The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) has joined with the American Council on Education and other higher education associations to formally call attention to pronounced delays in the processing of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) renewal applications.
AACC has long supported DACA and the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act), which would provide DACA recipients and others with a pathway to citizenship.
Unfortunately, from AACC’s point of view, the legislative prospects for the DREAM Act have waned from when it was first introduced in Congress and commanded substantial bipartisan support. Without enactment of the DREAM Act, DACA has become the means by which undocumented individuals can continue enrollment in postsecondary education and find work to support that.
“DACA has long been important to the higher education community — DACA recipients are our students, faculty, and staff members. Currently 8 percent of DACA recipients are enrolled in higher education, and 45 percent have attained some college education,” according to the letter from the associations.
It outlines the extent of the delays: “According to February 2026 USCIS data, the median processing time for a DACA renewal application grew from two weeks in fiscal year (FY) 2025 to 2.3 months…Recent reports indicate that nearly 80 percent of these renewal applications now require up to four months to be processed.”
AACC’s work on DACA, and all measures that support students who aspire to attend community college, will continue. In the meantime, it is hoped that more-efficient processing of DACA renewals will occur.
