World Relief Responds to New DHS Memo Regarding DACA, Urges Congressional Action

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

July 29, 2020
CONTACT:
Lauren Carl
lauren.carl@pinkston.co
(703) 388-6734

BALTIMORE – Today, the Trump Administration issued a memo that, for the moment, allows recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to continue to renew their DACA protections and work authorization, while reducing the validity of each renewal to one year (from two) and restricting new DACA applications. Last month, while World Relief celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision halting the administration’s previous attempt to terminate DACA, it underscored the need for permanent congressional action. Now, given the administration’s actions today, the urgency of congressional action is all the greater.

“While we’re grateful that the administration has not, at this point, again sought to terminate DACA, today’s actions present new hardships for Dreamers, requiring a renewal application and accompanying fee on a more regular basis and seeking to prevent new applicants,” commented World Relief President Scott Arbeiter. “Furthermore, the memo makes clear that rescission is still ultimately quite possible, which means that hundreds of thousands of young people will continue to live with the fear that the government may ultimately mandate the loss of their jobs or even deport them to countries that they cannot even remember. The harm would extend further to these young people’s families, including hundreds of thousands of young children of DACA recipient parents, and to their employers and churches.”

“Today’s announcement underscores the need for Congress to act in such a way that would please the vast majority of Americans – including more than three out of four white evangelical Christians – who want Dreamers to be able to continue to stay and work lawfully in the U.S.,” Arbeiter noted, citing a June 2 CBS News poll.

As it has done for many years – but with new urgency – World Relief calls upon Congress to pass a legislative solution for DACA recipients and other Dreamers, allowing those who meet appropriate qualifications to apply for permanent residency and eventual citizenship.

“We’re thankful that the House of Representatives has already taken action, passing the American Dream and Promise Act, on a bipartisan basis last year. We urge the U.S. Senate to take up the bill, or similar legislation, as quickly as possible,” urged Tim Breene, World Relief CEO. “Now is not the time for political maneuvering, but for coming together on a bipartisan basis to enact the will of the vast majority of the American people.”

World Relief’s network of immigration legal services programs stands ready to assist as many individuals as we can to determine what today’s announcement will mean for them and to assist those who qualify with applications. World Relief invites local churches and individuals to stand with DACA by providing financial support to subsidize the cost of these legal services, to ensure that as many individuals as possible can access authorized, competent, affordable legal counsel.

To learn more about DACA, visit World Relief’s website: https://worldrelief.org/daca-and-dream-act-101/, and for giving opportunities, visit: https://worldrelief.org/dreamers/.

About World Relief

World Relief is a global Christian humanitarian organization that brings sustainable solutions to the world’s greatest problems – disasters, extreme poverty, violence, oppression, and mass displacement. For over 75 years, we’ve partnered with churches and community leaders in the U.S. and abroad to bring hope, healing and transformation to the most vulnerable. In the U.S., World Relief provides authorized, affordable immigration legal services through a network of local offices and by providing technical support to scores of church-based legal clinics.

Learn more at worldrelief.org.