TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — It’s been 11 years since the Obama Administration created DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
However, the future of the program remains up in the air as ongoing court battles have questioned the legality of the program.
Created as a way to legally live and work in the country for undocumented children brought to the U.S., Raymundo Montes said challenges for applicants have changed over the years.
“We’ll send the forms to immigration, immigration’s like, we’ve received your form, we accept the form, but unfortunately because of the Texas lawsuit, we’ll put this application on hold,” said Montes.
Montes is the DACA coordinator at Keep Tucson Together, a nonprofit working to stop deportations.
“Right now, DACA itself is not a secure thing,” said Montes.
Immigration lawyer, Mo Goldman, said because of recent court battles in the U.S. departing the legality of the program, has made it harder for new applicants.
“People who want to file for DACA right now for the first time, right now they’re not able to get it. Their case will be held. The only people who can get DACA renewed are the people who already have DACA,” said Goldman.
The Biden Administration has ruled to preserve the program, but a U.S. District Judge in Texas is expected to rule on DACA again in the coming days.
“You’ve got certain states that are trying to stop this program and have filed lawsuits to try to get injunctions and tried to get the prop program eliminated and so we see people who are still in this state of limbo,” said Goldman.
——-
Faith Abercrombie is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before coming to KGUN, Faith worked as a videographer for the Phoenix Children's Hospital Foundation and as a reporter and producer on the youth suicide documentary, "Life is..." on Arizona PBS.
Share your story ideas with Faith by emailing faith.abercrombie@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
