Last week, a federal district court in California issued a nationwide order restoring renewals under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an Obama Administration executive initiative that the Trump Administration announced last fall it was phasing out, while giving Congress six months to come up with a permanent solution.
Under DACA, young undocumented aliens who reside in the U.S. and were brought by their parents to the country illegally as children, and who meet strict eligibility requirements, are permitted to work in the U.S. legally and avoid deportation for two years, with the option for renewal of DACA status. Many large employers support DACA and would like to see a long term solution.
The longer term impact of the court’s order partially restoring the DACA program is unclear, as the Trump Administration announced this week that it would vigorously challenge the ruling. In the meantime, efforts by Congress to come up with legislation that would ensure continuation of DACA in some form have stalled as the Administration and both Congressional Republicans and Democrats continue to spar over a consensus approach.
In light of these ongoing developments, and the uncertainty regarding where DACA is going, we thought this would be a good time to summarize the current status of DACA and provide some insight into the factors that are at play.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.