A rule to “preserve and fortify” Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has cleared White House review.

Key Points:

  • The text of the rule is not yet available.
  • The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed its review of the rule last week. This is the final step in the regulatory process before publication in the Federal Register.
  • The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will post the text of the regulation for public inspection at least one day before publishing it.
  • The rule will likely have a 60-day delayed effective date.
  • DHS proposed the regulation in September 2021 and received more than 16,000 comments on the proposal last fall.

Background: The Obama administration created DACA in 2012. While the program has strong support from employers, it has been the subject of extensive litigation. DHS crafted the regulation in part to protect the program from legal challenges; however; additional litigation is likely after the regulation is published.

BAL Analysis: Currently, DHS is adjudicating only renewal applications (DACA and employment authorization) and advance parole requests for existing DACA recipients. BAL continues to monitor developments related to DACA and will provide updates as information becomes available. For more information, please visit BAL’s DACA Resource Center here.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.

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