The federal government said on Saturday that it would resume accepting DACA renewal applications following a decision this month by a federal judge in California ordering the Trump administration to resume the program.
In September, President Trump ordered the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program started by President Obama in 2012. Nearly 800,000 young undocumented immigrants benefited from its temporary protection against deportation and obtained work permits under the program.
In a statement posted online, United States Citizen and Immigration Services said that “until further notice… the DACA policy will be operated on the terms in place before it was rescinded on Sept. 5, 2017.”
The federal immigration agency said people who were previously granted deferred action under DACA could request a renewal if it had expired on or after Sept. 5 2016. People who had previously received DACA but whose benefits expired before Sept. 5, 2016 can file a new application, but the government will not receive new requests from people who did not previously receive DACA benefits.
The agency said on Saturday that people who were previously granted deferred action under the program could request a renewal if it had expired on or after Sept. 5, 2016. People who had previously received DACA, but whose deferred action had expired before Sept. 5, 2016, cannot renew, but can instead file a new request, the agency said. It noted that the same instructions apply to anyone whose deferred action had been terminated.
President Trump held a meeting Tuesday with Republican and Democratic lawmakers about drafting new legislation to allow so-called Dreamers –young immigrants brought to the United States as children– to remain in the country. Progress on legislation stalled after reports surfaced that Trump used a vulgar slur to refer to immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti and countries in Africa during that meeting.
