The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling on the DACA memo as of October 5, 2022: ​
The decision does not change current USCIS operations. USCIS will continue to accept and process renewal DACA requests, initial DACA requests will not be processed. If you are seeking advice about how to proceed after this decision, please contact an immigration attorney or accredited representative. Email our attorney at: alexandracarl@lawclef.org
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CLEF believes in providing free legal services to Chicago’s undeserved communities. Our community lawyering model is specifically tailored to the unique needs of high-barrier populations in Chicago.

By using schools and libraries as community centers, and providing legal services in those locations, CLEF helps low-income families more easily identify and locate the legal help they need. With our educational components, we further address their needs by using the unique access to schools and their communities.

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Our programs have a varied throughout the years as our organization has grown. We have managed housing, immigration and juvenile criminal expungement initiatives throughout different minority-low-income neighborhoods in Chicago. 

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DACA UPDATES

What's This DACA “Final Rule” I Heard About?
On October 31, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security’s final DACA rule went into effect. It’s called the “final rule” because it was announced to the public beforehand, and the public was given an opportunity to comment on it, before it was implemented. This didn’t happen with the original DACA policy, which is partially why the district court declared that DACA was created illegally in July 2021.
What does this final rule change for DACA holders and DACA applicants?
Nothing at this time. Current DACA holders will continue to qualify under the new rule, and the eligibility and evidence requirements will not be changed for DACA applicants, if the court ever allows the government to process new DACA applications again.
What’s going on with DACA in court?
On July 16, 2021, a federal district court in Texas ruled that the DACA program was created illegally, and therefore, the government cannot process any new DACA applications. However, the court said that, because so many people already have and rely on DACA, renewals can continue for people who already had DACA before the court decision was announced. The government appealed this decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. On October 5, 2022, the Fifth Circuit Court ruled that it would uphold the district court’s decision to prevent the government from granting new DACA applications and allow renewals to continue. However, the appeals court sent the case back down to the district court, so that the district court could review the final rule. On October 14, 2022, the district court announced that its decision applies to the final rule as well. The next steps: the government will likely appeal the decision to the Fifth Circuit Court again, and then to the Supreme Court.
So what’s the current status of DACA?
People who currently have DACA can continue to renew, continue to work, and continue to apply for and travel with advance parole. New DACA applications will not be processed at this time.
What about DACA applications that were sent to the government, but not processed, before the July 16, 2021 court decision?
We don’t know what will end up happening with these applications at this time. When we know, we will absolutely reach out!

ACTUALIZACIONES DE DACA

¿Qué es esta “regla final” de DACA de la que hablan?
El día 31 de octubre del 2022, la regla final del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional sobre DACA entró en vigor. Se llama “la regla final” porque fue anunciada al público de antemano, y el público fue dado la oportunidad de comentar, antes de que fuera implementado. Eso no pasó con la política original de DACA, por lo cual (en parte) la corte distrital declaró que DACA fue creado ilegalmente en julio del 2021.
¿Qué cambia esta regla final para personas con DACA y aplicantes para DACA?
Actualmente, nada. Las personas que ya tienen DACA seguirán calificando bajo la nueva regla, y los requisitos de elegibilidad y evidencia no cambiarán para nuevos aplicantes, si algún día la corte deja que el gobierno procese nuevas aplicaciones otra vez.
¿Qué pasa ahora con DACA en la corte?
El día 16 de julio del 2021, una corte federal distrital en Texas declaró que el programa DACA fue creado ilegalmente, y por eso, el gobierno ya no puede procesar nuevas aplicaciones para DACA. Sin embargo, la corte dijo que, porque tantas personas ya tienen y dependen en DACA, las renovaciones pueden continuar para las personas que ya tenían DACA antes de la decisión de la corte fue anunciada. El gobierno apeló esta decisión al Quinta Tribunal del Circuito de Apelaciones. El 5 de octubre del año 2022, esta corte declare que ratificaría la decisión de la corte distrital de prevenir el gobierno de conceder nuevas aplicaciones de DACA y de dejar que las renovaciones sigan. Sin embargo, la corte de apelas devolvió el caso a la corte distrital otra vez, para que esa corte podía revisar la regla final. El 14 de octubre de 2022, la corte distrital anunció que su decisión aplica también a la regla final. Los próximos pasos: es probable que el gobierno apelará la decisión al Quinta Tribunal otra vez, y luego, a la Corte Suprema.
¿Qué es el estatus actual de DACA?
Las personas que actualmente tienen DACA pueden seguir renovando, trabajando, y aplicando por permiso adelantado de viajar. Nuevas aplicaciones por DACA no serán procesadas en este momento.
¿Qué pasa con las aplicaciones que se mandaron al gobierno, pero no ya no han sido procesadas, antes de la decisión de la corte del 16 de julio de 2022?
Todavía no se sabe qué pasará con estas aplicaciones. Cuando sepamos algo de eso, ¡estaremos en contacto!