Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals has existed since 2012, but for years who may apply and what the grant includes have been set less by the agency than by court orders. The result is a program that renews existing grants while first-time requests cannot be approved.
Quick Facts
- What DACA is: deferred action, a form of prosecutorial discretion, plus eligibility for work authorization
- Initial requests: may be filed but, under court order, cannot be granted
- Renewals: being accepted and processed as of mid-2026
- Key ruling: Texas v. United States, No. 23-40653 (5th Cir. Jan. 17, 2025)
What DACA is
DACA is deferred action: a discretionary decision by DHS not to pursue removal of a person for a period of time, renewable in two-year increments. It confers no lawful status. Recipients can also obtain work authorization. The policy began with a 2012 memorandum and was codified in a 2022 regulation.
The orders that shaped it
- 2020, the rescission. The Supreme Court held that the 2017 attempt to end DACA was arbitrary and capricious because the agency did not consider important aspects of the problem, including recipients’ reliance interests (DHS v. Regents of the University of California, 591 U.S. 1 (2020)).
- 2021 onward, Texas. A federal district court in Texas held the program unlawful and barred USCIS from granting initial requests, while allowing renewals to continue.
- January 17, 2025, the Fifth Circuit. The court of appeals agreed that the work-authorization part of the program is unlawful but narrowed the injunction: it applies only in Texas, the one plaintiff state that proved standing, and only to work authorization, leaving the forbearance from removal intact (Texas v. United States, No. 23-40653).
Where things stand
As of mid-2026, the district court had not yet entered a modified order carrying out the Fifth Circuit’s decision. USCIS was accepting and processing renewal requests, with the accompanying work permits, in every state including Texas. First-time requests could be filed but not granted. If the district court implements the Fifth Circuit’s ruling as written, recipients in Texas could lose the ability to renew work authorization while keeping protection from removal.
Why it is a court-order story
DACA shows how much of immigration policy is now set by the scope of injunctions: which states are covered, which parts of a program are enjoined, and whether relief reaches only the parties. That question runs through Nationwide Injunctions After Trump v. CASA.
Sources
- Texas v. United States, No. 23-40653 (5th Cir. Jan. 17, 2025)
- DHS v. Regents of the University of California, 591 U.S. 1 (2020)
- USCIS, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
- National Immigration Forum, Current Status of DACA