On September 5, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the DACA program would be phased out.  For the roughly 800,000 DACA recipients who have put their trust in this programs, their futures in the United States are now in question.  Below is a brief summary of what the rescission put in place for current DACA recipients.

  1. USCIS will no longer accept any new applications as of September 5, 2017.
  2. USCIS will continue to process current requests for DACA that were properly filed prior to September 5, 2017.
  3. If a person currently is a beneficiary under the DACA program, the government will honor their deferred status and employment authorizations until those benefits expire.
  4. For those DACA recipients whose benefits expire between September 5, 2017, and March 5, 2017, USCIS will continue to receive requests for renewal until October 5, 2017.  After October 5, 2017, no new renewal requests will be received.
This means some people whose benefits expire after March 5, 2017, will only have a few more months of DACA coverage before they lose their benefits under the program.  It is important for those people, to seek assistance from a competent immigration attorney as soon as possible to determine whether they have other options available.
We will continue to monitor any progress regarding policies and law impacting DACA recipients.
Until then, if you have any questions about your status, please call our office at 912.401.8880.  Our office will do free consultations with DACA recipients for the next few weeks to help them determine best options moving forward.