Building a Career and Future Under DACA, Without Knowing How Long It Will Last

By Gabrielle Caumon

Reporting Texas

Rafael, a former Austin middle school theater teacher, heard last year that some of his students from first-generation immigrant families had seen Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids at their apartment complex. 

Fear, Rafael told them, should not stand in the way of their future. So he shared his story.

Rafael, 33, told the students that he is a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient who came to Texas from Mexico at age 6. The DACA program, created in 2012 by the Obama administration, provides eligible immigrants who came to the U.S. as children with temporary protection from deportation and allows them to obtain work authorization. 

“I wanted to show my students: Look, if I did, you can do it,” said Rafael, who spoke on the condition that only his first name be published. “That was something really special; they were able to see someone like them teaching them, going through this entire path and being able to work because of DACA.”

 

But Rafael, like other DACA recipients and immigration lawyers, is fearful in the current immigration climate. Recipients are navigating a precarious legal status in the U.S. immigration system as court rulings reshape the legal landscape and deepen uncertainty.

Austin immigration attorney Jason Finkelman said DACA continues to face legal challenges. Texas and other states have argued that the DACA program conflicts with federal immigration law, he said, and that the Obama administration exceeded its authority when it created the program.

Courts have upheld parts of those challenges, Finkelman said, but current DACA recipients can still renew their status and work authorization every two years. However, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has been barred from approving new DACA applications since July 16, 2021.

In January 2025, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found parts of DACA to be illegal but allowed it to remain in place while the litigation continues. The court upheld DACA’s protections against deportation of DACA recipients, but the ruling could prevent DACA recipients from obtaining work permits.

The constant changes affect more than recipients’ immigration status. It can also shape the decisions about careers, finances and families.

“If you don’t know if you’re going to be able to work and make a living, are you going to buy a home? Are you going to save for retirement? Can you support your children?” Finkelman said. “So when this work authorization is temporary, and these renewals are unpredictable, that uncertainty can impact a family’s financial security in this country.”

 

Criminal defense attorney Pedro Villalobos, the first DACA recipient licensed to practice law in Texas, said DACA recipients must keep moving forward despite the instability of their status.

 

“You’ve got to keep trying to achieve your goals, try to get an education, try to advance your career professionally, and do your best because you can’t view that as an impediment,” Villalobos said. “It’s a hurdle, but not an impediment.”

 

Born in Mexico, Villalobos arrived in Texas at 3 and graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 2016. 

 

Villalobos, now a lawful permanent resident, has more comfort and security than he did under DACA, when renewal issues could upend his life at any moment. He said, however, that he remains vigilant given the current climate. 

Rafael, meanwhile, said he has always been confused about where his status stands and how much longer he has in the country.

“As soon as DACA gets cancelled or stopped, obviously my name is now on a list,” Rafael said. “They have my address. They have all my information. They can just come pick me up. It’s one of those things where the future is just so blurry.” 

The risks are real. In January 2025, the Department of Homeland Security rescinded restrictions on immigration enforcement in sensitive locations, including schools.

The fear Rafael sees in his students is one he remembers from his own childhood, when he worried whether his parents would still be home when he returned from school. 

“Seeing my own students living with that is a really heartbreaking experience,” Rafael said. “At the end of the day, as teachers, we are supposed to be protecting these kids, and it’s really hard when both the students and the faculty are scared because you never know what’s gonna happen.”

Rafael has since moved to a different school district, where he teaches students from more privileged backgrounds. He has not shared his immigration status with those students.

When Rafael’s family arrived in Texas, his father hoped he and his sister would have opportunities beyond working in construction or at a fast-food restaurant. Their parents emptied their savings account to help Rafael and his sister obtain their DACA status.

“With my dad giving us this opportunity, I get to have a car, travel, teach; I get to do what I love; my sister gets to buy a car, a house and create a family — and it’s all because of DACA.”

But even after building a career, Rafael said he does not know how long that stability will last.

 

“DACA doesn’t prevent anyone from entering a career, but what its effect is, is on the ability to maintain that work authorization,” Finkelman said.

Filing a renewal application on time does not automatically extend work authorization. If a work permit expires before a new one arrives, recipients generally must stop working, Finkelman said, even if their DACA status remains valid.

“Someone may have a college degree and experience and a great employment record, but if they don’t have that work permit or they have to plan around getting a work permit every two years, that creates a lot of uncertainty,” Finkelman said. 

 

Recent renewal delays have added to those concerns. Some recipients are waiting more than six months for their renewal, compared with an average of 15 days in fiscal 2025. Finkelman said the reason for the longer delays remains unclear.

 

Rafael said he was “lucky” with his latest renewal. After seeing warnings about delays on TikTok and Reddit, he applied earlier than planned, moving up his renewal from its January 2027 expiration date. He submitted his application on Aug. 16 and received approval on Sept. 15.

 

One of his friends, however, had to start a GoFundMe in April after a delay in his renewal application, which he had submitted Dec. 5, cost him his job. His application was approved at the end of July, and his employer rehired him. 

 

For Rafael, the risks extend beyond his ability to work. Last year, before going to work, he said he stopped at a Circle K near his school, in a predominantly Latino community in Austin. An ICE agent came in.

 

“My heart is beating at a thousand miles an hour, but I’m making sure that I have my teacher’s ID on me, that I have my wallet with me, that I have my work permit with me,” Rafael said. “Just making sure that I have a way to actually show them like, ‘Hey, I am here, I can legally be here.’”

 

He has stopped going to that convenience store. 

 

“We have to be the perfect model citizens,” Rafael said. “We have to respect everything and be careful — because one mistake, and our entire life goes away.” 

Lasting security for DACA recipients would require congressional action, Finkelman said, including legislation that creates a pathway to permanent residence for people brought to the U.S. as children.

“We’re not asking for a free ride; we’re not asking for special privileges,” Villalobos said. “We’re only asking to give us a chance to prove ourselves and show you that we can succeed, that we can make something of ourselves.”

Rafael said he wants to live somewhere where he no longer has to worry about his future because of his immigration status.

“I need to move to a place where I know I’m going to be safe, where I am no longer going to be treated like a pawn,” Rafael said — “like Texas treats DACA recipients.”