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Friday, Jul. 17, 2020

By law, are DACA recipients considered undocumented?

Allegra Taylor, Gigafact Foundry
no

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was established in 2012 to offer legal status for immigrants brought to the U.S. as children by parents who themselves did not have legal authorization. While the status must be renewed every two years, and the legal basis of the program has been under challenge for years, recipients can't be considered undocumented or illegal residents.

A recent Supreme Court recent ruling against a Trump Administration effort to terminate the program means that its 800,000 existing recipients may continue to renew the status. Administration officials have yet to clarify their plans for the program. Legal advisory organizations say they appear to not be accepting new applicants.

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