DACA Renewal Delays Are a Growing Workforce Problem. Here’s What Employers Can Do
As delays add up, employers are facing a serious workforce issue.
EXPERT OPINION BY DANIELA PIERRE-BRAVO
Renewals under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a 14-year-old program that authorizes immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to work and live in the US in two-year cycles, are facing sharp delays that threaten their livelihoods and their ability to stay employed. There are roughly 120,000 pending renewals — a record high, according to the National Immigration Forum, citing USCIS data.
Earlier this year, I reported for CNN Business on these delays and their impact on the and roughly 455,000 DACA recipients have worsened. In fiscal 2025, USCIS processed a typical renewal in about 15 days. By early 2026, the median had risen to roughly 70 days. But many DACA recipients have reported waiting six month or more, while some are still waiting without explanation on the lags in their case.
I’ve spoken with DACA recipients who are specialty surgeons unable to start residencies — some in underserved areas — along with teachers, nurses, retail associates, and financial-services professionals, many of whom have built decade-plus careers here, watching their livelihoods evaporate because of the processing delays. They are anxiously hoping for movement in their cases.
USCIS has attributed the longer timelines to enhanced screening, including expanded biometric and FBI fingerprint checks, describing it as part of a broader vetting. Meanwhile the number of DACA recipients fell by about 40,000 between December 2025 and March 2026, according to the National Immigration Forum, citing USCIS data. It’s a drop the group links to the delays, as recipients either lose status or fall into a lapse.
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The costs and ripple effects for employers
For a recipient, a lapse can mean losing a paycheck and protection from deportation. For the businesses that employ them, it’s a workforce problem.
About 91% of DACA recipients over 25 are employed, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Estimates of the cost of replacing DACA workers across the economy run into the billions, according to immigration-policy analyses.
What employers can do
While there’s no official playbook for how to handle these delays for recipients or the people who employ them, immigration attorneys say a few options can preserve the relationship through a gap.
Source: www.inc.com
