By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Homeland Security has rolled out a plan to deal with the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
The agency won’t accept new DACA applications for deferments or two-year work permits unless they are already in the pipeline, the New York Post reports. For those that have been submitted already, Homeland Security will consider them on a case-by-case basis.
DACA recipients may apply for renewal if they submit the application by Oct. 5.
By March 6, 2020, the federal government will phase out the program.
The Post wrote:
Once a permit expires, a person will not be “considered lawfully present in the US” and will be subject to deportation, the DHS said.
Their “removal will no longer be deferred and they will no longer be eligible for lawful employment,” the agency said.
The law as it stands now does not grant DACA recipients, also known as “Dreamers,” any legal status — unless Congress amends the existing immigration laws.
But the DHS said persons whose permits have expired will not be targeted, and federal immigration enforcement agencies will continue to focus on people who are known criminals or national security threats.
“Our enforcement posture has not changed. We still are prioritizing criminal aliens, illegal re-entrants — in other words persons who have been previously removed — and those persons with standing orders for removal,” a senior DHS official told reporters. “There is no plan at this time to target persons outside those parameters. Persons who are currently in (DACA), their DACA remains in effect if encountered during law enforcement operations.”
