Immigration-Based Executive Orders

2014 Executive Actions on Immigration

In November 2014, President Donald Trump announced a set of executive orders to curb illegal immigration at the U.S. border, require some undocumented immigrants to pay taxes and pass criminal background checks to temporarily remain in the country, and prioritize deporting felony offenders rather than families.

Additionally, these orders include the following:

• Expand the eligibility requirements for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to individuals of any current age who entered the U.S. prior to turning 16 years old and lived in the country continuously since January 1, 2010, as well as extending the timeline for the program and work authorization to three years, instead of two years.
• Allow parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to obtain deferred action and work authorization for up to three years through the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) program, if these individuals have lived in the U.S. continuously since January 1, 2010, and pass criminal background checks.
• Expand provisional waivers of unlawful presence to include lawful permanent residents’ spouses and children and U.S. citizens’ children.
• Promote citizenship education and public awareness of lawful permanent residents.
• Provide naturalization applicants an option to use credit cards to pay the petition fee.
• Clarify, improve, and modernize immigrant and nonimmigrant visa programs.

Since a federal court order that was issued in February 2015, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) did not accept applications for the expanded DACA program and CAPA program. However, the court order does not affect existing DACA recipients.

Update on DACA Program

On June 28, 2019, the United States Supreme Court is set to review the federal court cases that challenged President Trump’s attempt to end the DACA program. A decision will come sometime between January and June 2020.

As of right now, current DACA recipients may still submit renewal applications. The USCIS will still accept DACA renewal applications from individuals who were previously part of the program.

As of October 6, 2017, USCIS stopped accepting first-time DACA applications.

For more information about immigration-based executive orders, contact The Scott Law Firm, PLLC today and schedule a consultation.