DACA: the waiting game

Lower court to review program revisions

DACA recipient Karina Hernandez describes waiting to get permission to remain in the United States as “a fight that we are in constantly every two years.”

“We really want to see that they give us that opportunity to be legally permanent,” Hernandez said. “We are between, ‘What is going to happen tomorrow? What will happen on October 31? What will happen next year? What if I can no longer renew it? What happens to us who are waiting?’”

A federal appeals court ordered a lower court review of Biden administration revisions to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program preventing the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought into the United States as children.

On Oct. 5, a three-judge panel for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the DACA program is unlawful. Current DACA recipients are protected from deportation and can continue renewing their work permits, but the Department of Homeland Security will not accept new applications.

The decision was written by 5th U.S. Circuit Chief Judge Priscilla Richman and joined by Judges Kurt Engelhardt and James Ho. The panel decided that the Department of Homeland Security does not have the authority to provide protections to immigrants under DACA.

However, the appeals court made clear it was not passing judgment on the Biden administration’s final rule, issued on Aug. 24 and effective Oct. 31, which put DACA through the full administrative process in an effort to strengthen the program against court challenges.

In an interview with The Rider, Belia Peña, an immigration attorney in McAllen, said there are different opinions on the rule.

“Many people disagree with that particular action that [then-President Barack Obama] took [because] most people think that Congress is supposed to create the law,” Peña said about the 2012 program.“Everyone comes together to vote on it to agree on one law. That’s the problem with going to court for this because it depends on the judge. It depends on the jurisdiction.”

 DACA  allows people “who came to the United States as children … to request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal. They are also eligible for work authorization,” according to uscis.gov.

Peña said people can renew their status because it’s a grandfather policy, an exemption that allows DACA recipients to continue with activities that were approved before the implementation of new rules.

“People can renew their status, because there’s so much conflict in the courts right now,” Peña said. “They are allowing people, who had it before the lawsuits, to continue to renew. … The problem that happened now is that because the courts and the judges are saying that it’s illegal, the people who had the ability in the past to file an initial application … can’t do that right now.”

President Joe Biden said in a statement that he was disappointed by the ruling. 

“The court’s stay provides a temporary reprieve for DACA recipients but one thing remains clear: the lives of Dreamers remain in limbo,” Biden wrote on Oct. 5. “My Administration is committed to defending Dreamers against attacks from Republican officials in Texas and other States.”

UTRGV does not record the number of DACA recipients attending the university, Dean of Student Rebecca Gadson said in a phone call Aug. 8. But 611,270 people were living in the United States under DACA as of March 31, 2022, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Imigration Services data.

Guy Bailey, UTRGV president, announced via email Oct. 7 that the university would continue to offer support to DACA recipients who have the two-year renewable work permit.

“We continue to be disappointed with this latest ruling, but remain hopeful that Congress will act swiftly to provide Dreamers with a path for citizenship,” Bailey wrote.

Tania Chavez, director of Management Analysis at La Unión Del Pueblo Entero (LUPE), said it is time to stop playing with the destiny of DACA recipients.

“Every Oct. 5, something happens around DACA and we are saddened to know that this policy [is] still at the hands of the court when it shouldn’t be the case anymore,” Chavez said. “It’s time that those that are writing the policies understand everything that border communities are going through and we need to defend DACA recipients. We need to give them a pathway to citizenship and we need to protect border communities.”

LUPE is a social service nonprofit organization that is based on values of self-help and services to be able to do peaceful organizing and give back to the community.

Hernandez, a DACA recipient, said she is tired of living on hold.

“It really is a fight that we are in constantly every two years,” she said. “We live on hold. We live in response to being told, ‘OK, DACA is going to make you [a U.S.] citizen or permanent resident.’”

Abraham Diaz, a LUPE social services provider, said the organization is going to support DACA recipients.

“For DACA recipients, we offer different things,” Diaz said. “One of them is immigration services preparation, so we prepare documents. We have our attorney on staff, and we are also directly accredited with the Department of Justice to do immigration petitions, in this case, work permit renewals and we also do deportation defense. If the worst case scenario comes, we are able to represent them in immigration court.”

On Monday, LUPE hosted a protest to defend “Dreamers” where more than 50 members of the community gathered in front of the federal courthouse in Brownsville.

“We were there to show that we are not going to be giving up on this,” Diaz said. “If you are currently a DACA recipient, we encourage you to renew your work permit as soon as possible. There is so much uncertainty in the future.”

Bailey’s email states UTRGV offers the following resources for DACA recipients:

–the DREAM Resource Center, which provides support services and resources in a safe space for all students. 

–DREAM Zone Advocates, who are members of the UTRGV community who have been trained to support, guide and empower UTRGV members. 

–the UT Employee Assistance Program, which offers a variety of services including counseling consultation services with a licensed mental health professional, legal and financial resources and work-life referrals. 

–the Counseling Center, which provides confidential support for personal issues or concerns. 

–Student Life and the Dean of Students, which advocates for UTRGV students.

Peña encourages DACA recipients to visit a lawyer.

“If you have the ability and the time to talk to a lawyer, just ask them, ‘Hey, can you take a look at my situation? Is there anything there?’” she said. “There are a lot of options here that could be potentially a solution for them. Get some legal advice. Maybe they are married to a U.S. citizen. Maybe they suffered as a victim of a crime. Maybe the way they entered was [a] little suspicious.” 

Peña said she hopes that soon there will be a solution.

“[‘Dreamers’] are extremely successful in the United States,” she said. “[A] large percentage of them have college degrees or higher, or they own their own businesses. A solution will come at some point. … Keep seeking the solutions. Keep asking questions, because there’s probably one out there for you. You just might not know about it yet.”