Presidential memorandum to protect DACA

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an immigration benefit implemented by the Barack Obama administration in 2012. This program defers forced removal of young immigrants known as Dreamers, who came to the US without legal documentation when they were minors.

DACA, aside from offering protection from deportation, allows Dreamers to apply for a temporary work permit and other social benefits. This program has been on the tightrope as the Trump administration has tried to remove it multiple times over the past four years.

However, President-elect Joe Biden took office yesterday (January 20, 2021), and his administration differs from Trump’s view when it comes to DACA and immigration in general. Thus, during his presidential campaign, the Democratic nominee promised to protect DACA recipients and expand alternatives for them to obtain lawful permanent resident status, and he is indeed fulfilling this promise.

During his first day in office, President Biden signed a memorandum called “Preserving and Fortifying Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA),” which authorizes the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to implement the actions they deem appropriate to protect DACA recipients and strengthen the program by expanding alternatives available to them.

This is extremely encouraging news for more than 600,000 Dreamers covered by this program as they have been in limbo for the last four years.

DACA faced multiple legal processes

President Biden’s memorandum is a relief to immigrants protected by DACA because the Trump administration used every tool at its disposal to remove it from programs offered to immigrants in the US.

In the opinion of former President Trump, foreigners who decide to cross borders without prior authorization should not have the possibility to legally reside in the US, regardless of whether they are minors or not.

Therefore, his government started multiple legal processes to remove DACA and deport Dreamers. In fact, the controversy was so great that the case reached the US Supreme Court of Justice, which ruled in favor of DACA recipients in June 2020.

However, the Trump administration did not comply with this order and restricted the DACA program after the Supreme Court’s verdict. In December 2020, a lower court intervened in the case again and stated that then-acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf did not have the power to restrict programs such as DACA because he did not follow the order of succession established by local law.

Therefore, the Trump administration recently reinstated DACA and the arrival of the new administration represents a very positive change for Dreamers and their future in the US.

It is important to clarify that on December 22, DACA had a pending hearing in a Houston court, which must decide if the program itself is valid to be an immigration benefit and if it meets the necessary requirements to protect thousands of undocumented foreigners. The federal judge has yet to release his verdict, but Dreamers hope the Biden administration will protect them if the court rules against DACA.

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