The DACA program will not end immediately even if President Donald Trump wants to end it, so the 528,300 active recipients can find some legal avenues to avoid deportation.
“There are laws and regulations in place that will take some time before the program can be completed,” Stephen W. Yale-Loehr, professor of the Practice of Immigration Law at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, told La Opinión.
The expert advised that, in any eventuality, DACA beneficiaries should consult with a lawyer about their options and evaluate whether they can obtain an H-1B work visa.
The H-1B nonimmigrant visa allows U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty occupations.
Eligibility is dependent on having a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a related field, or having equivalent work experience. The job must require specialized knowledge and be in a field such as engineering, technology, mathematics, or medical sciences.
Stephen W. Yale-Loehr advised that eligible individuals apply to renew their DACA status.
“They should do it as soon as possible,” he said. “Currently, the immigration agency (USCIS) accepts renewal applications 150 days in advance, so people should try to apply as soon as possible.”
For Angélica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) of Los Angeles, Trump’s intentions to end DACA would harm doctors, police officers, teachers, academics who teach at universities and professionals at all levels.
“It is stupid to take away the opportunity from all these taxpayers who do so much good for the communities and economies of their cities and states,” Salas added. “[Trump] They do not think about the economy and the well-being of the country. What he wants doesn’t make sense, but I think he is a xenophobic and racist person, who focuses on the idea of Nazism, and on those who have pure blood or not.
Disputes that do not end
In September 2023, Judge Andrew Hanen, federal judge for the Southern District of Texas, issued a ruling declaring the DACA program illegal. While Judge Hanen’s ruling does not affect the current protections of DACA recipients, nor their ability to continue renewing them, for immigration experts at the bipartisan organization fwd.us, the decision “was another cruel and disheartening indication that “The courts plan to end this vital lifeline for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants and their families.”
An appeal was filed against Judge Hanen’s ruling and was heard in October by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which also previously ruled against DACA.
Assuming the Fifth Circuit rules the same again in January 2025, the case will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court.
However, the timing of the Fifth Circuit’s decision is unpredictable, according to Professor Stephen W. Yale-Loehr, and the timeline for the Supreme Court to respond to a request to review the case could range from late 2024 to early 2025. ; If that request is accepted, the case may not be heard until spring 2025.
“There are two paths to ending the DACA program. One is through the courts and the other is through President Trump,” specified the Cornell University professor. “The DACA program has been litigated for many years.”
“They had oral arguments on the case in October, but we don’t know when they will issue a decision in the litigation, although I think they will agree with the lower court that the program is illegal,” he added.
If the decision is released before Jan. 20, Stephen W. Yale-Loehr believes President Joe Biden’s administration will appeal that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
But if the Supreme Court were to take up the case, the earliest it would issue a decision would be June 2025, or later.
And, if the Fifth Circuit’s decision is released after January 20 [cuando Trump asume la presidencia] and is favorable to the Republican administration, Trump may decide not to appeal given his control of both houses of Congress.
That way, there would no longer be any opportunity for Democrats or DACA recipients to continue the legal battle.
“A little scary”
Rosa Díaz, a single mother of three young ladies, ages 14, 12, and 11, and a four-year-old boy, says she feels “a little afraid” if the time comes when she cannot renew her DACA permit.
“I would surely lose my house and my two cars, because I would not be able to pay the mortgage or the car payments,” said the woman from Tepezalá, in the state of Aguascalientes.
Diaz, 35, pays $1,350 for the mortgage on his home he bought in 2017, thanks to his job as a financial analyst.
She, who was brought to the United States by her mother, Juan Diaz, when she was 12 years old, to achieve her goals she had to work in the watermelon and almond harvest in Chico, California.
When her mother emigrated, she had to stay at her grandmother’s house, but she couldn’t take care of her. She had 18 children, and Rosa grew up alone.
Already in the United States, Rosa made great efforts to go to high school and graduate, until reaching Chico University, where she studied political science and obtained DACA in 2013.
“In the government they wouldn’t give me a job because I am an open book with clear doors,” he said, that is, he is against corruption.
And, although the arrival of Donald Trump to the White House worries her, Rosa Díaz stated that she has thought about the probability of one day returning to Mexico.
“I have seen jobs where I could easily qualify, but my daughters are Americans and I don’t think they would want to live there,” he said.
However, he said that he does not understand Trump’s hatred and racism for immigrants.
“It is sad that, in this age and time of humanity, instead of moving forward intelligently, we are literally going back many decades,” he said. “You have to open the books and educate yourself, and people should not believe all the lies that appear on television.”
Who are DACA?
According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), as of March 31, 2024, there were 528,300 active DACA recipients, a decrease of more than 108,000 from December 31, 2020. Another 52,489 DACA recipients had renewals pending and, therefore, were not classified as “active”.
USCIS data provides the following demographic information about active DACA recipients on that date: 288,840 identified as female and 238,830 identified as male (sex was not specified for 620).
The average age was 30.1 years, and the largest number (193,900) were in the 26 to 30 age group, followed by beneficiaries ages 31 to 35 (140,730).
The majority (358,640) were single, while 154,550 were married and 13,970 had been divorced.
The largest number of beneficiaries of the DACA program, 428,340, came from Mexico, followed by El Salvador (20,770), Guatemala (13,970), Honduras (12,680), Peru (4,850), South Korea (4,730) and Brazil (3,900).
“The danger of losing the temporary protection status offered by DACA is real, but there is a greater risk for Tepesians,” said Salvador Sanabria, executive director of El Rescate.
“First of all, [Donald Trump] puts at risk the stability of migrant families, especially those who depend on the wages generated by having a work permit, and secondly because many of these people with DACA are already adults who have families and children born here and whose parents depend on them financially.”
Multimillion-dollar contribution from DACA recipients
According to the Center for American Progress (CAP), the economic contribution of DACA beneficiaries translates into $2.1 billion dollars to Social Security and Medicare.
Since 2012, more than 825,000 people who came to the country at a young age many years ago have taken advantage of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and the protection from deportation and work permits provided by the initiative enacted by the then Democratic President Barack Obama.
The beneficiaries returned to school; They got better, better-paying jobs; They bought homes and cars and started businesses, creating jobs and economic prosperity for all Americans.
Additionally, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, more than 200,000 DACA recipients worked on the front lines of response, serving their communities and the health of the nation.
According to CAP, on average, DACA recipients arrived in the United States in 1999, at age 7. And more than a third of them (37%) arrived before the age of 5. In 2020, their average age was 28 years old.
Many DACA recipients have started families: 254,000 children born in the United States have at least one parent with DACA. In total, 1.5 million people live with a DACA recipient.
Nationally, according to CAP’s analysis, DACA recipients and their households pay $5.6 billion in federal taxes, and $3.1 billion in state and local taxes, each year.
That money is in addition to the $2.1 billion in contributions to Social Security and Medicare that DACA recipients make through their payroll tax contributions. After taxes, DACA recipients and their households have a combined purchasing power of $24 billion to give back to their communities.
Additionally, DACA recipients own 56,000 homes, generating $566.9 million annually in mortgage payments. Other DACA recipients pay $2.3 billion in rent payments each year.