Immigration

CDF Celebrates District Judge’s Ruling that DACA Must be Reinstated

December 8, 2020 | National

Following years of anti-immigrant policies and continuous threats to DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), we are excited to celebrate a win for DACA recipients and their families!

DACA offers work authorization and temporary relief from detention or deportation for individuals who arrived to the US as children. This work authorization protects thousands of people who have grown up in the US, contributed to their communities, and started families. Since 2017, the Trump administration has continued to threaten DACA and these families. 

This summer, the Supreme Court rejected the administration’s attempt to terminate DACA. However, rather than reinstating DACA following this decision, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a memo to prevent new DACA applications and limit DACA renewals to one year rather than two years. 

On Friday, a district judge in New York ruled that this memo is invalid and DHS must reinstate DACA immediately. This means DHS is now required to restore DACA to its original form: anyone that is eligible for DACA can now apply for the first time and anyone who received only a one year renewal will now automatically have their protections extended to two years. 

Though we must remain vigilant and continue to pursue justice for DACA recipients over the coming weeks, we are excited to celebrate this victory. DACA recipients and their families deserve protection and security: this ruling is a meaningful step in undoing many of the continuous threats to the safety and wellbeing of DACA recipients and the quarter of a million children of DACA recipients.

Find out more about how Friday’s ruling impacts DACA here.