never applied or were beneficiaries.
Later, there are the Dreamers who have never been DACA beneficiaries, but they did apply and their application could not be processed due to the situation that occurred in July of last year. And finally, the people who had DACA at one time, but for some reason did not renew their permit on time.
It is estimated that around 100,000 Dreamers will be affected by this new bug. Currently the DACA situation has various options for its resolution, first, the decision of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has not yet issued a ruling on DACA. Likewise, it is hoped that both the executive and the legislature can do something to strengthen the DACA program.
