On November 14, 2020, Judge Nicholas George Garaufis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued an opinion regarding the July 28, 2020 memorandum[1] signed by Acting Secretary Chad F. Wolf.[2] On December 4, 2020, Judge Garaufis required the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take certain actions to implement his November 14 opinion. As a result, effective December 7, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is:

Accepting first-time requests for consideration of deferred action under Deferred Action   for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) based on the terms of the DACA policy in effect prior to                       September 5, 2017, and in accordance with the Court’s December 4, 2020, order;

Accepting DACA renewal requests based on the terms of the DACA policy in effect prior            to September 5, 2017, and in accordance with the Court’s December 4, 2020, order;

Accepting applications for advance parole documents based on the terms of the DACA    policy prior to September 5, 2017, and in accordance with the Court’s December 4, 2020,        order;

Extending one-year grants of deferred action under DACA to two years; and

Extending one-year employment authorization documents under DACA to two years.

USCIS will take appropriate steps to provide evidence of the one-year extensions of deferred action and employment authorization documents under DACA to individuals who were issued documentation on or aer July 28, 2020, with a one-year validity period under the Wolf Memorandum.

Any person eligible for DACA should contact my offices to schedule a consultation to discuss these developments.