DHS to Reject All Future DACA Applications as it Again Considers Fully Rescinding the Program

Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf issued a memorandum today, announcing his decision “to reject all pending and future initial requests for DACA”.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, is a policy providing deferred action to immigrants with no lawful immigration status “who were brought to this country as children”.

Back in 2018, President Trump’s administration moved for DACA to be rescinded as “the policy is contrary to law”, “and that it was not sound enforcement policy in multiple respects”. But a little more than one month ago, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration’s repeal of DACA violated the law and had to be vacated. The Supreme Court did however state the Department of Homeland Security may rescind DACA, just that the procedure in which it attempted to do so violated the law.

Now, “in response to the Supreme Court’s decision”, DHS Acting Secretary Wolf has “concluded that the DACA policy, at a minimum, presents serious policy concerns that may warrant its full rescission”. Before fully rescinding the policy, the Acting Secretary says the decision “warrants additional careful consideration”.

The memorandum also limits “the period of any deferred action granted pursuant to the DACA policy… to one year”.