AP Foto/Damian Dovarganes, ArchivoDACA recipients are facing longer processing times for renewal applications. Here’s what we know about these delays and what immigrants can do now.
Over 500,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients are facing uncertainties amid renewal delays that could impact their work authorization and legal protections, immigration lawyers say.
The delays come amid changes to the program resulting from President Donald Trump’s broader efforts to phase it out.
“Many of our clients are worried about just the uncertainty of their current status,” said Teresa Flores, managing attorney at the HANA Center, who helps DACA recipients apply for DACA renewals. “There are concerns that there could be some sort of lapse in their status.”
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We spoke with Flores, along with other experts, about what DACA recipients should know about renewal requests and what they can do while their requests are pending.
¿Qué es DACA?
DACA is a federal program initiated in 2012 during the Obama administration.
It defers the removal of an individual who is undocumented for a specific period of time. Certain immigrants who came to the U.S. as children are eligible to request deferred removal action for a period of two years.
However, DACA does not provide a path towards lawful status.
What are the latest changes to DACA?
The Justice Department ruled in April that being a DACA recipient is not sufficient grounds for relief from deportation, NPR reported. DACA still allows recipients to obtain work authorization.
In January 2025, a federal judge ruled that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) would continue to accept and process DACA renewal applications and accompanying applications for employment authorization. However, initial DACA requests remain on hold.
An initial DACA request includes a first-time request, a request filed by someone who was previously granted DACA but missed the renewal deadline and a request filed by someone whose DACA grant was terminated.
Current DACA grants and accompanying employment authorization documents remain valid until they expire, unless they are terminated individually.
Applicants will receive a receipt of their initial request submission, and USCIS will then process the payment, but it is not issuing refunds at this time for pending initial DACA requests. The renewal cost is $555, and the cost to file on paper is $605.
Why have there been delays in DACA applications?
DACA renewals may be taking longer at the moment because of the reinstatement of fingerprinting (biometrics) appointments, which were paused during the pandemic and require extra time to schedule and complete. Additionally, cases of applicants from certain countries are on hold while USCIS undergoes a comprehensive review process, affecting thousands of applicants.
Every two years, DACA recipients must request a renewal of their status to continue receiving deportation relief and to work lawfully.
According to the agency’s case processing time website, about 80% of renewal requests are processed within four months. They recommend that DACA recipients submit their renewal requests at least five months, but no later than four months, before their current DACA expires.
The expiration date is noted on the current approval notice, Form I-797. The expiration date on the work permit is the same date that DACA expires.
Applicants may be able to monitor the status of their case by using USCIS’s “My Case Status” tool en su sitio web.
What are attorneys recommending to clients whose DACA is expiring soon and whose renewal request is still pending?
Flores said some of her clients are applying as early as USCIS recommends — up to five months before their expiration date — and are still not having their renewal request processed in time.
To avoid a lapse in DACA, she now advises some clients to apply six to seven months before their DACA expiration date. She hasn’t seen any rejections for applications submitted earlier than five months, she said.
“We’ve been taking a proactive approach of really just encouraging a lot of our clients to try to renew as early as possible,” said Flores. “It’s a little bit tricky, though.”
Determining whether to apply more than five months in advance is “tricky” because applicants risk having their applications denied for applying too early.
Enrique Espinoza, a staff attorney at Illinois Tech Chicago-Kent College of Law, recommends that his clients stick to the USCIS timeline, as some of his clients have applied more than five months earlier and had their applications denied.
It is advised that DACA recipients speak with their own legal service provider to determine the time that feels most comfortable for them to submit their renewal request, as recommendations can vary by case.
There isn’t much applicants can do to speed up their application, said Espinoza, but he recommends filing an inquiry if their renewal request has taken more than 105 days to process to create another paper trail of the delay. Individuals can submit their request inquiry aquí using their Form I-765 receipt number.
He also recommends that they reach out to their congressional representative to see what they can do.
“It may not move the needle much, but at least that serves as a way to document the delay that this administration is creating and the direct impact on all these applicants,” said Espinoza.
What are DACA recipients’ rights in the workplace?
DACA recipients generally have the same rights as other employees in the workplace.
DACA recipients are not required to tell their employers that they have DACA, so employers are not expected to know which of their employees, if any, have DACA.
They should typically only be required to provide proof of work authorization at the time of hiring and when their work permit is expiring, according to the Immigrant Legal Resources Center.
DACA recipients’ employers verifying their work permit again when it is not set to expire could be a form of immigration discrimination under the Human Rights Act, according to Alexis Martin, a partner at employment law firm Caffarelli & Associates Ltd.
If and when their employer realizes that their work authorization has expired, they can terminate their employment.
“They can be fired because the anti-discrimination statutes cannot compel an employer to violate federal law by employing a foreign national without authorization to work in the U.S.,” said Martin.
Flores recommends that DACA recipients consult with an immigration attorney to determine whether there is an additional path to status that could provide work authorization and deportation relief, such as family-based petitions or asylum.
“We really encourage people to maybe seek out consultations to see if there’s any other forms of relief to kind of protect [themselves] with all of the uncertainty that’s going on right now,” she said.
Aydali Campa es miembro del equipo de Report for America y cubre temas de justicia medioambiental y comunidades inmigrantes para Borderless Magazine. Envíale un correo electrónico a [email protected].
