Immigrants Rising Weighs in on Historic Opportunity To Expand DACA Eligibility and Allow More Immigrant Youth to Apply
For Immediate Release
Contact: Denia Pérez, Esq., Legal Services Manager, at denia@immigrantsrising.org
Immigrants Rising submits comment to the Department of Homeland Security to advocate for a better, stronger Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
(December 1, 2021 – San Francisco, CA) – Immigrants Rising submitted a comment to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in response to the proposed rule to codify Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) into regulation. As part of this comment, Immigrants Rising called on the DHS to expand DACA to ensure that undocumented young people are not left behind in its proposed regulation. Immigrants Rising policy recommendations include the expansion of eligibility for DACA through new policies around the age cap, physical presence requirement, and narrowing the criminal bars to DACA. Finally, the comment also calls upon DHS to expand advance parole for DACA recipients and institute automatic extensions for work permits.
The comment features the stories of several directly impacted individuals, including Marisol, Ju, and Mayra. When Marisol’s father passed away due to COVID-19, she applied for advance parole in hopes that she would be able to attend her father’s funeral and take care of his last wishes and affairs. Her request was denied because the immigration officer determined that her request was not an “emergency.”
An automatic extension for work permits would mean applicants are not significantly penalized for bureaucratic delays, such as the case with Ju. Ju filed for his DACA renewal within the timeframe recommended by USCIS, but because of DHS delays, his work permit expired, costing him his job and his health insurance. Ju was left managing a chronic illness with a higher risk of life-threatening complications untreated. Someone who would be impacted by changing the eligibility requirements is Mayra, a psychotherapist who tried to come back to the United States “the right way” in 2012 and as a result was not eligible for DACA once her visa expired. With this new rule, DHS has the chance to eliminate preventable bureaucratic cruelties such as those faced by Marisol, Ju, and Mayra while also changing eligibility requirements that preclude many more from applying for DACA in the first place.
You can view the full comment here.
Immigrants Rising will keep fighting for undocumented young people to achieve their educational and career goals through sensible and compassionate regulations structuring DACA.
Founded in 2006, Immigrants Rising empowers undocumented young people to achieve educational and career goals through personal, institutional, and policy transformation. We envision an America where all young people can pursue and complete an education with confidence and without constraint.
