A DACA timeline helps to understand when DACA started, where it came from, and why DACA is so important in the United States. DACA has not been around very long, but it is a powerful tool that can be used by immigrants. It also opens other avenues such as applying for advanced parole to be able to travel outside of the United States for various reasons, including humanitarian reasons.
What is DACA and Where Did it Come From?
- Obama and the Obama Admin created DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) by signing an executive order AKA the Napolitano Memo. The world was happy.
- Trump and his administration enter the chat room and present us with the Duke Memo in September 2017 trying to get DHS to stop DACA. Clearly, this isn’t very nice and well, it went all the way to the US Supreme Court. In June 2020 the US Supreme Court decided that DHS rescission of DACA in September 2017 was not cool. (Specifically, that they couldn’t do that because it violated the Administrative Procedure Act (https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/administrative_procedure_act), etc.) -With the decision from the US Supreme Court, it was argued that DHS needed to fully reinstate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals asap. Good news right? Well…
- Chad Wolf enters the chat room in July 2020 and with him brings us the Wolf Memo. (He was nominated by Trump as Acting Secretary of Homeland Security I think November 2019.)
- The Wolf Memo basically said, screw the US Supreme Court and their decision, we don’t agree with them. But wait, there’s more! Not only do we not agree but Wolf in his Memo ordered DHS to reject all initial applications, advance parole apps, and to issue DACA and work permits for only one year rather than two. This was the Trump administration’s effort to further get rid of or slow down DACA. (Gross, I know.)
What changed in the DACA Timeline?
- Well guess what?! November 2020 a ruling comes out that says Wolf wasn’t LAWFULLY serving as acting secretary of homeland security because he wasn’t appointed by the senate which is the legal way. Therefore meaning Wolf has no legal authority and his little memo means nothing. Muahaha.
- December 4 2020 the court formally vacated the memo and ordered DHS to let it be known they are reinstating DACA to the beautiful Napolitano Memo days (The original executive order regarding DACA.)
- On December 7 2020 USCIS published that INITIAL DACA, ADVANCE PAROLE applications are back. And DACA and work permits are for a two-year period again. In the meantime, the Trump administration is trying to get Wolf properly appointed before the Biden Harris inauguration. Soooo there’s that…
- If you would like more information on immigration law or any other legal matter, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, please give us a call at 704-900-0336. Remember, we offer free consultations five days a week.
If you would like more information on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, you can visit the Department of Homeland Security’s website or click the following link: https://www.dhs.gov/news/2020/12/07/update-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals
Our Services:
At Schehr Law PLLC, we offer an extensive range of services in the area of Immigration law. Specifically, we work in the areas of Immigration Defense as well as Family Based Immigration. You can check out all of our services here. We also have another post which details why it is important to hire an immigration lawyer. You can find that post here. If you have additional questions you can give us a call. We also offer free consultations for immigration cases.