NAACP v. Trump: What You Need to Know About DACA

In the case NAACP v. Trump, on April 24, 2018, Judge Bates of the D.C. District Court ruled that the Trump administration unlawfully ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) plan. While the decision means that DACA may be reinstated and will be available to new applicants, Judges Bates stayed his order for ninety days, during which the Department of Homeland Security can regroup and issue a new rescission of DACA with new evidence and reasoning. Right now, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is still accepting DACA renewal applications for individuals with current or expired DACA benefits, but they are not accepting initial DACA applications (DACA recipients whose benefits expired on or after September 5, 2016 can submit a renewal application, and those whose benefits expired before September 5, 2016 can submit a new DACA application). The opportunity to file DACA renewals at the time may be limited, and we strongly urge DACA grantees whose DACA period expires in 2018 or early 2019 to apply for renewal as soon as possible.