While Congress debates immigration reform, one Dayton immigration lawyer says many Miami Valley DACA recipients are confused about their options.
Attorney Karen Bradley says her phone has been ringing off the hook. Many of her clients are wondering about how Congressional discussions on immigration may affect their families.
“People are scared," she says. "People are just scared in general.”
Bradley says the last few months have been particularly bewildering for DACA recipients.
Last September, President Trump announced plans to rescind the program, which provided deportation protections for people who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children, setting DACA's expiration date for early March, 2018. Those actions were subsequently challenged in court.
Last month, a United States district court allowed the program to continue with a few exceptions. The government has asked the Supreme Court to review the case.
Until a decision is reached, Bradley says some DACA recipients are free to renew their protections.
“The time to renew is right now, get it over with," says Bradley. "Until there’s a decision. For those individuals whose DACA may expire in 2019, it might be too early to do that right now, but we just have to wait and see what happens with the Supreme Court case.”
Bradley says many of her clients have already begun the renewal process.
There’s no word yet on when the Supreme Court will decide whether to hear the case.
