Bennet, Cortez Masto, Durbin, Colleagues Demand DHS Reduce Delays for DACA Renewals

Mar 20, 2026|Press Releases
Washington, D.C.— Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet joined Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), as well as 38 of their Democratic colleagues to send a letter to outgoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow demanding that the Department reduce the delays in processing renewal applications under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), President Trump’s nominee to replace Secretary Noem, also received a copy of this letter. Created in 2012, DACA protects individuals who came to the United States as children from deportation. DACA recipients across the country are experiencing increasing delays in renewing their status.
“DACA has allowed hundreds of thousands of Dreamers an opportunity to pursue higher education and meaningful careers while remaining in the only home they have ever known. Delays in processing DACA renewals are increasing the instability and uncertainty that DACA recipients already face. These delays can have profound consequences. When renewals are not processed before expiration, recipients lose employment authorization and, in many cases, their jobs. Employers experience workforce disruptions, including in sectors such as health care and education and in small businesses. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizen children have a parent with DACA, and when their work authorization lapses due to slow renewals, families endure heightened financial instability,”wrote the Senators.
The Senators also call attention to the increased risk of detention and deportation faced by DACA recipients when their renewal applications are not processed before their status expires. According to the Department, as many as 270 DACA recipients have been detained and 174 have been deported.
“DACA recipients contribute billions of dollars annually to the national economy and serve vital roles in our communities. Administrative delays in DACA renewals undermine not only individual stability but also broader economic resilience. To reduce these disruptions and risks for DACA recipients, we urge you to reduce processing times for DACA renewal applications and reduce the volume of pending cases through timely renewals,”concluded the Senators.
Bennet has consistently fought the Trump Administration’s cruel and inhumane immigration policies. He recentlytook to the Senate floorto condemn Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) violence and lawlessness and to denounce the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.Bennet has also continuously called on now outgoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Noem to resign. Bennetvoted againstrecent budget bills to extend DHS funding because they failed to overhaul ICE or ensure they are subject to the same common-sense standards we expect of our local law enforcement officials. He also introduced six amendments to the FY26 DHS appropriations bill that would protect children and families, bar enforcement at sensitive locations, and prohibit officers from wearing masks while requiring visible identification. Additionally,Bennet is working on legislation to rein in DHS and ICE. Last month, Bennetconducted an oversight visit of the ICE-GEO detention facility in Aurora, Colorado, and called for increased oversight of such facilities as well as expanded transparency and accountability for ICE. He alsodemanded DHS Secretary Noem abandon the proposed planto open a new ICE detention facility in Hudson.
In January, Bennet joined his colleagues in introducing theProviding Useful Budgets for Localities to Invest in Cops by Substituting Appropriations from Federal Enforcement To Yield Results (PUBLIC SAFETY) Actto redirect nearly $75 billion in funding passed in the Republicans’One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)from ICE and send it instead to local law enforcement programs to help hire and train 200,000 local police officers in communities across the country. In February 2025, Bennet joined his Senate colleagues to introduce theProtecting Sensitive Locations Act, which would reinstate DHS’s long-standing policies to prevent ICE from making arrests at sensitive locations like schools, hospitals, and places of worship. In August 2025, hejoined the Immigration Enforcement Identification Safety (IEIS) Actto prohibit immigration enforcement officials from wearing masks and to require them to wear visible identification. In November 2025, Bennet joined his colleagues in introducing the bicameralRestoring Access to Detainees Actto ensure DHS allows non-citizens who have been detained to contact their legal counsel and families.
In addition to Bennet, Cortez Masto, and Durbin, U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), and Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) signed this letter.
The text of the letter is availableHEREand below.

Dear Secretary Noem and Director Edlow:
We write to express serious concerns regarding delays in the processing of renewal applicationsunder the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Across the country, DACArecipients are reporting significant processing delays for their renewal applications. Manyapplicants who filed their renewals on time and in accordance with agency guidance areexperiencing prolonged adjudication periods that extend beyond their current period of deferred action and employment authorization. We urge you to take all steps within your power to process renewal applications in a timely manner and protect the DACA recipients who rely on this program and who contribute so much to this country.
DACA has allowed hundreds of thousands of Dreamers an opportunity to pursue highereducation and meaningful careers while remaining in the only home they have ever known.Delays in processing DACA renewals are increasing the instability and uncertainty that DACArecipients already face. These delays can have profound consequences. When renewals are notprocessed before expiration, recipients lose employment authorization and, in many cases, theirjobs. Employers experience workforce disruptions, including in sectors such as health care andeducation and in small businesses. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizen children have a parentwith DACA, and when their work authorization lapses due to slow renewals, families endureheightened financial instability.
Most concerningly, a lapse in DACA can result in an increased risk of being detained and evendeported by federal immigration officials. Our offices have heard examples of constituentswhose DACA has lapsed due to renewal delays being picked up by U.S. Immigration andCustoms Enforcement (ICE). A DACA recipient whose only change of circumstance is a pendingrenewal application should not be at risk of their entire life being thrown into chaos due toindiscriminate immigration enforcement.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has also failed to provide clear notice as topolicies or procedures that may be worsening this issue. For example, in helping our constituents address DACA renewal delays, some casework staff have been told that requests to expedite renewals will only be considered for recipients who work in the health care industry. While DACA health care workers are essential to the functioning of our local communities, they are by no means the only DACA recipients whose cases meet the agency’s criteria to expedite aRenewal.
Many casework staff have also been informed that USCIS has frozen DACA renewal processing for individuals from 39 countries subject to President Trump’s national security proclamations. This decision, which has not been publicly announced, could indefinitely delay the DACA renewal of thousands of beneficiaries, subjecting them to potential detention and removal to countries where they did not grow up.
To better understand and address these concerns, we request detailed responses to the following questions:
a. How many remain in immigration custody?
b. How many have been removed?
DACA recipients contribute billions of dollars annually to the national economy and serve vitalroles in our communities. Administrative delays in DACA renewals undermine not onlyindividual stability but also broader economic resilience.
To reduce these disruptions and risks for DACA recipients, we urge you to reduce processingtimes for DACA renewal applications and reduce the volume of pending cases through timelyrenewals. We request a written response by April 17, 2026. Thank you for your attention to thisurgent matter.
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