US Approves over 76,000 Work Permits for DACA Recipients, Releases Figures
- USCIS processed tens of thousands of Employment Authorisation Document applications for DACA recipients between April and June 2026
- The quarterly data, published by the USCIS Chief Data and Analytics Office, showed a significant volume of renewals driving the approvals figure
- More than 230,000 DACA work permit applications remained pending at the end of the reporting period, raising questions about processing capacity
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The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approved 76,053 Employment Authorisation Documents (EADs) for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme between April 1 and June 30, 2026, according to official quarterly data published by the USCIS Chief Data and Analytics Office.
The figure covers all EAD types processed under the DACA eligibility category (C33) during the second quarter of 2026.
Source: Getty Images
Of the 76,053 total approvals, the overwhelming majority — 76,032 — came from renewal applications, while only 21 were replacements. No new initial DACA work permit applications were approved in the same period.
DACA renewal applications drive the numbers
The data shows that 81,026 initial EAD applications were received under the DACA category during the quarter, but zero of these were approved, suggesting USCIS focused its adjudication resources almost entirely on the backlog of renewal requests.
Renewal receipts stood at 81,026 for initial applications and 81,026 for renewals combined across the quarter.
Denials in the DACA category remained comparatively low. Only 482 applications were denied in total — 4 replacements and 478 renewals — representing a denial rate of roughly 0.6% of all decisions made during the quarter.
US: Massive backlog remains a concern
Despite the volume of approvals, the pending caseload for DACA work permits at the end of June 2026 stood at 231,872. That figure includes 101,875 initial applications, 125,167 renewal cases, and 4,830 replacement requests still awaiting a decision.
The pending count means that for every application approved during the quarter, approximately three others were still waiting, underlining the scale of the processing challenge USCIS continues to face in this category.
Across all EAD eligibility categories combined, USCIS received 572,947 applications, approved 366,079, denied 67,022, and carried a total pending caseload of 2,110,712 during the same three-month window.
DACA approvals therefore accounted for about 20.8% of all EAD approvals issued in the second quarter of 2026.
The data was sourced from the USCIS CLAIMS3 and ELIS systems and was queried in July 2026 under reference PAER0021798.
In a related story, Legit.ng reported that the US had rejected over 12,000 family-based Green Card applications.
US rejects over 12,000 citizenship applications
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the US had rejected over 12,000 citizenship applications as its immigration restrictions tighten.
The figures, drawn from the USCIS immigration and citizenship data library covering April 1 to June 30, 2026, show that 12,591 Form N-400 applications for naturalisation were denied during the quarter.
That figure represents roughly 18.6% of all decided cases in the period, meaning nearly one in five applicants who received a decision was turned away.
Source: Legit.ng
