This month marks the 14th anniversary of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, but bureaucratic holdups have left recipients in Massachusetts and elsewhere unsure of their legal standing.
There are roughly half a million active DACA holders, many of whom grew up in the U.S. Their allies say they have raised families here and filled critical jobs in health care and education.
Priya Pandey, policy analyst on immigration and immigrant families with the Center for Law and Social Policy, said months-long delays in DACA renewals have left people without work permits and needed income.
“Many DACA recipients have never had a lapse in their status before since they first applied to DACA — many of whom were children and teenagers at the time, and they’re now living in fear,” Pandey said. “They can’t work, and they’re waiting for their renewals in silence.”
In May, a bipartisan policy group cited Associated Press data showing wait times were up at least 400% compared with last year. Last week, a lawsuit was filed to compel the Trump administration to release records sought by advocates.
Immigration officials say the delays are warranted to ensure applicants are properly vetted.
Legal aid groups say that, despite White House claims, the administration is slowly undermining the program as part of its mass deportation plans. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security says about 270 DACA holders were detained by ICE last year. More than 170 were deported.
Pandey said parents have been detained outside their workplaces or their children’s schools, despite evidence showing the harms of family separation. She said the stress among DACA parents is trickling down to their kids and will take decades to reverse.
“Families are scared,” Pandey said. “They’re not leaving their homes to get groceries, to seek medical care, and they’re disenrolling from a lot of programs that are critical for their wellbeing, like Medicaid and SNAP.”
Pandey said massive investments in immigration enforcement have made entire communities more vulnerable during a time of high inflation, when families are struggling to pay for food, housing and gas.
She said DACA holders are neighbors and taxpayers, and some estimates show the U.S. economy could lose $600 billion if their legal status is not renewed.
DACA Holders in Legal Limbo as Renewal Applications are Delayed was originally published by Public News Service and is republished with permission.