Confusion Mounts Over DACA Deadline

As the Trump administration’s deadline for the DACA program has now come and gone, confusion still surrounds the seemingly arbitrary date. Lawmakers have continued to drag their feet and make no progress toward a bill that salvage DACA. The White House has taken no further action to end the program by the March 5 ^th deadline, despite its pledge to subject the some 700,000 DACA participants, or “Dreamers,” to deportation, absent congressional action to the contrary. Meanwhile, two federal district courts, in San Francisco and New York, have blocked Trump’s efforts to rescind the program, thereby forcing the federal government to continue accepting renewal DACA applications. Meanwhile, the administration appealed the federal courts’ decisions, taking the unusual step of directing its pleas directly to the U.S. Supreme Court, who recently declined to weigh in on the situation, thus leaving the court rulings intact. In the midst of this chaos are the Dreamers themselves, who now are residing in legal limbo, given the expiration of Trump’s deadline. They are fearful that they suddenly will be subject to deportation. They make no future plans, as their ability to drive and work legally in the U.S. continues to be uncertain. More importantly, they have no means of obtaining green cards or becoming U.S. citizens, even though they have been living in the U.S. since childhood and often have no recollection of having lived in their native countries. Even worse, some DACA recipients fear speaking out on the issue, because Immigration and Customs Enforcement has appeared to target those individuals who have done so. Whether you or a loved one is a DACA program participant or not, if ICE has detained a loved one, contacting an experienced California immigration attorney as quickly as possible can be essential to securing his or her release and fighting deportation. Taking steps to fix an immigration problem from the outset is often much simpler than waiting until the last minute and attempting to remedy the situation. Call Landerholm Immigration, A.P.C., at (510) 756-4468 today, and learn what we can do to help you through this situation.