This article was prepared with the assistance of ABIL, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers, of which Loan Huynh, Fredrikson Immigration Department Chair, is a member.
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) final rule on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) took effect on October 31, 2022. Under the final rule, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will continue to accept and process applications for deferred action, work authorization and advance parole for current DACA recipients. Due to ongoing litigation, USCIS will continue to accept applications but cannot process initial DACA requests. Current grants of DACA and related employment authorization documents remain valid, USCIS said.
USCIS said the final rule’s implementation “means that DACA is now based on a formal regulation, thereby preserving and fortifying the program while the program remains the subject of litigation in court. Previously, DACA was based on a policy memorandum that then-DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano issued on August 15, 2012.”
Since DACA’s inception in 2012, USCIS noted, the program has allowed more than 800,000 young people “to remain with their families in the only country many of them have ever known and continue to contribute to their communities in the United States.”
