Nearly 40,000 DACA amnesty recipients have received green cards since the program began in 2012, according to new data sent to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Sen. Grassley requested the data from the Trump administration earlier this week after his request for the same data from the Obama administration was insufficiently answered.
The Obama administration allowed DACA recipients permission to temporarily travel outside of the United States through a process known as “advance parole.” Only those who had already been approved for DACA could apply, and recipients could not travel outside of the United States until they requested and received advance parole.
A DACA recipient who travels on advance parole may gain the ability to adjust status in the United States upon his/her return if he/she meets the requirements for adjustment under existing immigration law. To adjust status, a person must have been inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States, among other requirements. Since most DACA recipients entered the U.S. illegally, they're not eligible to adjust their status unless they receive advance parole.
Since the DACA amnesty started, 45,447 DACA recipients have been approved for advance parole. Less than 10% of DACA recipients who applied were denied parole.
USCIS also reported that nearly 60,000 DACA recipients have applied for green cards. Of the 39,514 that have already received green cards, 2,181 have become citizens.
For more on this story, see Sen. Grassley's release.
