The State Of The DACA Program
By Staff Attorney Merkys Gomez
Since the inception of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program over eleven years ago, we have been fortunate to count on partnerships that have allowed us to serve a large number of applicants. And we are particularly grateful that two of our partners have been with us since the beginning – Perkins Coie and Microsoft.
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down our region, our clinic partners remained steadfast in their commitment to help DACA renewal applicants. Throughout the pandemic, we have been able to host legal clinics in a virtual format. These virtual clinics have also allowed us to reach all corners of our state, which took a lot of work to accomplish with in-person clinics. Recognizing the value of virtual clinics, we are continuing to work with our partners to find ways to maintain some form of a virtual clinic model as we begin to host in-person clinics this fall.
During the pandemic, we built our online DACA portal that allows people to sign up for our clinics anytime instead of only during business hours. It also keeps up to date on the latest status of the program. We’ve had significantly greater reach thanks to this new portal. Having these clinics has allowed us to stay true to our commitment to supporting people across Washington state – one of the top 10 states in the country for DACA recipients with over 15,000 recipients.
In addition to our clinics and online portal, NWIRP provides direct support to certain DACA applicants in uniquely challenging situations. During the pandemic, staff attorney Merkys Gomez supported a nurse who was at risk of losing her status and who was let go by her employer because a government agency failed to adjudicate her renewal application in time. Our client had been committed to helping people secure healthcare access, including administering COVID vaccinations to Spanish-speaking communities. And what had happened to her was not fair. Thankfully, we were able to rectify the issue and she was able to get her status renewed and her job back.
However, despite these accomplishments, our client communities are still facing challenges.
In September, a federal judge in Texas declared the revised DACA Program unlawful. While there is no immediate impact on the hundreds of thousands of people around the country who have been granted DACA, the Court’s ruling is deeply unfair to the tens of thousands of community members who have their initial DACA applications on hold or did not have the opportunity or ability to apply for DACA. As we have stated for many years, Congress must take immediate action to protect DACA recipients and all undocumented community members toward a path to citizenship.