TUCSON, (Ariz.) KGUN — The Biden Administration will soon publish a finalized rule to preserve DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), the immigration policy for those known as “dreamers” who entered the country before the age of 16.
The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) final ruling will soon take effect, helping to defend the rule from legal challenges.
It is set to take effect on Monday, Oct. 31.
This will continue to protect existing DACA recipients for a decade, but legal professionals said not much will change for them.
Regional Manager of Immigration Services at Chicanos Por La Causa Sean Goslar said, “Currently, it doesn’t necessarily change any of how DACA is processed, at least that’s what our interpretation is in many legal minds, because there’s an injunction still in Texas against processing initial DACA applications.”
The rule proposed in September 2021 continues the initial policy from 2012, and will allow DHS to approve or deny renewal applications.
Initial applications are not accepted because the U.S. District Court for Southern Texas held the policy as illegal since July 2021.
“However, this is basically when it hits the higher court, they’re hoping that this will alleviate the challenge that it wasn’t following the proper procedures when proposing the rule,” said Goslar.
Still, local leaders of the Hispanic community say this does not fortify immigration policy.
“You know, folks will continue to fear things like deportation, folks will continue to fear things like,’Well if DACA ends tomorrow, what happens to me, what do I do now?’ So I think it’s just disheartening to see there’s really been no shift and that it still seems very open to the possibility that it could be rescinded at some point,” said Karla Cruze-Silva, University of Arizona’s Associate Director for Hispanic Serving Institutions.
The Biden Administration's ruling is preventing deportation and allowing recipients to continue working, but Cruze-Silva says there’s more to be done.
“I think some of the challenges are just that it’s not permanent and there’s no path to citizenship,” said Cruze-Silva.
Currently, there are more than 600,000 D.A.C.A. recipients who will continue to be eligible for renewal.
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Reyna Preciado is a reporter for KGUN 9, she joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2022 after graduating Arizona State University. Share your story ideas with Reyna by emailing reyna.preciado@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, or Twitter.
