Expert: DACA Recipients Need to Protect Status

Priscilla Alvarez, The Atlantic, Apr. 27, 2017 - "President Trump has backed away from his campaign pledges to “immediately terminate” an Obama-era program shielding undocumented immigrants from deportation.  But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t risk of being deported. ... Trump has largely stayed mum on the DACA program, raising questions about whether he’ll undo Obama’s executive order and whether DACA recipients are at risk of deportation.  The answer appears to be that while he won’t formally rescind DACA, the program’s beneficiaries nevertheless face the possibility of deportation. ... DACA recipients are eligible for deportation if they leave the country without receiving advanced permission.  U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services requires members to apply for advance parole in order to travel outside of the country, and only allows them to do so if travel fits certain criteria, including humanitarian, educational, or employment purposes.  “If you don’t get this advanced permission, known as advance parole, then by leaving the country you have effectively abandoned your DACA status,” said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor of immigration law practice at Cornell Law School.  “If you return, you are returning illegally and therefore you can be subject to deportation proceedings.” "