As of Sept. 4, the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan statistical area had 7,400 active DACA recipients, according to a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services report.
DACA is a type of immigration status created through an executive order signed by President Barack Obama in 2012, that gives people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children an opportunity to live and work here legally, according to USCIS.
DACA applicants must meet several age, education and criminal history screening requirements. They also must reapply every two years and cannot adjust their status to become a permanent citizen, according to USCIS.
On Sept. 5, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security announced no more first-time DACA applications would be accepted and the program would expire March 5. The phasing out of the program allowed for anyone with a DACA status that expired before March 5 to reapply one final time. Some approved renewals would continue until as late as March 2020.
Initially, DACA recipients whose status expired after March 5 were not permitted to renew it. This rule was suspended by two federal judges in early 2018, according to USCIS. These court orders allowed those DACA recipients to apply for renewal and allowed USCIS to continue to process renewal requests after the original March 5 deadline. The Supreme Court of The United States weighed in on the topic on Feb. 26 when it issued an order that it will not rule on the merits of DACA, meaning USCIS can continue to accept renewal requests until any new legislation is passed. This order does not mean however, that USCIS can begin accepting new applications again.
Austin-based immigration attorney Jason Finkelman said he has worked with employers across many industries who are worried about workers losing their DACA status should the program expire. He said DACA recipients have had little time to find other options.
“Once President [Donald] Trump terminated the DACA program, the phone was ringing off the hook,” Finkelman said. “I have lots of clients that are in the tech sector in North Austin and they have DACA recipients who are working for them, so they’re nervous about their employees,” Finkelman said.
Trump’s order to end the DACA program spurred ongoing debates in Congress over granting DACA recipients citizenship or allowing the program to expire.
Many conservative lawmakers are pushing for increased funding for border security in exchange for a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients, which some local officials said they hope will benefit those in the Northwest Austin area.
State Rep. Tony Dale, R-Cedar Park, said lawmakers should keep their focus on securing border security funding from the federal government. Dale said he wants to see increased security efforts come out of a federal immigration deal without putting too much of the burden on the state budget.
“In terms of the technology—whether that be physical barriers or electronics, air surveillance, whatever the case may be—the more of that obligation the federal government fulfills, presumably, the less the state would have to do,” Dale said.
A rush to reapply
While compromises are being negotiated in Congress, Robert Painter, an attorney with American Gateways, a North Austin-based nonprofit immigration legal service, said he advises his DACA-eligible clients their DACA renewal application’s approval hinges on federal legislation.
“For the folks that are [eligible], we’re trying to get them in here to get those applications in as quickly as possible,” Painter said. “If something changes, there’s a possibility that their application could sit in a limbo period for a while while the courts figure this out.”
He said he also warns his clients they will not be refunded the $495 DACA application fee if the program is terminated or their application is rejected.
Juan Belman, a DACA recipient who came to the U.S. from Mexico with his parents when he was a child, grew up in Austin and attended The University of Texas. He continues to work in Austin, helping immigrants find legal counsel, secure visas and understand their rights under U.S. immigration law. He said he hopes federal legislation will lead to a more permanent solution for residents who arrived here as children.
“It would be wonderful because it would mean an opportunity to continue to contribute to this community that we’ve been a part of,” Belman said.
A lack of options
Changes to immigration policy affect many Northwest Austin residents where DACA recipients are represented across industries, Finkelman said.
“From the tech world to marketing and advertising to entertainment to construction to accounting, you name it, they’re in every sector of our economy,” he said.
If the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, discovers that a company employs a person living in the U.S. illegally, the company can be punished, Finkelman said.
“[Employers] could face severe civil penalties and in some cases criminal penalties,” Finkelman said.
The U.S. offers many types of visas, but each comes with a specific set of requirements, Painter said. Some visas are granted for victims of crimes and others who are seeking asylum in the U.S. but the knowledge of immigration law required and the wait times associated with them can make them difficult to obtain, he said.
Many employment-based visas, such as H1B visas, require sponsorship from an employer and only a limited number are available each year. The majority of DACA recipients will not be eligible to apply for employment-based visas like H1B visas, Finkelman said.
“In order to be eligible for an H1B visa, you have to be here in a valid immigration status; people who have DACA [status] don’t have any immigration status,” Finkelman said. “Even if they had a Ph.D. and they had the cure for cancer, generally speaking, they’re not going to be eligible to apply for an H1B visa.”
Some employment-based visas are also associated with high costs to an employer. H1B visas typically cost companies $1,800-$2,500 per application depending on the size of the company, Finkelman said. Attorney fees cost between $2,000 and $5,000.
Holders of some types of visas, including H1B, may apply for green cards after spending a certain period of time in the U.S. and meeting specific requirements. Obtaining a green card allows an immigrant to live and work in the U.S. permanently and eventually apply for citizenship. One of the only options for DACA recipients to obtain a green card involves exiting and re-entering the U.S., Painter said.
“This [green card] option is not available to most [DACA recipients] and typically involves a complex and very difficult waiver process that is too risky for most people because it could end up getting you stuck abroad,” Painter said.
Because of these restrictions, Belman said the only way for him to adjust his status is to have his younger brother, who is a U.S. citizen, petition for him.
“Right now, he is 12 years old; he first has to turn 21, [and] once he turns 21, he petitions for me,” he said.
Painter said the high demand for citizens petitioning for immediate family members has caused a backlog as long as 20 years, assuming no changes to federal immigration policy occur.
As of Sept. 4, only 40,000 of the 800,000 total DACA recipients, about 5 percent, had either received a green card or received citizenship through other means.
Local policymakers establish priorities
Area lawmakers are also grappling with how to address an issue that disproportionately affects Texans.
Dale said he focuses on border security funding in the Texas House of Representatives because state lawmakers do not have the power to establish national immigration policies. Dale said he wants whatever measures are passed at the federal level to not favor illegal immigration over legal immigration.
“It’s inefficient and bureaucratic and it’s very hard to reform institutions like that,” Dale said. “We need to look at the system as a whole and make it work better for the benefit of the citizens of the United States of America because we need to keep our focus on what’s best for this country.”
District 4 Austin City Council Member Greg Casar said he hopes local officials can continue to find ways to defend the rights of immigrants. In 2017, the City Council created a deportation defense fund and advocated for immigration reform, he said. Austin made headlines for opposing Texas Senate Bill 4, which put restrictions on certain cities, often referred to as “sanctuary cities,” that set limits to local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agencies.
Casar said this year the council should continue to support the deportation defense fund that supports nonprofit legal services for immigrants in Austin. Casar said he also hopes the city can find ways to allow DACA recipients to continue to work in Austin, even if it means going against federal law.
“I think that it’s very important for elected officials and other leaders in the community to find ways to make sure that ‘Dreamers’ can still continue to work,” Casar said. “That in and of itself is an act of civil disobedience, and so we have to have a serious conversation about nonviolent resistance.”
