Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a kind of administrative relief from deportation. The purpose of DACA is to protect eligible immigrant youth who came to the United States when they were children from deportation. DACA gives young undocumented immigrants: 1) protection from deportation, and 2) a work permit. Grants of DACA expire after two years, subject to renewal.
Current Status: Current grants of DACA remain valid until they expire, unless individually terminated. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will continue to accept and process DACA renewal requests and accompanying applications for employment authorization under the DACA regulations located at 8 CFR 236.22 and 236.23. USCIS will also accept initial DACA requests, but it will not process them at this time. To read more about the current state of DACA, review the USCIS's DACA page.
January 17, 2025: The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in Texas v. United States upholding the part of DACA that protects recipients from deportation but finding that the part creating work authorization is unlawful. The Court limited its ruling to the State of Texas, meaning that DACA remains in full effect in all states except Texas. Read the Fifth Circuit's ruling here.
September 13, 2023: A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas ruled in Texas v. United States that DHS's Final Rule–which established regulations fortifying DACA's protections–was unlawful and could not be enforced. However, the judge allowed all individuals who had received their initial DACA status prior to July 16, 2021, to keep it while the case continued through the appeals process. The Biden Administration appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
October 5, 2022: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the July 2021 ruling in Texas v. United States that the DACA program--as created by the Obama Administration's 2012 memorandum--was unlawful. The Fifth Circuit remanded the case back to the Texas District Court to review whether the Final Rule that DHS promulgated in August 2022 could still be enforced. Read the Fifth Circuit’s ruling here.
August 30, 2022: The Department of Homeland Security published a Final Rule that established regulations to preserve and fortify the DACA policy to defer removal of certain noncitizens who came to the United States as children. The Final Rule took effect on October 31, 2022, and it replaced the Obama Administration's 2012 memorandum that created the DACA program.
July 16, 2021: In Texas v. United States, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas ruled that the DACA program is unlawful and blocked new applicants. The ruling allowed for immigrants currently protected by the program to keep their status while the case went through the appeals process.
January 20, 2021: President Biden issued a memorandum directing the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Attorney General, to take appropriate action to preserve and fortify DACA policies, consistent with applicable law.
December 4, 2020: In Batalla Vidal v. Wolf, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York vacated the July 2020 Wolf Memorandum and ordered the Department of Homeland Security to fully reinstate the DACA program.
July 28, 2020: Mark Wolf, Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security under the Trump Administration, issued a memorandum that amended the DACA program to prevent DHS from processing new DACA requests while permitting it to adjudicate all DACA renewal requests for beneficiaries who had already been granted DACA status.
June 18, 2020: By a vote of 5-4, the Supreme Court ruled in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California that the Trump Administration acted improperly in terminating the DACA program, and it sent the case back for the Department of Homeland Security to take another look. The ruling meant that the DACA program would remain in place.
September 5, 2017: Elaine C. Duke, Acting Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security under the Trump Administration, issued a memorandum rescinding the June 15, 2012, memorandum that established the DACA program.
June 15, 2012: Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security under the Obama Administration, issued a memorandum that created Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).