DACA UPDATE -- A Federal Court has ordered that Immigration Accept DACA applications again. (December 2020)

What is DACA?   Lets review!  
The DACA program was established under the Obama administration in 2012 to provide work permits and temporary legal status to qualified young people who came to the country as kids but never had legal permission to be in the U.S.  Under the program, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would not deport certain undocumented youths.  DACA applicants are granted a type of temporary permission to stay in the U.S. called “deferred action.” The Obama administration called this program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.
The Trump administration attempted to terminate DACA in September 2017, which effectively cut off any new applicants to the program and kicked off a years long legal battle between DACA supporters and opponents.
In June 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that blocked the administration’s attempts to end the program. Days later, the Department of Homeland Security issued an illegal memorandum outlining new rollbacks of the program, including a continued prohibition on new applications and the reduction of renewal permitting from two years to one.  Finally on December 4th, a federal  court in New York insisted that the government fully restore the program as it was when announced in 2012. 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/daca-restored-dreamers/2020/12/04/37254908-367a-11eb-8d38-6aea1adb3839_story.html

DACA applications are now being accepted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
This is Great news!!!  Contact us for more information about eligibility and how to apply.

What are the Eligibility Requirements for DACA?
To be eligible for deferred action under the DACA program, you must:

• Have come to the United States before your sixteenth birthday.

• Have lived continuously in the U.S. since June 15, 2007, and up to the present time

• Have been present in the U.S. on June 15, 2012, in undocumented status;

• Be at least 15 years old at the time you apply for DACA.

• Have graduated or obtained a GED or certificate of completion from high school or currently “be in school”

• Have not been convicted of a felony offense or significant misdemeanor

• Not pose a threat to national security or public safety.

How many people were eligible for DACA?
1.3 million young people were eligible for the program.
Other facts about DACA
DACA recipients came to the United States from all over the world, representing almost approximately 150 different birth countries, but approximately 80% of them were born in Mexico. The states with the largest DACA populations are California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois.

The average DACA recipient arrived in the United States at age 7 and has lived here for more than 20 years. Because DACA required children to have arrived in the U.S. five years before its 2012 implementation (June 2007), younger Dreamers are not eligible for DACA. As the DACA recipient population has aged, a growing number have become parents. Currently, DACA recipients are parents to more than 250,000 U.S. citizen children.

*The government has never defined security or public safety threat, however gang activity seems to be included. Please contact an attorney if you believe you might have an eligibility problem due to crime or security issues.
For more information, see - https://www.nilc.org/issues/daca/faqdeferredactionyouth/
And https://immigrationforum.org/article/fact-sheet-on-deferred-action-for-childhood-arrivals-daca/#:~:text=There%20are%20as%20many
%20as,are%20currently%20protected%20
under%20DACA.

WARNING: Do NOT take advice about your immigration case from a notary public or an immigration consultant. Contact ONLY a qualified immigration lawyer or a trusted community group legal advice about your case. A directory of legal service providers in your area is available at https://www.immigrationlawhelp.org/.