U.S. District Court Issued a Decision Finding DACA Unlawful

On Sept. 13, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued a decision finding DACA unlawful and expanding the original July 16, 2021 injunction and order of vacatur to cover the Final Rule. However, the court maintained a partial stay of the order for “all DACA recipients who received their initial DACA status prior to July 16, 2021.” For these individuals, renewals will continue to be possible. USCIS has indicated as follows:

Accordingly, current grants of DACA and related Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) remain valid until they expire, unless individually terminated.  In accordance with this decision, USCIS will continue to accept and process DACA renewal requests and accompanying applications for employment authorization under the DACA regulations at 8 CFR 236.22 and 236.23, as it has since October 31, 2022. We will also continue to accept initial DACA requests, but in accordance with the District Court’s order, we will not process initial DACA requests. 

Please contact our office if you have any questions or concerns with this recent court ruling.