DACA reopens for first-time applicants, but there is no guidance yet from USCIS

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program reopened Wednesday for first-time applicants. However, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website still lacks guidance, meaning no new applications are being processed as of now.

In January 17, 2025 the 5th Circuit Court ruled that DACA, the two-year renewable deferment of deportation and work permit, would open for first-time applicants in all 50 states for people who came to the United States as children and qualify under certain requirements. It would also end work permit access for DACA recipients in Texas, keeping only the deportation protections. 

This is a bittersweet moment for activists and potential DACA recipients, mainly at a moment when immigration is a targeted issue in the Trump administration. DACA has been endangered several times and for years it has prohibited many youth from submitting their initial application. 

Approximately 90,000 first-time applications have been pending since 2021, which could delay new applications from being processed quickly, indicates United We Dream (UWD), a national organization that advocates for undocumented youth and their families. 

Juliana Macedo, UWD deputy director of federal advocacy, said the DACA new applications process is official as of Wednesday. 

“The decision says that DACA is supposed to be reopened, meaning that initial applications are supposed to be not only accepted by USCIS, but processed and adjudicated,” she said.

Seek legal advice

Macedo said they encourage people to talk to a legal service provider or an immigration attorney to learn about the risks in applying due to the fact that this administration has been very anti-immigrant.

“When applying for DACA basically you're turning yourself into the government,” she said. “You're saying, ‘I'm undocumented, but could you please not deport me for the next two years and give me a work permit?’”

Angélica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), said in California specifically there are several organizations and groups that offer free and low cost legal advice. CHIRLA also encourages young people to obtain proper information before making a decision.  

Immigrants in fear

A new report by the Urban Institute revealed that about 17% of adults in all immigrant families with children and 32% in mixed-status families with children worried “a lot” or “some” about doing one or more essential activities such as driving, talking to police, seeking health care services or taking their children to school or daycare.

The Urban Institute’s recently released “Immigrant Families Express Worry as They Prepare for Policy Changes” report shows the experiences immigrant families are facing since the moment Donald Trump took office. 

The researchers found that adults in immigrant families worried about participating in essential activities, reported taking protective steps to prepare for a potential change in their or a family member’s immigration status and had concerns about deportation.