The DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program turned 10 years old in June 2022 and continues to face legal challenges across the country which are putting the program’s future viability in question. A Federal judge in Texas found the program illegal last year and tens of thousands of applicants are in work and deportation limbo while their applications are pending.
A lawsuit filed just last month by migrants in New York asks that the work status of almost 80,000 migrants be protected if they filed their applications between a Supreme Court ruling in 2020 and the Texas ruling in July 2021. The suit alleges that first time application processing should not have been suspended per previous rulings.
Estimates suggest that approximately 25% of undocumented high school graduates in the class of 2022 are eligible for DACA in its current form. Nationally, there are currently over 600,000 DACA
