Because of a federal court order in Texas blocking the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, some 2,100 applicants were mailed the wrong work permits and need to act before July 31st.
Holders of a three-year Employment Authorization Document that was issued after the February 16, 2015, the date of the federal court injunction, must return the work permit by this Friday, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website cautioned last week.
A two-year permit has since been sent out to those people, but the website warned that failure to return the three-year permit will “terminate your DACA and all employment authorizations, and may consider your actions as a negative factor in weighing any future requests for deferred action, or any other discretionary requests.”
Related: Immigration Advocates Clear Questions on DACA 3-Year Permits
Additionally, 500 three year work authorizations were sent on or before the February 16 court order date, but were returned to the USCIS and then re-mailed to an updated address after that key date. Those work permits are also considered invalid.
The lucky ones are the holders of approximately 108,000 three-year work authorizations that were approved and mailed on or before the February 2015 court date. They are valid and not affected.
Related: 'Eye of the Storm': Undocumented Dreamers Head to Battleground States
While the Texas case blocks the three-year expanded DACA program, applicants can still come forward under rules of the old two-year plan.
USCIS is still able to approve DACA deferred action requests for people under the age of 31 who meet all the DACA requirements.
The website provides answers to questions in multiple Asian languages. It also directs people to the USCIS National Customer Service Center for more information; 1-800-375-5283 (TDD: 1-800-767-1833) and select Option 8.
