Obama announces DACA and shifts ICE enforcement away from interior priorities

President Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on June 15, 2012, directing DHS to grant two-year renewable deferrals from deportation and work authorization to undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. The administration simultaneously designated civil immigration violations as lower-priority enforcement, directing ICE to focus on national security threats, recent border crossers, and individuals convicted of serious crimes. The policy shift suspended all 287(g) task force models used for street-level sweeps, limiting local enforcement partnerships to jail-based identification.