DACA renewal requests affected by USPS service delays

ON September 5, 2017, United States Attorney General Jeffrey Sessions formally announced the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) program, which has protected from deportation nearly 800,000 young, undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. The DACA program also provided them with legal work authorization, allowing them to enroll in post-secondary education, and to work and contribute to our society economically and culturally.

Subsequently, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) announced that it will stop processing any initial DACA accepted after September 5, 2017. Any applications already accepted by this date will be processed. DHS indicated that current beneficiaries of DACA will not be impacted before March 5, 2018. This is to give Congress the “time to deliver on appropriate legislative solutions.” DHS has also announced that it plans to continue to accept DACA renewal applications for any DACA beneficiary whose status expires between September 5, 2017 and March 5, 2018, so long as these applications are accepted by October 5, 2017. Any applications received after October 5 will be rejected. In addition, DACA recipients whose valid employment authorization document is lost, stolen or destroyed may still request a replacement through the normal process. However, DHS will no longer adjudicate advance parole request associated with DACA, any that are currently pending will be administratively closed and filing fees refunded.

Recently, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received reports that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has identified USPS mail service delays that affected a number of renewal applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Because the DACA policy has been rescinded and individuals can no longer request deferred action under DACA, and in light of the mail service delays identified by USPS, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke has directed USCIS to accept DACA renewal requests from individuals who resubmit their DACA renewal request with individualized proof that the request was originally mailed in a timely manner and that the cause for receipt after the October 5, 2017, deadline was the result of USPS mail service error.

Affected DACA requestors who do not have such proof may contact USPS, which will review the cases on an individual basis and provide a letter if appropriate. USCIS will not accept requests that do not include individualized proof that the request was originally mailed in a timely manner to be received by the October 5 deadline, and that the cause for receipt after the Oct. 5, 2017, deadline was the result of USPS mail service error.

In addition, USCIS had discovered certain cases in which the DACA requests were received at the designated filing location (e.g., at the applicable P.O. Box) by the filing deadline, but were rejected. USCIS will proactively reach out to those DACA requestors to inform them that they may resubmit their DACA request. If a DACA requestor does not receive such a notification and believes that his or her DACA request was received at the designated filing location by the filing deadline, he or she may resubmit his or her DACA request with proof that the request was previously received at the designated filing location on or before the filing deadline.

If you have filed for a renewal DACA Application and your file has been rejected, consult with a licensed immigration attorney regarding the proper steps to take in re-filing the rejected renewal DACA Application.

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Atty. Lilli Berbano Baculi is an associate attorney with Chua Tinsay & Vega, A Professional Legal Corporation (CTV) – a full service law firm with offices in San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento and Philippines. The information presented in this article is for general information only and is not, nor intended to be, formal legal advice nor the formation of an attorney-client relationship. Call or e-mail CTV for an in-person or phone consultation to discuss your particular situation and/or how their services may be retained at (619) 955-6277; (415) 495-8088; (916) 449-3923; [email protected]. For general information visit www.chuatinsayvega.com.