Costa recognizes the 10th Anniversary of DACA

WASHINGTON - Congressman Jim Costa (CA-16) released the following statement in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program established by President Barack Obama on June 15th, 2012 which provides DACA recipients with an opportunity to seek higher education, work authorization permits, and most importantly, protection from deportation.

"Let us never forget that we are a nation of immigrants past and present. Now more than ever, we need comprehensive immigration reform," said Rep. Jim Costa."On the 10th anniversary of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), these children, and in some cases infants, came to this country through no choice of their own. America is the only home they have ever known. We reaffirm our commitment to fixing our broken immigration system and ensuring DACA recipients can continue contributing to this great country."

Costa is a co-sponsor of the Dream and Promise Act, whichaims to protect our nation's Dreamers and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) holders, by providing them a pathway to citizenship.

Last year, a federal judge in Texas stopped first-time DACA applications from being processed and left tens of thousands of immigrant young people in limbo. The case is being appealed and will be heard at the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on July 6, 2022. It is imperative that current DACA recipients diligently submit their renewals. As a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Costa will continue to call on USCIS to clear its immigration backlog and process DACA renewals in a timely manner.