Each year, several thousand undocumented students graduate from high school, many of whom have lived in the United States since childhood. Advising undocumented students can be difficult in uncertain times. This page provides resources and guidance for professionals.

On June 15, 2012, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the creation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which granted temporary permission to stay to certain undocumented youth who came to the United State as children. However, on September 5, 2017, the Trump Administration announced that it would end the DACA program. NACAC opposes the decision to rescind DACA, and encourages Members of Congress continue to attempt to negotiate a solution for these students and individuals.

In January 2018, Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordered a halt to the federal government’s termination of the DACA program. Specifically, Alsup ordered the government to temporarily reinstate the DACA program and to announce a process by which DACA recipients can apply to renew their DACA status. In February 2018, Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued a similar injunction. The Trump Administration filed an appeal of the California Court’s decision to the Supreme Court which was denied in February 2018, leaving the case to be heard by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. DHS announced that it would resume processing renewal applications while litigation is ongoing.

Several other lawsuits have been filed in relation to the DACA program. Learn more about the status of ongoing litigation from the National Immigration Law Center here and here. NACAC will continue to monitor these legal challenges and update this webpage as necessary.

Given the uncertainty created by these various legal threats to DACA, many immigration lawyers are encouraging DACA recipients to apply for renewal as soon as possible. Read more about important considerations that should be made prior to applying for renewal here, and learn more about how to renew here.

NACAC encourages you to speak with an immigration attorney or a Board of Immigration Appeals–accredited representative if you are working with a student or group of students who may be undocumented and concerned about their future.

For additional information, visit:

• Citizens and Immigration Services' Press Release: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals: Response to January 2018 Preliminary Injunction
• Department of Homeland Security, consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. (This page contains information that is no longer current but can be used for reference purposes.)
• National Immigration Law Center, Education Information
• Protect Dreamers Higher Education Coalition, fact sheet on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients.
• Higher Education Compliance Alliance, provides resources for international, including undocumented, students and employees
• Immigrant Legal Resource Center, DACA Resource Center
• American Federation of Teachers and others, Educational Rights of Immigrant Children Now that DACA is Rescinded
• Education Counsel, Memo: Undocumented Students' Rights of Equal Access to K12 Schools
• The Journal of College Admission Winter 2010 Edition, Special Issue dedicated to undocumented students
• Informed Immigrant, A Guide for Educators: Supporting Undocumented Students and Their Families
• Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, Higher Ed Immigration Policy Guide