MCALLEN, Texas – The federal government is expected to again accept new applications for a program that grants some people without legal immigration status the ability to live and work in the United States.

Lawyers for the federal government and immigrant advocates have presented plans before a federal judge that would open the door again to accepting applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, otherwise known as DACA.

One state — Texas, where the case is being heard — however, would be exempted from providing work permits.

It’s estimated that hundreds of thousands of people could be eligible to be enrolled in DACA, once a federal judge issues an order to formalize plans laid out by the Department of Justice in a legal filing made on Monday. The program, created under the Obama administration, grants people without legal immigration status who were brought into the country by their parents two-year, renewable permits to live and work in the U.S. legally.

The program has allowed people who were brought to the United States as children to temporarily remain in the country and obtain work permits. It does not confer legal status but provides protection from deportation.

Eligibility requirements include people who entered the country as children before their 16th birthday, were under 31 years old as of June 15, 2012, and have not been convicted of a felony, a significant misdemeanor, or three misdemeanors. There would be restrictions related to work permits for those who reside in Texas, which filed a lawsuit against the DACA program in 2018.

Nothing changes yet

DOJ attorneys laid out the proposal before U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen on Monday as part of the ongoing Texas lawsuit. It would allow U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to take new and renewal applications for DACA across the country, which it has not done for four years.

In Texas, USCIS would take new and renewal applications for the DACA program but recipients residing in the state will not receive a work permit.

Attorneys representing DACA recipients proposed adding a wind-down period that would allow Texas residents to keep their work authorization for one more renewal period.

These proposals follow an earlier decision from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowing the program to continue with the work permit carveout in Texas.

The federal government and attorneys for DACA recipients have two more opportunities in October to file responses to the proposals submitted this week. Hanen, based in Houston, will then decide what proposal or combination of proposals to implement in his order.

Caution advised

Immigrant advocates are not celebrating yet but believe thousands may be eligible for the program. Aside from the over 533,000 who are enrolled already in DACA, about 1.1 million people may be eligible across the country, according to a 2023 estimate from the Migration Policy Institute.

People interested in applying were urged to start preparing. “While we are still waiting for an official decision, we believe our communities and families should be prepared and begin gathering the required documents,” Michelle Celleri, Legal Rights Director for Alliance San Diego, said in a statement.

Other advocates are cautiously optimistic. Juliana Macedo do Nascimento, a spokesperson for United We Dream, pointed to a section in the government’s proposal that could hint at changes. “These proposals do not limit DHS from undertaking any future lawful changes to DACA,” the government’s proposal said in Monday’s filing.

“We need to be able to look at this in a fuller picture than just this case, because we’re seeing the administration detain and deport DACA recipients,” Macedo do Nascimento said on Wednesday.