Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

On June 15, 2012, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced that certain people who came to the United States as children and meet several guidelines may request consideration of deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal. This program became known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and it made those who qualified as DACAs eligible for work authorization.

Deferred action is a use of prosecutorial discretion to defer removal action against an individual for a certain period of time. Deferred action does not provide lawful status.

On September 5, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security initiated the orderly phase out of the DACA program. DHS provided a limited, six-month window during which it will consider certain requests for DACA and applications for work authorization, under specific parameters.

The DHS will only adjudicate DACA renewal requests for current beneficiaries whose benefits will expire between September 5, 2017, and March 5, 2018. If your EAD expires between those dates, your renewal application must have been received by October 5, 2017, to be adjudicated.

Initial requests for DACA (for people who have never benefited from the program before), will no longer be accepted by the Department of Homeland Security. If you filed an initial request for an EAD on or before September 5, 2017, the agency should adjudicate the application if it was properly filed.

Advance parole (travel document) requests associated with DACA will no longer be approved, regardless of when Form I-131 was filed.

President Maloney’s Statement on DACA

In a September 7, 2017, email to the campus, President Barry M. Maloney said he stands with a “growing number of college and university presidents and Massachusetts officials” in opposition to phasing out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy. The email was sent in response to the Trump Administration announcing its intention to phase out the policy in six months, if Congress does not act to change it.

“In the meantime,” wrote President Maloney, “we are actively pursuing measures to ensure that the protections afforded by DACA are maintained here in Massachusetts.” He attached a letter that the state university Council of Presidents (COP) sent to Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Stanley Rosenberg calling on them to pass a bill supported by the COP that would ensure that DACA students living in Massachusetts would continue to qualify for in-state tuition rates.
Maloney asked that fellow students, faculty, and staff to “lend support to anyone who feels affected by the announcement of the policy change, and strive to reflect our strategic plan’s core value of being an open and inclusive campus.”

Resources for Educators

• American Federation of Teachers Guide for Educators and School Support Staff
• American Council on Education's Immigration Post-Election Q&A: DACA Students, “Sanctuary Campuses” and Institutional or Community Assistance
• Center for Immigration Studies
• Migration Policy Institute
• Urban Institute: Immigrants and Immigration
• Curriculum for the film "Documented"

Statements in Support of DACA

• Statement from State Universities of Massachusetts
• National Association for Multicultural Education: NAME Statement on Ethnic Studies, Joe Arpaio and DACA
• Massachusetts Community Colleges and Boston Public Schools Joint Statement in Support of DACA
• Commissioner Carlos E. Santiago's Statement on DACA Students
• WSU MSCA Chapter Declares Support for Students Affected by Travel Ban

General Information

• We Are Here to Stay - Resources
• United We Dream - Help
• Immigrant Legal Resource Center: What do I need to know about the end of DACA?
• Immigrants Rising: Working for Yourself
• Connecticut Students for a Dream: Scholarship List
• Student Immigrant Movement