Immigration officials outline plans to accept new DACA applicants

Source: CBS News

September 30, 2025 / 12:42 PM EDT


Federal immigration officials have revealed plans to reopen the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to new applicants to comply with a court order, though they cautioned the Trump administration retains the discretion to modify the Obama-era policy.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has made plans to accept and process new DACA applications from immigrants not enrolled in the initiative, which currently allows more than half a million so-called "Dreamers" to live and work in the U.S. without fear of deportation, the Justice Department said in a court filing Monday.

Dreamers are immigrants who, as children, entered the U.S. illegally or overstayed their visas. The Obama administration created DACA in 2012 to protect this population from deportation amid congressional gridlock on immigration reform. Due to litigation, DACA has been closed to new applicants since 2021, though existing beneficiaries have been able to renew their two-year work permits.

To qualify for DACA, applicants must show they arrived in the U.S. by age 16 and before June 2007; that they enrolled in an American high school or enlisted in the military; and lack any serious criminal record. The announcement that DACA could be reopened pending a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen was outlined in a Justice Department court filing in the years-long legal battle over the policy.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/daca-applications-immigration-officials/