DACA Renewal Delays Fuel Worries Trump Is Quietly Undermining ‘Dreamers’

Concerns are mounting on Capitol Hill and among immigration advocates that the Trump administration is quietly gutting a landmark program allowing unauthorized immigrants who came to the U.S. as children to stay, work and study legally in the United States.

A major immigrant rights advocacy group recently documented in a study that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is taking months longer on average to renew legal protections for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, often referred to as “Dreamers.”

Those delays are causing some supporters of the program on Capitol Hill to worry the Trump administration is weaponizing bureaucracy to undermine DACA. In floor speeches and on social media last week, prominent Democrats accused the Trump administration of targeting DACA recipients unfairly as part of the White House’s immigration crackdown.

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Business groups are also joining the chorus of concerned parties, warning that American companies are losing out as delays in DACA renewals sideline talented, highly vetted employees and prevent Dreamers from using their skills and education productively.

DACA recipients have to renew their work permits every two years by submitting an application to USCIS, which can revoke their status if they have felony convictions or multiple misdemeanors on their criminal record.

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A study released last week by TheDream.US, a group that provides scholarships to Dreamers, found that while USCIS has not denied applications it has processed, the backlog of cases awaiting processing has increased dramatically, and there have been fewer and fewer approvals since the fall of 2025. The group projected it would take USCIS more than four months to clear the backlog.

The mounting delays from USCIS are causing a number of Dreamers to lose their legal status under DACA as they wait for renewal, rendering them ineligible to work and vulnerable to deportation. In the past, renewal of work authorizations for Dreamers took about two months, but the number of DACA recipients waiting more than six months has increased significantly.

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