Today Deadline Day for DACA Renewal Applications only 1/4 of DACA renew Applications
Deadline Day for DACA Recipients to Renew Applications
About a quarter of DACA renewal-eligible people have not submitted requests to renew by Thursday morning, according to the Department of Homeland Security
October 5, 2017
Thursday marks the deadline for some 154,000 recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program to renew their applications, but many have not done so.
DACA protects undocumented immigrants who were brought into the United States illegally from being deported and allows them to participate in work programs, but the Trump administration announced last month that the program would be phasing out.
Calls have been made to extend the renewal deadline, and President Donald Trump has called on Congress to take action on the DACA issue.
Thursday's deadline impacts DACA recipients whose status expires on or before March 5, 2018.
As of Thursday morning, just over 118,000 eligible recipients had submitted requests to renew, according to the Department of Homeland Security, a rate of about three in 4. That means about 36,000 eligible DACA recipients hadn't yet filed to renew.
"For individuals who are still eligible to request renewal of their deferred action under DACA, but have not yet done so, I urge you to make this a priority. The renewal process is quicker than an initial request and requires minimal documentation, so take the time now to fill out and properly file your renewal request," said Acting Secretary Elaine Duke in a statement on Tuesday.
Additionally, Duke said fewer than 20 DACA recipients from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands had filed to renew, and directed her department to consider requests there on a case-by-case basis given the immense destruction and subsequent communications blackout in the islands caused by Hurricane Maria.
Immigration attorney Isabel Soto Wagner believes it is still worth it for DACA recipients to renew their applications if they have not done so in the wake of uncertainty surrounding the program.
"There is a lot of fear sometimes in the community, but it’s important to remember, yes, the government knows about your personal information, but I think it’s worth it to have those two other years of, let's say semi-protection and authorization to work in the United States," she said.
The Trump administration's announcement sparked several protests across the country as DACA recipients took to the streets criticizing the administration for going against protections put in place by former President Barack Obama.
Of the roughly 58,000 renewal requests submitted prior to Sept. 5, 57,000 are pending and 1,000 were granted, according to Homeland Security statistics. Sixty thousand more requests were submitted between Sept. 5 and Oct. 5.
