Hiring DACA recipients: work permits, Form I-9, renewals and the court case to watch

Employers can hire DACA recipients who hold a valid Employment Authorization Document (EAD), category (c)(33): the card is a List A document for Form I-9, it is not tied to one employer, and the employer files nothing with USCIS. As of November 2026, USCIS says current DACA grants and their EADs remain valid until they expire unless individually terminated, that it keeps processing renewals, and that it accepts but does not process first-time requests because of litigation in Texas. The practical risk is timing: a DACA EAD is not extended by a pending renewal, so the employee needs the new card, or another acceptable document, by the date on the old one.

This page is for recruiters, agencies and hiring managers. It builds on work authorization questions in interviews and EAD automatic extensions and Form I-9; the Form I-9 detail is in Form I-9 for DACA recipients.

What does DACA give a worker?

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is, in USCIS's words, an exercise of prosecutorial discretion to defer removal for a period of time; it "does not provide lawful status." Recipients may request work authorization, and USCIS grants DACA for two-year periods subject to renewal. The 2022 DACA rule placed the program in 8 CFR 236.21 to 236.25, and the work permit category is 8 CFR 274a.12(c)(33).

For an employer that means three things: the EAD is the evidence of work authorization, it is open market rather than employer-specific, and it expires, so the job runs through reverification dates like any other temporary authorization.

What is DACA's legal status as of November 2026?

On January 17, 2025, the Fifth Circuit (Texas v. United States, No. 23-40653) largely affirmed the district court's ruling against the DACA rule but modified the remedy: it limited injunctive relief, including vacatur of the rule, to Texas, kept DACA's policy of forbearance from removal in place under the rule's severability clause, preserved the stay for existing recipients and remanded the case.

USCIS's DACA page says that, under that order, it continues to accept and process renewal requests and the accompanying work permit applications, continues to accept first-time requests but does not process them, and that current DACA grants and EADs remain valid until they expire unless individually terminated. The page was last reviewed in January 2025, and the remand was still before the district court when it was. This page does not predict the outcome; if you employ DACA recipients in Texas, assign someone to check USCIS's page regularly.

How does Form I-9 work for a DACA recipient?

1. Section 1. The employee chooses the status box for a noncitizen authorized to work until a date and enters the EAD's expiration date; HR does not fill in or correct it (see Form I-9 Section 1 instructions).
2. Section 2. The employee may present any acceptable documents. If they present the EAD, it is a List A document on its own; record its number and expiration date.
3. E-Verify. If you are enrolled, create the case as for any new hire. An EAD is one of the documents that triggers photo matching; see E-Verify photo matching.
4. Reverification. By the expiration date, complete Supplement B with any unexpired List A or List C document the employee chooses; E-Verify is not used for reverification. See I-9 reverification.

Does a pending DACA renewal extend the work permit?

No. Category (c)(33) is not on the M-274's list of categories that received automatic extensions from a timely renewal, and DHS's rule ending most automatic extensions for renewals filed on or after October 30, 2025 was finalized without change on October 14, 2026. An expired DACA EAD plus a Form I-797C receipt is therefore not an acceptable Form I-9 document.

USCIS strongly encourages recipients to file renewals 120 to 150 days before their current DACA expires and says it decides the majority of renewals within 120 days. The employer does not file the renewal and should not ask for status paperwork outside the Form I-9 process, but it can send the same neutral reminder it sends every employee whose work authorization document is expiring, well before the date. If the new card does not arrive in time and the employee has no other acceptable document, they cannot keep working in a job that requires authorization. Decide in advance, in a written policy applied to everyone and reviewed by counsel, what happens then.

What may recruiters ask, and what discrimination rules apply?

Ask the two questions every candidate gets: authorized to work in the United States, and need for visa sponsorship now or in the future. Do not ask whether someone has DACA, which country they are from, or to see a work permit before an offer.

• Citizenship status. In a 2012 letter, the Justice Department's office that is now IER said DACA recipients are not "protected individuals" under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), so the federal ban on citizenship status discrimination does not cover them.
• National origin, documents and retaliation. The same letter says all work-authorized people, DACA recipients included, are protected from national origin discrimination, unfair documentary practices and retaliation, and that employers may not use the temporary nature of a work permit as a pretext for national origin discrimination.
• Expiration dates. M-274 Section 11.4 says not to refuse a document or refuse to hire someone because the document has a future expiration date, and IER's FAQ warns that weighing a future expiration date when judging whether someone is qualified may be an unfair immigration-related employment practice.
• State law. Some states go further. New York's Division of Human Rights, for example, says it is illegal for an employer to refuse to hire a work-authorized person based on citizenship or immigration status.

For agencies: a client instruction such as "no DACA" or "green card holders only" should go to counsel before you source against it; it can expose the agency under the federal national origin and document rules and under state law even where federal citizenship status rules do not reach.

What about licensed jobs, federal requirements and export controls?

• Occupational licenses. States set their own rules. In Wisconsin, for example, 2025 Act 240 made DACA recipients with unexpired deferred action and work permits eligible for state occupational credentials from April 11, 2026; see new hiring laws in Wisconsin. Check the licensing board for the role.
• Citizenship-restricted jobs. IER says an employer may limit a job to U.S. citizens only when a law, regulation, executive order or government contract requires it. Ask for that basis in writing; see U.S. citizenship requirements in job postings.
• Export-controlled technology. IER's FAQ says the ITAR and EAR do not require hiring only citizens, but a company may need government authorization before releasing controlled technology to employees who are not U.S. citizens, nationals, permanent residents, asylees or refugees. DACA recipients are outside those groups, so route the question to your export compliance team instead of screening candidates out.

Is any rule change pending?

On June 5, 2026, DHS proposed new limits on discretionary work permits (91 FR 34352). Its E-Verify and economic-necessity changes target other deferred action, parole and supervision categories, and the proposal says those specific changes do not apply to DACA, but its new criminal-history and biometrics factors would apply to DACA work permit requests. Comments closed August 4, 2026; it is a proposal, not a rule.

A checklist for employers of DACA recipients

• Use the same two work authorization questions for every candidate; never ask about DACA.
• Accept any valid Form I-9 documents the employee chooses; do not ask for the EAD by name.
• Calendar every EAD expiration and send the same neutral reminder to all affected employees.
• Do not accept an expired EAD with a renewal receipt as proof of continued authorization.
• Push back on client instructions that exclude DACA recipients, and log the legal basis for any citizenship-restricted role.
• Check USCIS's DACA page after any court development, especially for Texas employees.