The Obama administration will not ask for the education status of applicants who received temporary amnesty under President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action program in 2012 and are applying for a two-year extension.

On Wednesday, officials from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) briefed Congressional aides on the renewal process, and Congressional sources told Breitbart News that officials said they would not be asking those submitting renewal applications to provide their current education status. Those who received temporary amnesty in 2012 for two years under DACA will be eligible to apply for another two years in September. Federal officials also told the Congressional aides that those who do not re-apply will face face deportation and said they did not know how many DACA terminations there have been based on criminal grounds or gang activity.  

The new i-821d DACA application form requires only new applicants to provide their “education information.” Those applying for renewal do not have to reveal whether, for instance, they are still enrolled in high school or a GED program or have completed high school or obtained a GED certificate. That means someone who received DACA and then dropped out of high school could submit a renewal application without mentioning that they are no longer enrolled in school. Those applying to receive DACA for the first time, though, will have to include their education status. 

In 2012, Obama, by executive fiat, declared that his administration would give temporary amnesty and work permits to illegal immigrants who had been in the country since 2007, were at least 16 years of age when they first arrived, were not over 30 years of age, passed criminal background checks, and met other requirements, like being currently enrolled in high school.

To receive DACA, applicants had to be “currently in school” or have “graduated or obtained a certificate of completion from high school.” Initial applicants could also meet the education requirement by having “obtained a general educational development (GED) certificate” or if they had been an “honorably discharged veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces or U.S. Coast Guard.”

At least 560,000 people to date have been granted temporary amnesty under the DACA program, and federal officials also confirmed that that number is likely to increase as applicants who were not eligible in 2012 because they were not 16 years of age will be this year so long as they meet the other requirements. In addition, DACA recipients cannot “age out.” That means if someone received temporary amnesty when they were 29 years of age in 2012, that person can still apply for renewal as a 31-year-old in 2014, even though those over 30 years of age are still ineligible to submit “initial requests” for temporary amnesty.

In a 2012 Rose Garden speech announcing the DACA program, Obama specifically said that the administration has “focused and used discretion about whom to prosecute, focusing on criminals who endanger our communities rather than students who are earning their education.” In addition, pro-amnesty advocates have repeatedly told stories of DREAMers who are valedictorians to try to pressure Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship to all illegal immigrants. 

In 2012, Obama, by executive fiat, declared that his administration would give temporary amnesty to illegal immigrants who had been in the country since 2017, were at least 16 years of age when they first arrived, were not over 30 years of age, passed criminal background checks, and met other requirements, like being currently enrolled in high school.

At least 560,000 people have been granted temporary amnesty under the DACA program 

Federal officials also confirmed that applicants who were not eligible in 2012 because they were not 16 will be eligible this September so long as they meet the other requirements. For instance, if someone received temporary amnesty when they were 29 years of age in 2012, that person can still apply for renewal as a 31-year-old. Those applying for renewal do not have to attend college or be employed and the USCIS.