Thousands Of DACA Recipients Face Deportation After Failing To Apply For Renewal

WASHINGTON, DC — Thousands of DACA recipients face possible deportation because they did not file renewal paperwork by Thursday's government deadline. President Trump eliminated the DACA program, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, in September, cutting off all new applications and providing a six-month window for renewal applications from recipients whose permits were set to expire between Sept. 5, 2017 and March 5, 2018.

About 154,000 recipients were available to apply for renewal, which is granted in two-year increments. Talking Points Memo reported Thursday that about 36,000 of those DACA recipients eligible for renewal did not re-apply.

The program was created by President Obama to protect undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children from deportation and to grant them work permits. About 700,000 people are enrolled in the programs under terms that require them to be employed or be enrolled in school. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Watch: Dems On DACA: We Will Fight And We Will Win

Immigrant advocates around the country had been urging the Trump administration to extend the Oct. 5 deadline and have been holding legal clinics and donating money to help immigrants cover the $500 renewal fee.

At the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in Los Angeles, advocates have helped about 40 immigrants a day renew their permits for free. Immigrants began lining up outside before dawn to ensure they were seen quickly, as some have had to wait until the afternoon or the next day for assistance due to the demand, said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, a spokesman for the organization.

President Trump has urged Congress to act in response to his decision on DACA and has said recipients "have nothing to worry about."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has said Thursday morning that Trump agreed to sign the DREAM Act, a bill that originally inspired the DACA program, if Congress passes it. Both versions of the bill, labelled H.R. 3440 in the House and S. 1615 in the Senate, were introduced in July. They await votes in the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

"For all of those (DACA) that are concerned about your status during the 6 month period," he wrote in September, "you have nothing to worry about - No action!"

The Associated Press contributed to to this report.

Watch: Young Immigrants Seek To Renew Deportation Protection

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