DHS Ordered to Review New DACA Applications

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not accepted or reviewed new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in nearly three years, since its announcement in the fall of 2017 that it was seeking to end the program. While legal challenges to the administration’s rescission of the program were in progress, it was only possible for preexisting DACA recipients to apply for renewal of their DACA status.

Now, following a recent Supreme Court decision that halted the administration’s elimination of the program, a federal judge has ordered DHS to begin accepting new DACA applications. While the US Citizenship and Immigration Services Division of DHS, which administers the DACA program, has said it is reviewing the federal court’s ruling, others in the Trump administration have stated that it will continue working to eliminate the DACA program.