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Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and a group of Democratic senators sent a letter to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services demanding an explanation of why the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is still seeing processing delays. Cortez Masto told CNN she’s worried the delays could affect DACA applicants in the long run. “While we continue to negotiate on bipartisan immigration reform, which must include a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, we must make sure the DACA program is actually working so that this community has the safety and security it needs,” she said. Executive Director of Dream Big Nevada Astrid Silva hopes USCIS will fix the delays. CNN
Harris Calls for Citizenship for Dreamers
During a Tuesday meeting with immigrant care workers, Vice President Kamala Harris called on Congress to create a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants. “It is critically important that we provide a pathway to citizenship to give people a sense of certainty and a sense of security,” she said on DACA’s ninth anniversary. Harris met with female members of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, two of whom are DACA recipients. After years of former President Donald Trump challenging the program, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to restore DACA when he took office. The Biden administration has pushed for Congress to turn DACA into a law and pass an extensive immigration overhaul. The Hill
Biden Allowing More Young Central Americans to U.S.
The Biden administration announced the expansion of the Central American Minors program, which allows certain Central American children from the Northern Triangle — El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — to seek entry into the U.S. to reunite with family. The expansion is part of the goal to increase “legal pathways” for immigration to the U.S. When Trump ended the program in 2018, stranding 3,000 family reunification cases that were already being processed in limbo. U.S. immigration and State Department officials started to relocate pending cases, finishing about 1,100 so far. An official said there could be about 100,000 petitioners newly eligible for the program. Los Angeles Times
