KIND Comment to DHS Proposed Rule on DACA

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) submits this comment in response to the above Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA),” published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on September 28, 2021 (86 Fed. Reg. 53736). KIND appreciates the opportunity to express its strong support for preserving and strengthening DACA, which provides critical protection to hundreds of thousands of people who came to the U.S. as children. We believe significant changes to the Proposed Rule are necessary to realize the important goals of DACA as lawfully implemented in 2012 and to align DACA with the realities of the present moment, in which DACA recipients and other undocumented immigrants continue to live with uncertainty and fear of deportation as a result of attacks on the policy and congressional delays in enacting permanent protection. Specifically, we urge the Biden Administration to broaden and update DACA’s eligibility requirements to expand its protection to people who came to the U.S. as children but who are currently denied protection due to unduly narrow and outdated age and other restrictions. We similarly urge the Administration to ensure that DACA continues to provide protection from deportation together with lawful presence and employment authorization, which is fundamental not only to the wellbeing, stability and ability to thrive of DACA recipients and their families, but to our country and communities, which benefit enormously from the contributions of DACA recipients.

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