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DACA Recipients: Get Your Applications in Now Before the Deadline

BY Rob Samuelson October 4, 2017

DREAMers across the country must file new paperwork in order to reapply for what appears to be the last round of DACA deportation protections. The deadline is Thursday, October 5. Some DACA recipients are racing to meet the deadline, even going so far as overnighting the paperwork. If they don't reapply in time, there could be some serious consequences. https://www.facebook.com/BetterConversationBetterEducation/videos/699001626965202/ There are approximately 800,000 DACA recipients and 150,000 of them need to renew to avoid potential deportation. As of September 7, 96,000 of those DACA recipients still had not submitted renewal applications. As of this writing, nobody is sure if or when Congress will take up the legislation or if they would follow President Donald Trump's wishes of protecting only current DACA recipients. The Trump administration plans to phase out the program as of March 5, 2018. Those DACA recipients who are legally in the clear on that date would then be protected from deportation for up to two years, but the uncertainty and slowness of Congress' legislating (especially in an election year, which 2018 is) could make life extra difficult for these students and young adults who did nothing wrong. DACA, short for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was established in 2012 by the Obama administration. Because it's an Executive Branch program rather than a law passed by Congress, it can change with the president, as is the case with Trump. So to all you DREAMers out there in our schools and classrooms, get your applications in on time and let's keep pushing Congress to do right by you.

Photo by Molly Adams, CC-licensed.