Up until a month ago, Alejandro Contreras was living a typical Park City life: skiing, mountain biking, working in human resources and living in the condo he owns.
Contreras was born in Honduras and came to the United States at 8 years old — making him one of about 495,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients according to government data. In early March, he didn’t think much about it when he applied to renew his eligibility. Past biennial renewals came through in a week or two, he said.
But like other DACA recipients around the country, this renewal is taking a lot longer than in years past.
His expedited response request was denied by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. His employer even wrote a letter in support, to no avail. When Contreras reached out to Sen. Mike Lee’s office in late June, a staffer told him that immigration services was processing DACA renewals submitted in early December 2025.
“I've been hearing things that USCIS will not adjudicate March cases until probably September and October. But I don't have that amount of time,” he said.
Because his case is still pending, Contreras lost his job in July when his status expired — which, since he worked in human resources, he understood. But he still felt like the United States was kicking him out.
DACA allows qualified immigrants to live and work in the U.S. It is not, and does not lead to, a permanent legal status. About 6,500 DACA recipients live in Utah as of December 2025.
Contreras was proud of his work. He hired staff at a new hotel and worked with temporary employees on exchange visas.
“I was teaching them American values, American ways of doing things, speech, mannerisms, and everything like that, because I grew up here,” he said.
Now, he’s living off savings and wakes up every day hoping for an update. His time is spent reading, practicing folding clothes and learning new vocabulary. Because he lost his work-based health insurance, he said he canceled a routine dental cleaning. Unable to renew his limited-term driver’s license, he’s relying on his girlfriend to go grocery shopping.
“I hope I get approved so that way I can tell my employer, ‘Hey, is the spot still open? Can I go back and join?’”
Figures from Citizenship and Immigration Services show that the median time for a DACA renewal is now 2.8 months. Contreras has been waiting for five. In a statement, the agency told KUER that it is “safeguarding the American people by more thoroughly screening and vetting all aliens.”
Slower wait times for DACA aren’t the only way it’s become harder for immigrants to get work authorization in the U.S. With the Supreme Court’s approval, the Trump administration ended Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians this summer. The program protects individuals from detention over immigration status and grants them eligibility for work permits.
Protections ended in 2025 for most Venezuelan recipients, who are the second-largest group of Latinos in Utah. Advocacy groups are rallying for a new round of protection given the earthquakes in June that killed more than 5,500 people.
But for now, many Venezuelans in Utah lost their jobs and the ability to live out of the shadows, said Jesler Molina with the Venezuelan Alliance of Utah.
“Everything from restaurants, manufacturing, working on the fields, all the way to professionals who are doctors, engineers — you name it,” he said.
Beyond just work, Molina said this has ripple effects since some residents own cars, homes and businesses.
Some have returned to Venezuela, though since the earthquakes, people are afraid of what they’ll find when they go back, he said. Others are sticking around and trying to find a legal path such as asylum.
But asylum, which can lead to permanent status, is getting harder to win as the Trump administration has changed the process. At Utah’s immigration court, only 6% of asylum cases have been approved in fiscal year 2026, according to the court-tracking site Mobile Pathways. That does not account for applicants who were awarded another type of immigration benefit.
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
