DACA Recipients Unsure of Status after Judge's New Ruling
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MCALLEN – A federal government's deadline is ticking. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has 90 days to prove the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is unconstitutional.
If not, more DACA applications will be accepted.
Thousands of “Dreamers” are stuck in limbo. Some residing in the Rio Grande Valley could be confused by a federal judge’s court ruling made Tuesday.
"A lot of things can happen in those three months,” said DACA recipient Allyson Duarte.
Duarte is from Mexico. She arrived in the U.S. when she was 13 years old. Since then, she's made the Valley her home as a student and employee.
"I work as a tutor at STC. I do humanities and social sciences,” she told CHANNEL 5 NEWS.
Duarte said she's worried about her future.
"I'm still in this situation to where I don't know if I’m going to be able renewing by the end of the day,” she said.
Immigration attorney Carlos Garcia explained the ruling will not impact current DACA recipients.
"So, the other federal district court judges did issue rulings where the government was ordered to accept renewal applications. So, all those people should be renewing their applications currently,” he explained.
Garcia said this is a message for the government to make sure all laws are followed.
"I believe what the courts are saying is that you need to – the government needs to follow a procedure. They need to follow the rules, they need to follow certain guidelines and certain notices to people who are going to be affected by this,” he said.
Duarte said she wants certainty in the government’s decision.
"I just want a call to Congress, you know, we can't just rely on the court system to fix the kind of situation that you haven't been able to address,” said Duarte.
She wants to stay in the Valley and help others learn as she did.
The Trump administration is saying if the ruling goes through it could help criminal organizations.
Garcia explained the current administration can appeal, which means the decision can possibly take a longer for the judge to make a decision.
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