11 years of Dreamers

More than 800,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children have grown up across the country even as their protection under an Obama-era program is threatened by the courts. Why it matters: It's been 11 years since the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program launched in June of 2012 to provide work permits and protection from deportation for these so-called "Dreamers." The program survived efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle it, but Congress has yet to provide the population any certainty about their future legal status. The Biden administration has tried to fortify the policy against legal challenges, but a Texas judge could soon end DACA's protections for more than half a million beneficiaries. Between the lines: Polling shows that Americans widely support providing Dreamers legal status. That included more than half of Republicans in a 2020 Pew Research Center survey. Efforts to turn that support into U.S. law have been repeatedly stalled in Congress. The large number of migrants and asylum seekers illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has made Republicans less likely to get behind bills offering protection to Dreamers and other vulnerable groups without first juicing border security. By the numbers: As of the end of 2022, there were more than 580,000 active participants in the DACA program, according to U.S. government data. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.