One of the biggest immigration changes proposed by the White House in recent months is a change to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA is one of the main ways in which undocumented individuals brought to the U.S. as children can defer deportation in order to work or go to school while staying with their families and communities in the United States.
In November, the President issued an executive order making several changes to immigration policies and procedures. Included in the order were changes to DACA.
One of the most notable DACA changes is an increase in the number of people who are eligible for the program. Originally, DACA applied to individuals who were under age 31 as of June 15, 2012 and who had been in the U.S. since before June 15, 2007. Under the new rule, however, there is no age limit – DACA will apply to anyone who was in the United States as of January 1, 2010.
Individuals who receive deferred status under DACA will also have to reapply less often in order to keep their status. Under the original program, DACA deferrals had to be renewed every two years. The new rules require renewal only every three years, as long as the person is a first-time applicant or received a renewal on or after November 24, 2014.
With the White House’s recent announcement of the President’s executive actions on immigration reform, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has announced that immigrants and their experienced Austin, TX immigration attorneys should expect to see many changes in the immigration process in the next few months.