SAN FRANCISCO – A group of national and Bay Area-based immigrant rights groups filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request yesterday to demand answers from the Trump Administration on its operation of the popular Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Over the past several months, reports have stacked up from DACA recipients facing dramatic increases in normal processing times for renewals and work permits, sometimes resulting in them falling out of status.
The FOIA request seeks information about policy changes under the Trump Administration related to processing and adjudicating DACA renewals, as well as relevant data on DACA delays. It was filed by Justice Action Center, Immigration Institute of the Bay Area (IIBA), East Bay Sanctuary Covenant (EBSC), and Cornell Law School’s Path2Papers.
“I’ve been a DACA holder since 2012, and it allowed me to get a college education and start work as an aide in the special education program of a local school district. My DACA was set to expire in April 2026, so I applied for my DACA renewal 5 months ago, since that historically was plenty of time. I still haven’t received any notice, and my employer recently laid me off since I no longer have a valid work permit. I have two kids and don’t know how I will make ends meet without my work permit,” said “Sarahi,” DACA recipient. “Without my DACA, I also lose my driver’s license and Real ID, which puts me at increased risk of family separation and deportation to a country I haven’t been to for 25 years since I was brought here at 6 months old by my parents. I have filed taxes consistently since age 16 and have always followed all the rules. I’m extremely frustrated that I’m being prevented from working at a job that I love and supporting my children.”
“DACA beneficiaries are just the most recent group of immigrants to be targeted by the Trump administration with disastrous consequences for them and their families. The intent of the administration seems to be to continue to cause as much fear, confusion, and intimidation as possible,” said Kaveena Singh, Co-Executive Director, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant. “Many of the 1,000+ DACA clients we serve are single parents with kids – without a work permit and Real ID, they can’t pay their rent and are more vulnerable to deportation. EBSC will continue to do whatever we can to support Dreamers to have legal status.”
“IIBA supports nearly 2,500 DACA clients every year. They work in many fields, including education, healthcare, technology, government, and beyond,” IIBA Deputy Legal Director Shira Levine. “They’ve been supporting themselves and their families. Delays in DACA processing are not only affecting these individuals. They’re affecting children, families, and the wider community. Employers have had to lay off valued DACA employees, causing avoidable instability with no positive gain for anyone involved.”
“DACA renewal delays are not a bureaucratic inconvenience; they are a legal crisis with cascading consequences,” said Krsna Avila, Legal Director, Cornell Law School’s Path2Papers. “A single renewal gap can narrow or terminate a viable pathway towards employment-based immigration sponsorship, and unravel years of careful legal planning. Transparency about how and why these delays occur is essential to fixing them.”
“The Trump administration knows how popular DACA has been on both sides of the aisle, and we’re concerned that they are now trying to dismantle the program through a series of administrative cuts,” said Vanessa Rivas-Bernardy, Staff Attorney at Justice Action Center. “DACA recipients are being detained and wrongfully deported, and the consequences for our families are dire. We are demanding transparency and honesty for a community that has already done everything the government has asked of them for more than a decade. ”
Direct service providers and DACA recipients first noticed a jump in adjudication times earlier this calendar year. A source familiar with processing delays confirms that the concerns aren’t simply anecdotal: the Nebraska Service Center is currently processing expedited submissions from March 13 and has 7,300 pending congressional inquiries, the majority of which are DACA expedited requests.
The filing is available here.
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