DACA recipients are increasingly feeling more uncertainty as the fate of the immigration program protecting them from deportation continues to be challenged in court — at a time when President Donald Trump is pushing his administration to carry out “the largest deportation program in American history."
Under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, eligible undocumented young adults who came to the United States as children have been allowed to work and study without fear of deportation since 2012, when an executive action by President Barack Obama created the program.
DACA has been hanging by a thread for the past seven years as legal challenges from the first Trump administration and nine Republican-led states have made their way through the courts.
Last month, an appeals court ruled against parts of the DACA program but allowed it to remain in effect for current beneficiaries as the case continues.
With that court decision expected to be appealed and reach the Supreme Court — which could rule against the Obama-era program — DACA recipients worry the end of their protections could mean they could face deportation.
The Trump administration has already ended a number of other immigration protections, including the CBP One app, refugee programs and Temporary Protected Status — all of which allowed recent migrants and immigrants to remain in the United States legally as many sought asylum or adjustments to their immigration status.
“That’s adding to a lot of the fear and worry,” Anabel Mendoza, interim director of communications at United We Dream, the nation’s largest immigrant youth-led network, told NBC News.
“That continued uncertainty about what is going to happen in the courts always makes it so that there’s a sense of knowing that things can change overnight with DACA," Mendoza said.
Protections — for now
DACA recipients are still protected from deportation as long as they continue to renew their status on schedule, according to the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which has been representing DACA recipients in the legal challenges.
As the Trump administration ramps up its immigration crackdown, beneficiaries who fail to renew their DACA status in a timely manner are left in particularly vulnerable positions by losing their protection against deportation.
“Even if you have DACA, that doesn’t mean that you are off the table,” Mendoza said, “especially when you have an administration that has been so vocal about the fact that they see anybody who is an undocumented immigrant, who came to this country undocumented, as having done wrong and as being a target.”
There was a renewed sense of fear among DACA recipients after a middle school teacher was deported to Honduras last month. The United Teachers of Dade union told NBC Miami that the teacher, 24, who was not identified by name, had protection under DACA. It’s unclear whether the teacher had it when he was deported or whether it had expired, Mendoza said, adding that it is most likely one of the first deportation cases involving a DACA recipient in recent memory.
That’s why it's so important for DACA recipients to renew their status on time, Mendoza said. “They need to be continuing to renew and honestly renewing the sooner the better.”
What will Trump do?
Polls and surveys have consistently shown that most U.S. adults favor granting permanent legal status and a pathway to citizenship to DACA recipients and “Dreamers,” who are also undocumented young adults who came to the United States as children but were left out of the DACA program.
The White House didn't respond to a request for comment. Trump said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” in December that he wanted to work with Democrats and Republicans on a plan “to do something about the Dreamers.”
High-profile Trump supporters like the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, an influential conservative Latino evangelical, seem to have taken such comments to mean the current Trump administration “will work on finding a solution for Dreamers” if DACA is permanently terminated. In an interview last week, Rodriguez said he believes Trump will work to find “a pathway to legalize” Dreamers.
But Mendez and other DACA supporters say they haven't yet gotten any indication that's what the administration plans to do.
After all, the lengthy legal battle that has put DACA at risk started when Trump sought to end it in 2017, an effort the Supreme Court blocked in 2020.
Many of the Republican-led states trying to terminate the program in federal court are in line with Trump’s immigration policies.
Though the Trump administration has promised to prioritize deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records, immigration officials have said that any undocumented person may be arrested during enforcement actions.
Building a life — and wanting 'to stay'
DACA has been closed for new applicants since the legal challenges began, shutting out an estimated 400,000 people who could have benefited from it. But for about 580,000 existing DACA recipients and their families, the future remains uncertain.
Sandra Avalos, 36, was brought to the United States from Mexico in 1996, when she was 7 years old. She has called Texas her home ever since.
A college graduate, a homeowner and a mother to a teenager, Avalos has made a career in the nonprofit sector, working with first-generation college students and immigrants. In 2015, the year she battled thyroid cancer, she applied for DACA.
Avalos has been consistently renewing her DACA status for the past nine years. The protection, she said, has allowed her to build a career, have a driver's license and feel safe from deportation when she takes her son to school.
"I want to stay in this country," Avalos said. "I want to see my kid go through with high school, finish, graduate and then go off to college. I want to be here for all of that."
"At this time," Avalos said, "it's kind of difficult to see that there is an opportunity for us."
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