DACA Renewals Delayed, Leaving Dreamers in Limbo

0:00It's May 1st, I'm Cory with The Story, and this is Durham News Today, local news powered by AI. Dreamers protected by DACA are hitting major roadblocks with renewal delays, leaving some without legal work status, jobs, or protection from, deportation. For over a decade, folks like Special Ed Teacher, Mulani Candia, renewed every two years to stay and work in the US, but this year, massive backlogs. Aid her missed the deadline after arriving here at age 6. Wait times for these two-year permits have ballooned to levels not seen since technical glitches in 2016, now nearly five times longer due. To stricter vetting under US citizenship and immigration services, officials say it's about thorough screening of all applicants, while advocates report it's hitting large numbers of the over 500,000. Beneficiaries hard. People are feeling the squeeze personally, like single mom Elsa Sanchez, a health care worker out of a job after five months waiting, now scraping by, and cutting every expense.

1:03Fear is constant for these immigrants, with work permits and driver licenses vanishing, putting daily life and families at risk. Recent stats show over 250 DACA recipients arrested and dozens deported in the first 11 months of 2025, mostly tied to. Global histories and a new immigration board ruling says DACA alone won't stop removal proceedings. Processing is paused for folks from dozens of high-risk countries, potentially impacting 3,000 to 4,000 people. This limbo leaves Dreamers vulnerable as legal fights loom, possibly heading back to the Supreme Court, while they hustle to hold onto lives built. Fear since childhood.