According to a memorandum prepared by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that a DACA recipient – as is the case for any other deferred action grantee – is “authorized by the United States Department of Homeland Security to be present in the United States, and is therefore considered by DHS to be lawfully present during the period deferred action is in effect.”
According to USCIS, the purpose of DACA is to allow youth to come out of the shadows, to alleviate them of the fear of deportation, and to allow them to become open contributors to America’s workforce, military, and educational system. It is a national imperative to provide access to higher education for Hispanic students who will comprise 30% of the work force by 2050.
