The Obama administration in June 2012 issued the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive order after the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act did not pass in Congress several times. The young people affected by DACA and the DREAM Act are often referred to as "Dreamers."
The executive order allowed some illegal and undocumented immigrants who entered the country before their 16th birthday and before June 2007 to be exempted from deportation and to obtain renewable two-year work permits.
Eligible persons must have lived continuously in the United States since 2007.
They must be enrolled in school, have completed high school or the equivalent, or have been honorably discharged from military service.
They must not have been convicted of a felony or a serious misdemeanor, or otherwise pose a threat to national security.
In November 2014, DACA was expanded to include illegal immigrants who entered the country before 2010, and it eliminated the requirement that applicants be younger than 31.
The Trump administration rescinded the DACA program in September 2017.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 18 that the Trump administration cannot rescind the DACA program, which has protected at least 650,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children from being deported to their native countries.