DACA in Texas: Renewals, Work Permits, and Advance Parole

DACA in Texas sits in an unusual position: the program was declared unlawful by a federal judge in the Southern District of Texas, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that conclusion in January 2025, yet current recipients can still renew their status and their work permits. First-time applications cannot be approved. That split — renewals yes, new grants no — has held since 2021 and remains the practical reality for anyone in Texas relying on the program.

How the Texas Rulings Shape the Program Nationally

On July 16, 2021, a federal judge in the Southern District of Texas ruled in Texas v. United States that the original 2012 DACA memorandum violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The court found that DACA had been created without the required notice-and-comment rulemaking and conflicted with existing immigration law. The judge vacated the 2012 memorandum and permanently enjoined the government from approving new applications, while staying that order for the roughly 600,000 people who already held DACA so they could keep renewing.¹

The Department of Homeland Security tried to cure the procedural defect by issuing a formal DACA regulation in August 2022. The same Texas district court struck that rule down in September 2023 and extended the injunction to cover it.²

On January 17, 2025, the Fifth Circuit largely affirmed that DACA is unlawful but changed the remedy in two ways that matter for Texas residents specifically. It narrowed the injunction’s geographic reach to Texas alone, finding that Texas was the only plaintiff that showed a concrete injury. It also severed DACA’s forbearance-from-deportation piece from its work-authorization piece, directing that the two be analyzed independently.³ The case was sent back to the district court. All parties submitted briefing in November 2025 on how to implement the work-authorization invalidation within Texas, and the district court could issue new orders at any time.

Throughout every stage of this litigation, USCIS has continued processing renewals. The stay protecting current recipients has never been lifted, and no Supreme Court review has been scheduled.

What Current DACA Recipients in Texas Can Still Do

If you hold DACA now and your work authorization has not expired, nothing has changed for you operationally. Your deferred action is in effect. Your Employment Authorization Document (EAD) is valid until its printed expiration date unless USCIS individually terminates it. Renewals should continue on schedule.⁴

USCIS continues to adjudicate renewal requests, process replacement EADs, and accept advance parole applications from approved DACA recipients. The agency has held this posture since 2021 and reaffirmed it after the Fifth Circuit’s January 2025 decision.¹

The Fifth Circuit’s decision to sever work authorization from forbearance is the piece to watch. If the district court, on remand, orders USCIS to stop issuing or renewing work permits for DACA recipients in Texas, the forbearance-from-removal piece could still remain in place. Nothing like that has been ordered yet, but it is what November 2025’s briefing addressed.

First-Time DACA Applications Are Blocked

The injunction fully blocks USCIS from approving any initial DACA request. If you have never had DACA, you cannot receive it right now. USCIS will accept your paperwork and your filing fee, but the case will sit unprocessed until the legal situation shifts.⁴

Filing now still has a purpose. If the injunction is eventually lifted, USCIS would begin working through the pending initial requests, and being already on file with complete supporting evidence could mean a faster approval. USCIS advises documenting as much of the required continuous residence period as possible, submitting evidence for at least each year. Rent receipts, utility bills, pay stubs, school records, bank statements, tax receipts, and birth certificates of U.S.-born children all help. Sworn affidavits can address gaps but cannot substitute for the whole residency record.²

Renewing DACA in Texas

Timely renewal is the single most important thing a current recipient can do. Let it lapse and you lose deferred action and work authorization, with consequences that ripple into employment, your driver’s license, and daily life.

When to File

USCIS recommends filing 120 to 150 days (roughly four to five months) before the DACA expiration date printed on your Form I-797 approval notice.⁴ That buffer accounts for processing time and reduces the risk of a gap. USCIS has historically aimed for a 120-day turnaround, though actual times vary.

What to File

A renewal package must include three forms filed together: Form I-821D, Form I-765, and Form I-765WS. There is no fee for I-821D itself, but you must pay the applicable fee for I-765. Submitting I-821D without I-765 and correct payment will get the whole package rejected.⁵ Online filing through your myUSCIS account may carry a lower fee than paper filing. Fees cannot be waived, and USCIS no longer accepts personal checks, business checks, money orders, or cashier’s checks for paper-filed forms unless a specific exemption applies.⁶

Renewals are lighter on evidence than initial applications. You generally do not need to resubmit proof of education or original residency. You must be prepared to show continuous residence since your most recent approval and that you have not traveled abroad without advance parole since August 15, 2012. Any new criminal history or removal proceedings since the last approval must be disclosed.²

The One-Year Lapse Trap

This one catches people. If your DACA has been expired for more than one year, USCIS treats your next request as a brand-new initial application, not a renewal.⁷ Under the current injunction, initial applications cannot be approved. Lapse for more than 12 months and you effectively lose DACA until the courts allow new approvals. There is no workaround. This is the strongest possible reason not to delay renewal.

If a Renewal Is Denied

DACA denials cannot be formally appealed, but you can file a motion to reopen (based on new facts) or a motion to reconsider (if USCIS misapplied the law) with the office that issued the denial. The denial notice explains the options for your specific case.⁸

Work Authorization and the Renewal Gap

Your EAD, issued alongside DACA, runs for the same two-year period. As long as it stays current, you can work for any employer in the United States.¹

If your EAD expires before your renewal is approved, you must stop working. Continuing to work without a valid EAD is unauthorized employment, and your employer can terminate you once the expiration comes to light. When the new EAD arrives, your employer can generally rehire you or restore you to a comparable position. Filing early enough to avoid the gap is the entire point of the 120-to-150-day window.

Travel and Advance Parole

DACA recipients who need to travel abroad can apply for advance parole by filing Form I-131. Advance parole is available only after DACA has been approved, and travel must be for humanitarian, educational, or employment purposes. USCIS must grant the advance parole document before you leave.⁴

Leaving without an approved advance parole document is one of the fastest ways to lose DACA permanently. Unauthorized departure terminates deferred action, and because new initial applications cannot currently be approved, there is no path back into the program.⁹

Even with approved advance parole, re-entry is not guaranteed. Customs and Border Protection officers at the port of entry retain discretion to deny admission, and you go through the standard inspection process.¹⁰ Given the current legal and enforcement environment, consult an immigration attorney before booking any trip abroad.

What DACA in Texas Does Not Provide

DACA is not a visa, not a green card, and not a step toward citizenship. It is a temporary exercise of prosecutorial discretion that can be revoked. Several major federal benefits remain out of reach.⁴

Federal student aid is unavailable. DACA recipients cannot receive Pell Grants, federal student loans, or Federal Work-Study, and the FAFSA cannot be used to access these programs. Some states provide their own aid, and private scholarships may be an option.¹¹

Health insurance marketplace access ended on August 25, 2025. DACA recipients are no longer eligible for Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage or premium tax credits after a brief window of eligibility under a prior rule.¹² Employer-sponsored insurance and community health programs are the remaining routes.

Federally funded Medicaid and CHIP are also narrowing. Beginning October 1, 2026, eligibility for federally funded Medicaid and CHIP is limited to lawful permanent residents, Cuban and Haitian entrants, and certain other specified categories. Some states may still cover DACA recipients using state-only funds or through targeted programs for children and pregnant individuals, but federal support is disappearing.

Driver’s licenses are a different story. DACA recipients can apply for driver’s licenses, including REAL ID-compliant licenses, in every state where they meet the standard eligibility requirements, including Texas. That access depends on a valid EAD, one more reason renewal timing matters.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Additional Information: DACA Decision in State of Texas, et al., v. United States of America, et al.
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Frequently Asked Questions
3
Justia Law. Texas v. United States, No. 23-40653 (5th Cir. 2025)
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-821D, Instructions for Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-821D, Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Renew Your DACA
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Questions and Answers: Appeals and Motions
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records
10
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Advance Parole
11
Federal Student Aid. Undocumented Students and Financial Aid
12
HealthCare.gov. Health Coverage for Lawfully Present Immigrants