DACA Applications Rejected

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Following the complaint by New York and Illinois attorneys that the application forms to renew the DACA of dozens of youths had been rejected due to a mistake by the Postal Service, the Immigration and Citizenship Service (USCIS) changed of decision and announced that it will consider the applications affected.

The problem came to light when The New York Times reported last week that attorneys for at least 33 youth in the New York area and 41 in Illinois were accusing emails of delays in delivering the renewal of their clients.

The youth were covered by the mandate of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and were seeking to renew their immigration status before the October 5 deadline.

The affected applications arrived at the USCIS reception center on the indicated day and others were in the post office boxes, but were rejected because they were delivered at the wrong time.

The Postal Service publicly apologized and admitted that there had been an anomaly in the delivery of the documents that had made them late. Despite them, USCIS ruled that its decision to reject late applications was "final."

In a change of heart, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke now says that the review of applications will be subject to applicants submitting evidence that the mail was responsible for the delays and that the documents were indeed sent with sufficient advance.

According to the Times, some 132,000 young people have applied to renew their status since the announcement of DACA's cancellation. Of these, some 4,000 were rejected, although it is unknown how many of them are connected to the problem with emails.

Originally, reports of delays in the postal service emerged in New York and Washington. Now the number of complaints has risen to 115 with new complaints in Texas, Wisconsin, Washington State, North Carolina and Michigan, according to the newspaper.