Lowey Statement on Rejection of DACA Applications After USPS Failures

Statement

Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY17/Rockland-Westchester), Ranking Member on the House Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement after applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program were rejected due to the United States Postal Service's failure to deliver the paperwork on time:

"It is beyond unacceptable that dozens of young immigrants, who submitted their DACA renewal forms weeks before they were due, are now at risk of deportation for the sole reason that the Postal Service failed to do its job. The Postal Service needs to get its act together. We continue to see more and more evidence of deep and systemic failure. The Postal Service is literally holding people's lives in their hands, and those people deserve far better.

"In light of the Postal Service's delivery failures, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services should honor applications postmarked by the October 5th deadline. DACA recipients did the right thing, and they should not be punished for something beyond their control."

According to a November 10th New York Times report, the applications of at least 33 DACA recipients in the New York region arrived late due to unusually long delays by the USPS. At least two constituents of New York's 17th Congressional District informed Congresswoman Lowey's office that their DACA applications were rejected because of USPS errors.

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