DACA – Timeline

America is a land of opportunity. Therefore, thousands of foreigners from all over the world yearn to come to the country to be able to build a promising future for their beloved ones. However, there are people who decide to cross the borders without prior authorization, which is undoubtedly an extremely dangerous journey and, on many occasions, they bring minors.

Immigrant children who entered the US without legal documentation are known as Dreamers. Throughout history, especially during the last decades, these young immigrants have become essential workers who are part of all kinds of sectors and constantly contribute to the local market. Nevertheless, Dreamers do not yet have a definitive path to legalization.

On June 15, 2012, in an attempt to protect young undocumented immigrants, the Barack Obama administration implemented a program called DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), which protects eligible Dreamers from deportation for two years with the possibility of extension.

However, DACA has not been entirely stable in recent years and is not yet a permanent solution for young workers. Let’s look at several important facts:

The Trump administration’s battle against DACA

The Donald Trump administration (2017-2021) always wanted to eradicate DACA from benefits offered to immigrant communities in the US, arguing that protecting foreigners who crossed borders without legal documentation was to reward a “crime”, regardless of whether they need international protection or are minors.

Therefore, former President Trump tried to remove this program, which protects more than 750,000 young immigrants, by all possible means.

Supreme Court intervenes

After a gigantic legal battle between the Trump administration and DACA advocates, the US Supreme Court intervened and, in June 2020, ruled in favor of Dreamers.

However, the Trump administration did not fully comply with the Supreme Court order. That is why, in December 2020, a lower court had to intervene again in the DACA case and ordered Trump to reinstate the program with its original guidelines, those outlined by the Obama administration. On this occasion, the Trump administration did comply with the verdict.

DACA still has a pending ruling

Despite the fact that DACA is currently functioning normally, Dreamers protected by this immigration benefit are still in limbo due to another legal process that was taking place simultaneously and has to do with a hearing scheduled in a Texas court at the end of 2020.

Broadly speaking, the Texas judge was supposed to review a petition about whether DACA is legitimate by itself or whether it does not meet the requirements to be a valid immigration program. In late March 2021, the judge in charge of the case postponed the ruling to review more evidence from both plaintiffs and defenders. This case is still pending.

The Biden administration brings hope for Dreamers

President Joe Biden, who took office in early 2021, brings a door of hope for Dreamers in general, not just DACA recipients, as his administration plans to offer them a path to legal residency and even citizenship, as long as it gets approval and support from Congress. Now, thousands of Dreamers await the possibility of obtaining legal documentation in the US.

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