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Featured Issue: Legalizing and Protecting Dreamers and TPS Recipients

AILA Doc. No. 17072035 | Dated July 21, 2021

In the Spotlight

Thanks to pressure from advocates like you, the American Dream and Promise Act (H.R. 6) and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, FWMA, (H.R. 1603) passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support on March 18, 2021.

These bills, which would provide a path to citizenship to Dreamers, DED and TPS holders, as well as farm workers and their immediate family members, have stalled in the Senate. The best way forward is through the budget reconciliation. Senate Democrats have included funding to grant citizenship to undocumented immigrants in their budget proposal. This is a significant step, but we need to keep the pressure on Congress to pass these immigration provisions.

Take Action: Urge Congress to Provide a Path to Citizenship in the Budget Reconciliation

On July 16, 2021, Texas federal judge Andrew Hanen found that DHS violated the APA with the creation of DACA and its continued operation, stating that the DACA memo and the DACA program that created it are hereby vacated and remanded to DHS for further consideration.

The decision notes:
“DHS may continue to accept new DACA applications and renewal DACA applications as it has been ordered to by the Batalla Vidal court cited above, but it is hereby enjoined from approving any new DACA applications and granting the attendant status.”

Americans have long shown overwhelming support for protecting Dreamers - polls have shown that 86 percent of Americans want Dreamers to be able to stay in the country. Additionally, TPS recipients are integral members of our economy - without them, industries such as construction, restaurants and other food services, and landscaping would experience disruptions that would have serious ripple effects on the economies of several states.

Dreamers and TPS recipients make America a better and stronger nation, and it's time for Congress to pass bipartisan legislation to protect them from deportation and secure them a future as Americans.

Legislative Efforts to Protect Dreamers

AILA supports several bills in the 117th Congress that would provide permanent legal status and a path to citizenship for all unauthorized immigrants including Dreamers and recipients of TPS and DED.

For more information on past legislative efforts to protect Dreamers, check out our AILA Policy Brief: How Dreamer Protection Bills Measure Up.


Practice Assistance Resources


Resources for Applicants


Government Announcements and Memos Since September 5, 2017


Litigation Challenging DACA Rescission

Support for Protecting Dreamers

Cite as AILA Doc. No. 17072035.