Is DACA still active? Current status of renewals, new applications, and the court case

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Is DACA still active? Current status

Yes — with hard edges. Renewals are processed nationwide. First-time applications stay frozen. And the Texas court case is one order away from cutting off work permits in Texas. This page tracks the moving parts with dated updates, so you don’t have to reconstruct the story from years of headlines.

Status board

Question	Status
Can current recipients renew?	✅ Yes — renewals (I-821D + I-765) are processed nationwide, including Texas
Are renewals’ work permits valid?	✅ Yes — everywhere, including Texas, until the district court implements the Fifth Circuit ruling
Can first-timers apply?	❌ Frozen — USCIS accepts initial applications but has been barred from approving them since July 2021
Is deportation protection (forbearance) at risk in this case?	The Fifth Circuit preserved forbearance as lawful and severable — it survives the current ruling nationwide
Travel (advance parole)?	Current recipients can request it (Form I-131), but any travel while litigation moves is high-risk — get an attorney’s sign-off first

Dated updates

June 9, 2026 — last verified. Renewals processing normally nationwide. Judge Hanen’s implementing order (the one that would cut off Texas work authorization) has not been issued; supplemental briefing closed in September 2025, so it can land any day.
September 2025. Supplemental briefing completed before Judge Hanen in the Southern District of Texas on how to implement the Fifth Circuit’s decision.
May 2025. Deadline passed for seeking Supreme Court review of the Fifth Circuit ruling; the case’s center of gravity returned to the district court.
January 17, 2025. The Fifth Circuit ruled: the work-authorization and lawful-presence parts of the 2022 DACA rule are unlawful, but the injunction is narrowed to Texas only, and the forbearance (protection from deportation) part of DACA is lawful and severable. The stay protecting current recipients and renewals stays in place.
October 31, 2022. DHS’s DACA regulation took effect, replacing the 2012 memo as the program’s legal basis — the rule now being litigated.
July 16, 2021. Judge Hanen ruled DACA unlawful and barred USCIS from approving new initial applications. Renewals were allowed to continue. This freeze has held ever since.
June 18, 2020. The Supreme Court (DHS v. Regents) blocked the 2017 attempt to terminate DACA on procedural grounds — DACA survived, but the door stayed open to future challenges.
June 15, 2012. DACA created by DHS memorandum.

If you live in Texas

The Fifth Circuit confined the injunction to Texas because only Texas proved standing. What that means in practice, once the district court implements it:

Immigration & tax procedures for immigrants in the US on MigrantUSA — Procedural guide for immigrants in the United States

Is DACA still active? Current status of renewals, new applications, and the court case

Is DACA still active? Current status

Status board

Dated updates

If you live in Texas