Delays in processing renewal applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients could impact local businesses, as wait times under the 14-year-old program have grown increasingly longer under the current Trump administration, Rep. Scott Peters and local leaders said Tuesday.
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The Obama-era program known as DACA provides certain immigrants who came to the United States without authorization as children with temporary protection from deportation and a work permit. It must be renewed every two years.
The renewal process used to take an average of 15 days and now reportedly takes four to six months, according to Chris Cate, president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Local leaders, including from the business and labor sectors, said that processing delays from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are hurting businesses and employees, and called on the Trump administration to expedite the process.
“It’s shameful and heartbreaking,” Peters, D-San Diego, said at a news conference Tuesday in front of the USCIS offices downtown. “When the administration goes after law-abiding DACA recipients, it doesn’t just hurt that person or their family — our economy suffers, our small businesses suffer, our communities suffer.”
Peters said his office has heard from DACA recipients concerned about losing their jobs due to looming expiration dates, including a firefighter, a radiation technology technician and a teacher. He added that his team is handling the “highest volume of immigration casework requests in his time in Congress, largely due to lags in renewals.
There are about 500,000 DACA recipients nationwide, including an estimated 8,000 in the San Diego area, according to data from USCIS.
“Action is critical and every day matters,” said Arcela Nunez-Alvarez, co-founder and co-director of the nonprofit Universidad Popular, which provides services to immigrant communities.
USCIS did not respond directly to questions about the processing delays in a statement Tuesday.
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“Under the leadership of President Trump, USCIS is safeguarding the American people by more thoroughly screening and vetting all aliens. DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country,” said spokesperson Zach Kahler.
The USCIS website urges DACA recipients to submit their renewal documents four to six months before their expiration dates.
DACA beneficiaries, also known as Dreamers, contribute an estimated to the San Diego economy each year, said Cate of the chamber of commerce. He said many of them work in industries such as healthcare, education, hospitality and construction.
“This isn’t a partisan issue,” he said. “It’s about giving businesses the confidence that they can continue to rely on the talent they’ve invested in while providing Dreamers the stability to continue what they’ve been doing for years.”
Trevor Moore, vice president of Cush Enterprises, which owns and operates commercial properties across the county, said lapses in renewal could affect local businesses.
“When a valued employee’s DACA renewal sits at USCIS for months longer than it should, their work authorization can lapse through no fault of their own, and when this happens, the employer has no choice,” he said. “Federal law requires them to take this person off the schedule — a well-trained employee gone overnight.”
Under a court order issued in January 2025, USCIS continues to process DACA renewal requests, but not applications for new recipients.
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