Senate Democrats Demand Answers for DHS ‘Slow-Walking’ DACA Renewals

Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Dick Durbin are spearheading an inquiry into the Trump administration’s delay in renewing deportation protections and work permits for immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.

Masto, Durbin and 39 other Senate Democrats signed on to a letter to top officials on Tuesday seeking answers about the bureaucratic delays they say are causing immigrants to lose their work authorizations and face detention as they wait for the renewal of their protected status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

“What has happened here, and this is the concern of mine and many of my colleagues, is DHS, because of their punitive deportation plan, are slow walking this intentionally so they can use this as a change of circumstance for these DACA recipients,” Cortez Masto told NOTUS, which is the first to report on the letter.

Democratic lawmakers have been raising concerns about the Trump administration’s targeting of undocumented immigrants who have been granted protections under the Obama-era policy that President Donald Trump tried and failed to put an end to during his first term.

The letter is addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow and Sen. Markwayne Mullin, whose confirmation hearing to take over Noem’s post is scheduled for Wednesday.

“Our offices have heard examples of constituents whose DACA has lapsed due to renewal delays being picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” the Democrats state. “A DACA recipient whose only change of circumstance is a pending renewal application should not be at risk of their entire life being thrown into chaos due to indiscriminate immigration enforcement.”

USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said in a statement that DACA recipients are not automatically protected from deportation.

“USCIS is safeguarding the American people by more thoroughly screening and vetting all aliens, which can lengthen processing times,” he wrote.

From April 1 to June 30, 2025, USCIS had nearly 27,000 pending work authorization renewals from DACA recipients, the latest data from the agency.

Former President Barack Obama created the policy to provide deportation protections and work authorization for two years, with the opportunity to renew every two years indefinitely. Although DACA recipients can lose status for some offenses, the program was meant to provide safety from the imminent threat of deportation.

The Trump administration has arrested at least four immigrants with pending DACA renewals, according to a NOTUS review of recent court filings. Democrats are also seeking answers about the number of people with pending renewals who have been detained and deported.

Noem has provided lawmakers conflicting figures on DACA recipients caught in the push for mass deportations. DHS told House members in January that it detained 270 DACA recipients and deported 174, higher than the 261 detained and 86 deported that the agency informed Durbin of in February.

Gaby Pacheco, executive director and president of DACA advocacy group TheDream.US, said DACA recipients are at particular risk of arrest because they’ve shared their information with the federal government.

“It really is a betrayal of the system, a betrayal of a community who has faithfully trusted the United States government,” she said.

Cortez Masto said USCIS has told her staff helping DACA recipients with renewals that the expedited process is only available for those who work in health care. Immigrants can ask USCIS to speed up the consideration of their applications if there is a need for urgent action.

Her staff also learned that renewals are frozen for people from countries on Trump’s travel ban list. The letter states that USCIS has not announced policy changes regarding expedited renewals or travel ban countries.

Pacheco, a former DACA holder, said she started hearing about renewals being on hold for DACA recipients from Haiti and Venezuela at the beginning of the year.

“The delays, the pauses, the way that DACA recipients are being treated right now is a huge concern,” she said. “In essence, they’re circumventing the law and ending the program without ending the program.”

Tragesser did not acknowledge NOTUS’ question about the policy changes to DACA renewals.