The Senior Staff Attorney at the National Immigration Center shares updates on immigration policy, including DACA and Dream bills.

1. CSULA, 2/1/18

2. CURRENT
CONTEXT
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3. Timeline
 June 15, 2012: Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) released a memo granting
two-year deferred action status to certain
young undocumented immigrants
 This was in response to organizing and
advocacy led by undocumented youth
 September 5, 2017: the Trump
administration announced the end of the
DACA program.
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4. Numbers
 Approximately 2.5 million
undocumented youth live in the
United States.
 Nearly 800,000 people have been
approved for DACA
 122 DACAmented people lose their
protections every day. Over 1,100 lose
their protection each day beginning
March 5th

5. Impact of DACA

6. DREAM BILLS
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7. Dream Act of 2017 (S.1615 & H.R.3440)
• Senate bill introduced by Sen. Lindsay
Graham (R-SC) and Sen. Richard Durbin
(D-IL).
• House of Reps. bill introduced by Rep.
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA-40) and Rep.
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL-27).
• Offers a path to citizenship
• Conditional permanent residency (CPR) (8 years)LPR
(5 years)eligible for naturalization (after a total of 13
years)

8. What Happened to Dream in January?
 Budget expired on December 8th, then on 22nd,
then on January 19th
 Budget is a must pass legislation that could have included Dream
 We asked for Congress to work together to pass a spending package
that addressed the most urgent needs of the nation, which includes
the Dream Act
 On January 19th, a Continuing Resolution (CR)
passed
 Extended current funding levels to February 9th
 Package did not include the Dream Act

9. Where is Dream Now?
 Bipartisan negotiations
 White House wishlist:
 DACA solution
 $25 billion for border wall
 Cut family immigration by 50%
 End to Diversity Visa Program

10. Impact of WH Proposal
 Latinx and black immigrants would be
roughly twice as likely to be barred by the
immigration cuts as white immigrants;
 The cuts would bar the majority of Muslim
and Catholic immigrants; and
 The cuts would substantially reduce the
number of university-graduate immigrants.
Expanded work visas would only add one
university graduate for every seven low-skill
workers removed by eliminating family visas
and Diversity Visas.

11. NATIONAL
DAYS OF
ACTION
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12. Message to Members of Congress
 The message remains the same but with a new date.
 Immigrant youth cannot wait any longer and cannot be used
as bargaining chips for an anti-immigrant agenda. Pass the
Dream Act by February 9th.
 Continue calling your Members of Congress and tell them to
pass the #DreamActNow.
 1-888-778-6856

13. We Need You!
• Listen to our Butterfly Collective podcast -
http://butterflystorycollective.libsyn.com/roy, &
subscribe (available on iTunes, Stitcher, Google
Play, Radio Public, and others)
• Call your member of Congress
• Visit http://weareheretostay.org
• Join local rallies and events
• Tell your friends!

14. Litigation to
Defend DACA
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15. NY Batalla Case
• Arguments:
• Administration’s decision to
terminate this long-standing
program without a reasoned
explanation violates a federal
statute
• Administration’s decision is
based on racial discrimination in
violation of the Constitution’s
equal protection clause

16. California Case
• Regents of the University of California v. DHS
• Includes 5 consolidated cases brought by:
• UC system
• States of CA, ME, MD, and MN
• City of San Jose
• 6 individual DACA recipients
• County of Santa Clara & SEIU Local 521

17. Preliminary injunction
• What did the court hold?
• DACA is legal.
• “Substantial likelihood” that the termination of DACA was unlawful, in part
because DHS didn’t think about the effect of ending DACA for DACA
recipients & families, communities, employers
• What did the court order the government to do?
• Accept DACA applications from individuals who have previously had DACA
• Provide notice of opportunity to submit renewal applications & create process for
accepting applications

18. Court Order
• What didn’t the court order the government to do?
• No requirement to provide advance parole, but government may consider advance parole
in its discretion
• The government may:
• take administrative steps “to make sure fair discretion is exercised on an individual basis for each
renewal application”
• deport anyone, including a DACA recipient, “who it determines poses a risk to national security
or public safety, or otherwise deserves, in its judgment, to be removed.”
• BUT the government must keep records of its actions on all “DACA-related applications”
and provide summary reports to the court and the attorneys in that case on the first
business day of each quarter.
• This monitoring will likely mitigate any concerns about the “administrative steps to ensure
fair discretion” or ability to deport people above.

19. Next Steps
• CA Litigation:
• Appeal to the 9th Cir. Court of Appeals and
Supreme Court
• NY Litigation:
• Hearing on Jan. 30th for preliminary relief
• Could provide a second injunction reinstating
DACA
• If successful, could also expand scope of injunction
to include new DACA applications
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20. What does this
mean for the Dream
Act?
The Dream Act is
just as urgent and
important!

21. What Existing DACA Recipients
Should Do Now
• Prepare your renewal materials:
 Obtain 2 passport-sized photographs
 Make a copy of your Employment Authorization Document (EAD) card
 Write down all addresses you have lived at since you last applied for DACA
 Obtain any documents for any criminal or immigration-related issues that
you have experienced.
 If you fall in this category – please see an immigration attorney or
BIA-accredited representative prior to applying!

22. Resources
• Court Orders DHS to Allow Individuals with DACA to Apply to Renew It:
https://www.nilc.org/issues/daca/daca-preliminary-injunction-regents-v-dhs/
• Top 5 Reasons Why the Dream Act Can’t Wait Until 2018: www.nilc.org/5-reasons-
dream-act-cant-wait-til-2018/
• Dream Act 2017: Summary and Answers to Frequently Asked Questions:
www.nilc.org/dream-act-2017-summary-and-faq/
• Support Clean Dream Act webpage (with link to video and one-pager):
www.nilc.org/support-clean-dream-act/
• 2017 Legislation to Protect DACA Recipients/Immigrant Youth:
https://www.nilc.org/issues/immigration-reform-and-executive-
actions/dreamact/daca-related-2017-legislation/

23. Questions?
Shiu-Ming Cheer
Senior Staff Attorney & Field Coordinator
213.674.2833
cheer@nilc.org
National Immigration Law Center
www.nilc.org