Biden Proposes DACA Rule

On one point, however, there is broad agreement: The proposed rule does not expand DACA beyond its original eligibility criteria, among them that applicants were younger than 16 when they first came to the U.S., that they be enrolled in school or a high-school grad, that they have been in the U.S. since June 2007, and that they were undocumented in 2012, when the program began, and now.

But that frozen-in-amber criteria will likely block many young undocumented immigrants from qualifying from DACA. In fact, the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration and New American Economy estimate that while there are 181,000 DACA-eligible students enrolled in American colleges, the number of undocumented students in U.S. higher education is more than 427,000.

It will take congressional action to give legal protections to all undocumented students, said Miriam Feldblum of the Presidents’ Alliance. “The proposed rule underscores the urgency and imperative of a legislative solution that would provide a pathway to citizenship for all Dreamers.”