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

DACA in Texas is in a strange middle place: if you already hold it, you can still renew your status and your work permit through USCIS, but the program itself has been ruled unlawful by both a federal district court in Texas and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and no first-time applications are being approved anywhere in the country. The Fifth Circuit’s January 2025 ruling narrowed the injunction to Texas and separated the work-authorization piece from the deportation-forbearance piece, which means Texas is now the specific battleground where the next round of court orders will land.

Why Texas Sits at the Center of the DACA Fight

The lawsuit driving all of this is Texas v. United States. On July 16, 2021, a federal judge in the Southern District of Texas ruled that the original 2012 DACA memorandum violated the Administrative Procedure Act, vacated the memo, and issued a permanent injunction blocking approval of any new DACA applications. The court stayed that order for the roughly 600,000 people who already held DACA, letting them keep their status and keep renewing.¹

The Department of Homeland Security tried to shore up the program by issuing a formal regulation, the DACA Final Rule, in August 2022. The same Texas district court struck that rule down in September 2023 and expanded the injunction to cover it.²

On January 17, 2025, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals largely affirmed that DACA is unlawful, but changed the remedy in two ways that matter directly to anyone in Texas. First, the appeals court narrowed the injunction’s geographic scope to Texas alone, finding that Texas was the only plaintiff that showed a concrete injury. Second, it severed DACA’s forbearance-from-deportation provisions from its work-authorization provisions, treating the two as separate questions.³ The case was sent back to the district court. As of early 2026, that court received briefing from the parties in November 2025 on how to implement the work-authorization invalidation in Texas and could issue new orders at any time.

Through every stage of this, USCIS has kept processing renewals. The stay protecting current recipients has never been lifted, and the Supreme Court has not scheduled review.

What Current DACA Holders in Texas Can Do Right Now

If you live in Texas, currently hold DACA, and your work permit has not expired, your situation operationally is the same as any other recipient’s. Your deferred action is still in effect. Your Employment Authorization Document (EAD) is valid until the expiration date printed on it, unless USCIS individually terminates it. You should keep filing renewals on time.⁴

USCIS is still adjudicating renewal requests, processing applications for replacement EADs, and accepting advance parole applications from approved DACA recipients. The agency reaffirmed this posture after the Fifth Circuit’s January 2025 decision.¹

What is uncertain is what the district court in Texas will do next on remand. The Fifth Circuit told it to separate the work-authorization question and work out a Texas-only remedy. Any new order could change what work permits mean in practice for recipients in the state. The current advice from immigration practitioners is straightforward: renew as early as you reasonably can inside the recommended window, because the rules you file under today are not guaranteed to be the rules in effect six months from now.

First-Time DACA Applications

If you have never had DACA, the injunction blocks USCIS from approving your request. That is true in Texas and nationwide. USCIS will accept your application and your filing fee, but your case will sit unprocessed until the legal situation changes.⁴

Filing anyway can still make sense. If the injunction is eventually lifted, USCIS would work through the backlog of pending initial requests, and having a complete file already on record could mean faster approval. If you think you meet the eligibility criteria, start gathering documentation of your continuous residence now. USCIS tells applicants to document as much of the required residency period as reasonably possible, with evidence for at least each year. Useful records include rent receipts, utility bills, pay stubs, school records, bank statements, tax receipts, and birth certificates of U.S.-born children.² Sworn affidavits can fill gaps but cannot stand in for your only evidence across the whole period.

Filing Your Renewal

Timely renewal is the single most important thing a current DACA recipient can do, and that is especially true in Texas right now, where the next court order could land at any point.

When to File

USCIS recommends submitting your renewal between 120 and 150 days (roughly four to five months) before your current DACA expiration date, which appears on your Form I-797 approval notice.⁴ This window gives processing time some breathing room and reduces the chance of a gap. USCIS has historically aimed to process renewals within 120 days, but actual times vary.

Forms and Fees

A renewal package has three forms, filed together:

Form I-821D (Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)
Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization)
Form I-765WS (Worksheet)

There is no filing fee for Form I-821D itself, but you must pay the applicable fee for Form I-765. Submitting I-821D without I-765 and the correct payment will cause USCIS to reject the whole package.⁵ USCIS offers online filing through a myUSCIS account, which may carry a lower fee than paper filing. Check the current fee schedule on the USCIS website before you submit, since fees are updated periodically. The fees cannot be waived.⁴ USCIS also no longer accepts personal checks, business checks, money orders, or cashier’s checks for paper-filed forms unless you qualify for a specific exemption.⁶

Evidence

Renewals are lighter on documentation than initial applications. You generally do not need to resubmit evidence of your education or your original residency. You do need to be ready to show that you have continuously resided in the United States since your most recent approved DACA request and that you have not traveled outside the country without advance parole since August 15, 2012. Any new criminal history or removal proceedings since your last approval must be disclosed and documented. USCIS can request additional evidence at its discretion.²

The One-Year Expiration Trap

This catches people. If your DACA has been expired for more than one year, USCIS treats your next request as a brand-new initial application rather than a renewal.⁷ Under the current injunction, initial applications cannot be approved. So if you let your DACA lapse for more than 12 months, you effectively cannot get it back until the courts allow new approvals. There is no workaround. That is the strongest possible reason not to delay a renewal, particularly for anyone whose future may depend on orders coming out of the Texas district court.

Work Authorization

Work authorization is the most tangible benefit DACA provides, and it is also the piece the Fifth Circuit told the lower court to analyze separately on remand. When your DACA request is approved, you receive an EAD valid for the same two-year period as your deferred action. Your employer uses the EAD to verify your eligibility to work. As long as your DACA and EAD are 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 after your authorization lapses means working without authorization, and your employer can terminate you once they see the document is expired. Once your renewed EAD arrives, your employer can generally rehire you or restore you to a comparable position. Filing inside the 120-to-150-day window is how you avoid that gap.

Travel on Advance Parole

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

Leaving without an approved advance parole document is one of the fastest ways to lose DACA permanently. Departure without authorization terminates your deferred action, and because new initial applications cannot currently be approved, there is no path back into the program.⁸

Even with an approved advance parole document, re-entry is not guaranteed. Customs and Border Protection officers at the port of entry retain discretion to deny admission, and you remain subject to the standard inspection process.⁹ Weigh travel decisions carefully and talk to an immigration attorney before booking anything.

What DACA in Texas Does Not Open Up

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.⁴ Several federal benefits remain out of reach, and some have narrowed recently in ways that matter to Texas recipients.

DACA recipients are not eligible for federal financial aid, including Pell Grants, federal student loans, or Federal Work-Study. The FAFSA cannot be used to access those programs. Some states offer their own aid, and private scholarships may be available.¹⁰

As of August 25, 2025, DACA recipients are no longer eligible for Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage or premium tax credits. A brief period of eligibility under a prior rule has been revoked.¹¹ Employer-sponsored insurance and community health programs are the main alternatives.

Federal Medicaid funding for lawfully present noncitizens is narrowing further. Beginning October 1, 2026, eligibility for federally funded Medicaid and CHIP is limited to lawful permanent residents, Cuban/Haitian entrants, and certain other specific categories. Some states may cover DACA recipients with state-only funds or through programs for children and pregnant individuals, but federal support is going away.

On a more practical point: DACA recipients can apply for driver’s licenses, including REAL ID-compliant licenses, in every state where they meet the standard eligibility rules, which depends on a valid EAD. Another reason timely renewal 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. Application for Travel Documents, Parole Documents, and Arrival/Departure Records
9
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Advance Parole
10
Federal Student Aid. Undocumented Students and Financial Aid
11
HealthCare.gov. Health Coverage for Lawfully Present Immigrants