DACA’s Rubberstamping Operation

Is DHS’s processing of the Obama administrations temporary amnesty for children of illegal aliens – called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) – a rubberstamp operation? You might not think so if you read news articles like the one here: that reported “…that the agency has approved 81.72 percent of the applications they have received.”

If they haven’t approved about a fifth of the applications, that would appear to be a judicious review to the applications. But, the report is misleading. The one-fifth of applications not approved is mostly ones the bureaucracy has not yet gotten around to approving. Just wait – they will soon get to the pending approvals.

The official data on the DHS website as of August show that only 7,450 applications out of 573,404 received have been denied. That is a 1.3 percent denial rate. By anyone’s definition, that certainly looks like a rubberstamping operation.

Jack Martin: Jack, who joined FAIR’s National Board of Advisors in 2017, is a retired U.S. diplomat with consular experience. He has testified before the U.S. Congress, U.S. Civil Rights Commission, and U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform and has authored studies of immigration issues. His national and international print, TV, and talk radio experience is extensive (including in Spanish).