Intermountain Healthcare Supports 150 Utah Caregivers Affected by DACA Announcement

With about 150 caregivers who could be affected by a recent announcement about the repeal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, Intermountain Healthcare’s leadership and Board of Trustees have committed to support them and help them to file the paperwork required for them to continue to legally live and work in the U.S.  

DACA is an immigration policy established by the Obama administration in June 2012. DACA allows certain immigrants who entered the country as minors to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit. Approximately 800,000 such young people were enrolled nationally in the program as of 2017, including more than 9,000 Utahns.

About 150 caregivers with DACA permits are employed in Intermountain’s 22 hospitals and 180 clinics in a wide variety of positions such as nurses, medical aides, and food service and maintenance workers, and they comprise an important portion of the organization’s 39,000 employees.

DACA permits that expire during the next six months can continue to be renewed. DACA recipients with a permit set to expire before March 5, 2018 will have the opportunity to apply for a two-year renewal if they do so by October 5.

“These caregivers are making a tremendous contribution and a positive difference in the lives of Utahns,” said Marc Harrison, MD, Intermountain Healthcare CEO.  “We stand behind them and will fully support them as they seek to extend their DACA permits.”

To be eligible for a DACA permit, immigrants must have entered the United States before their 16th birthday and prior to June 2007, be currently in school, a high school graduate or be honorably discharged from the military, be under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012, and not have been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor or three other misdemeanors, or otherwise pose a threat to national security. 

On September 5, 2017, DACA was rescinded by the Trump administration, but implementation was delayed six months to give Congress time to come up with a solution for the population that was previously eligible for DACA.  

“The leadership of Intermountain Healthcare supports a lasting, long-term solution to immigration policies that allows individuals currently covered by DACA permits to be able to continue to legally live and work in the U.S.,” said Harrison.