This week we join Jorge Baron, the Executive Director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (nwirp.org) in Seattle, as he and Malou Chavez, Deputy Director provide an update on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) status after the recent Supreme Court ruling. Due to COVID-19, it was an online session and hence there are some audio discrepancies.
President Trump attempted to terminate the DACA program in the Fall of 2017, but was taken to court on that attempt. From the date of his proposed termination, new applications were NOT accepted, but those who already had DACA were allowed to continue to renew their status every two years. On June 18, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the DACA program, rejecting the Trump administration's 2017 attempt to terminate the program. This decision restores the program completely, and both initial and renewal applications should be accepted by USCIS. However, per the NWIRP update, it is NOT recommended for new people to apply as it is uncertain what will happen in the near future. Jorge Baron also commented on the fact that USCIS - the government department that oversees these applications - is running short on funding due to money being used by the President elsewhere ..."border security fencing" perhaps. There is a bill from Congress that was introduced and passed in the house in 2019 to update & replace DACA with - HR 6 - American Dream and Promise Act. It would need to be re-introduced for it to go forward, but likely won't be until after the November election, therefore it likely will not be introduced until January of 2021, hoping to move forward in 2021. Another resource mentioned was http://www.waisn.org (Washington Immigrant Soidarity Network). Do check out their website.
The Skagit Immigrant Rights Council - http://skagitirc.org - has some updates on the home page with links for renewing DACA & DACA loans for recipients in Skagit and Whatcom. There is also a Know Your Right presentation posted. There is more detail listed under the information link. The site is in both English and Spanish.
Visit our website Speak Up! Speak Out!