Just a week after a Maryland court restored the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to its original status, the government responded with a memo significantly restricting the DACA program. Per the memo, the Department of Homeland Security will:
- Reject all pending and future initial requests for DACA
- Reject all pending and future applications for advance parole absent exceptional circumstances
- Shorten the period of renewed deferred action granted to one year.
This means that the government will once again only accept renewal applications. Even then, it will limit the period of deferred action and authorized employment to one years, instead of the current two years. Current DACA recipients hoping to travel internationally can apply for a travel document, but only if they can demonstrate exceptional circumstances for the reason for travel.
This represents another effort for the administration to wind down legal protections for the so-called Dreamers. This once again creates uncertainty and anxiety for hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients. Until Congress acts to codify the DACA program, the Dreamers will continue to face this uncertainty and be used as a political bargaining chip for the evergreen immigration debate.