Dear Sophie: What’s the latest on DACA?

Sophie Alcorn Contributor

Sophie Alcorn is the founder of Alcorn Immigration Law in Silicon Valley and 2019 Global Law Experts Awards’ “Law Firm of the Year in California for Entrepreneur Immigration Services.” She connects people with the businesses and opportunities that expand their lives.

More posts by this contributor

• Dear Sophie: How can I get my startup off the ground and visit the US?
• Dear Sophie: How can I get an H-1B without the lottery?

Here’s another edition of “Dear Sophie,” the advice column that answers immigration-related questions about working at technology companies.

“Your questions are vital to the spread of knowledge that allows people all over the world to rise above borders and pursue their dreams,” says Sophie Alcorn, a Silicon Valley immigration attorney. “Whether you’re in people ops, a founder or seeking a job in Silicon Valley, I would love to answer your questions in my next column.”

Extra Crunch members receive access to weekly “Dear Sophie” columns; use promo code ALCORN to purchase a one- or two-year subscription for 50% off.

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Dear Sophie,

My company is looking to hire a very talented data infrastructure engineer who is undocumented. She has never applied for DACA before.

What is the latest on DACA? What can we do to support her?

—Multicultural in Milpitas

Dear Multicultural,

Thank you for your questions and for supporting your prospective new Dreamer hire in her effort to obtain Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Take a listen to the podcast episode in which my colleagues Anita Koumriqian, my law partner who is an expert in family immigration law, and Cori Farooqi, an associate attorney in our family immigration team, provide an update on all things DACA.

What’s the latest on DACA?

In good news for many in the United States, the DACA program has largely returned to what it was when the Obama administration created it through an executive order in 2012. At the end of last year, a federal judge ordered U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to accept and adjudicate new DACA applications, which had stopped in September 2017 when the previous administration announced it was ending DACA.

Moreover, President Joe Biden issued a memorandum on his first day in office stating that the secretary of Homeland Security, who oversees USCIS, should “fortify and preserve DACA.”

Your company can support an undocumented engineer by offering to pay for the services of an immigration attorney to assist her with filing applications for DACA and an employment authorization document (EAD), also known as a work permit. It may take several months for her applications to be processed. The approvals will allow her to be legally hired in the United States.

Image Credits: Joanna Buniak / Sophie Alcorn (opens in a new window)

What are the DACA requirements?

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