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Department of Homeland Security
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Homeland
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The Honorable Michelle Luj an Grisham
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative Luj an Grisham:

On behalf of the Administration, 1 write in response to the letter you and 1 10 other
members of Congress sent the President on December 5. In your letter. you ask us "to do
everything within [our] power to safeguard the personal identifying information of DACA
enrollees.? We share your concerns.

Today there are 750,000 young people enrolled in DACA who, when they applied
for enrollment. relied on the US. government's representations about the use of their
personal identifying information. Since DACA was announced in 2012, DHS has
consistently made clear that information provided by applicants will be collected and
considered for the primary purpose of adjudicating their DACA requests and would be
safeguarded from other immigration-related purposes. More speci?cally, the
US. government represented to applicants that the personal information they provided will
not later be used for immigration enforcement purposes except where it is independently
determined that a case involves a national security or public safety threat, criminal activity,
fraud, or limited other circumstances where issuance of a notice to appear is required by
law.

We believe these representations made by the US. government, upon which DACA
applicants most assuredly relied, must continue to be honored.

For decades, even dating back before DACA, it has been the longstanding and
consistent practice of DHS (and its predecessor INS) to use information submitted by
people seeking deferred action or other benefits for the limited purpose of adjudicating
their requests, and not for immigration enforcement purposes except in the kinds of
speci?ed circumstances described above. This was true, for example, under the deferred
action policies extended to victims of human trafficking, to foreign students affected by
Hurricane Katrina, to battered immigrants under the Violence Against Women Act, and to
widows and widowers of American citizens. Accordingly, people who requested to be
considered under DACA, like those who requested deferred action in the past, have relied
on our consistent practice concerning the information they provide about themselves and
others.

The Honorable Michelle Lujan Grisham
Page 2

The U.S. government?s practice of adhering to the assurances it makes to applicants
for deferred action is also consistent with the way USCIS (and the INS before it) has long
protected information submitted by those seeking other bene?ts or relief. This includes
but is not limited to individuals requesting temporary protected status, deferred enforced
departure, or extended voluntary departure. In these circumstances, as with deferred action
requests, USCIS and INS have abided by a longstanding and consistent practice of using
information to adjudicate speci?c applications, but not for immigration enforcement
purposes absent the limited circumstances described above.

Since DACA began, thousands of Dreamers have been able to enroll in colleges and
universities, complete their education, start businesses that help improve our economy, and
give back to our communities as teachers, medical professionals, engineers, and
entrepreneurs?all on the books. We continue to benefit as a country from the
contributions of those young people who have come forward and want nothing more than
to contribute to our country and our shared future.

The co-signers of your letter will receive separate, identical responses. Should you
wish to discuss this ?lrther, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Jeh Charles Johnson