A second chance for late DACA applications
On Behalf of Coughlon Law Firm, PLLC. | Nov 22, 2017 | US Immigration Law
In what is likely to be heralded as good news in many sectors of Arizona, hundreds of DACA renewal applicants that were said to have missed the October 5th deadline will have the chance to reapply. It came to light that many did, in fact, submit their applications on time, but unexplained Postal Service slowdowns caused their applications to arrive after the deadline.
The Trump administration initially commented that more than 4,000 immigrants missed the deadline for the two-year extension of protection under the DACA program. This program was scheduled to shut down in September 2017 and has an official end date of March 5, 2018.
However, multiple new sources investigated and found that many applicants did have applications in on time. Once this came to light, the Department of Homeland Security announced that those individuals would have a chance to reapply for their renewal. Of course, under US immigration law, simply applying does not mean that the renewal applications will be approved, but at least the applicants will have a chance for their applications to be reviewed instead of simply rejected.
Some feel that this reversal may be an attempt on the part of the Trump administration to show that they did not shut down the DACA program in a capricious manner. It is likely that the decision to accept late applications will be a feature of the argument made by the federal government in lawsuits fighting the DACA shutdown.
An immigration attorney may be able to help those looking to legally immigrate to the United States. They should be able to provide individuals who are having problems with their DACA applications the assistance they need. Immigration attorneys work with their clients to help them see if they’re eligible for family-based or employment-based immigration, depending on their circumstances. They may assist with deportation defense, asylum, family immigration and naturalization.
