Immigrant Rights Issues & Defend DACA

DACA in 2022

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Batalla Vidal case in New York: On August 3, 2022, proposals to open up DACA remained unfinalized and congressional action regarding immigration was at a standstill. Due to this, a group of Batalla Vidal plaintiffs (“a nationwide class of all those who hold DACA or are DACA eligible”) pleaded to New York courts to relieve the approximately 100,000 individuals who held first-time DACA applications that were pending when a Texas federal court stopped the government from granting first-time applications in July 2021. However, their applications remained stalled even after the New York court allowed the government to reopen DACA applications in December 2020.

The discrepancy between the New York order and Texas order allowed for a “gap” in the legislation and the possibility for the New York court to offer relief to the 100,000 first-time DACA applicants whose applications were in limbo. However, the New York court denied the plaintiffs’ motion on August 3, 2022.

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On August 24, 2022, the Biden administration released a “finalized” version of a rule that will codify and fortify DACA. The rule keeps most of Obama’s 2012 program regulations intact. “To be eligible for DACA, a person must have entered the U.S. before turning 16, have lived in the U.S. continuously since June 15, 2007, were not yet 31 years old on June 15, 2012, have either completed high school or received a GED, been honorably discharged from the U.S. armed forces, or be enrolled in school, and have no felony or serious misdemeanors on their record.” Many people have inquired about shifting the required entry date into the United States forward so that younger people who would be otherwise eligible for DACA could apply for the program.

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On October 5, 2022, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (presides over districts in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas) renewed its decision on the legality of the 2012 DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) policy. The Fifth Circuit decided to keep the district court’s decision in place, meaning that current DACA recipients can “continue to benefit from DACA and renew their grants of DACA and work authorization while the case continues, but first time applications are still not being processed.” Those who currently have DACA or have had it at any time in the past can file for a renewal of both their DACA and work permits, but first-time DACA applications will not be processed.