The DACA program is suspended and is currently only accepting renewals from current recipients.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a program that allows undocumented non-citizens who came to the United States as children to obtain protection from deportation and an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) to work legally. Although it is not an immigration status, DACA provides benefits for two years with an option for periodic renewals to Dreamers who arrived in the country before their 16th birthday and who were under 31 years of age as of June 15, 2012.
Currently, DACA faces an injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas account issued on July 16, 2022. This order was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and in October 2022 was upheld by the district court to the DACA final rule, a move made by the federal government to protect the program.
Thus, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is prohibited from granting new DACA and EAD petitions related to DACA recipients. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), however, is able to process DACA renewals. That is, it does not accept new applications from eligible individuals.
On the other hand, regardless of what is happening in the courts, until a final decision is made, DACA recipients continue to be protected from deportation and can continue to renew their permit and EAD.
According to specialized organizations such as United We Dream, the final decision on DACA will most likely be made in the Supreme Court again, so the only viable solution for the millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States is Congressional action. President Joe Biden himself has repeatedly urged Congress to take action to pass comprehensive reform that would provide a path to citizenship for the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants.
In this regard, labor organizations and large companies have also asked Congress, through a letter signed in November, to take action to protect DACA and offer a permanent solution to its beneficiaries.