B. CHANGES IN LAW AND POLICY AFFECTING SOCIAL SECURITY SINCE THE 2021 REPORT Since the Trustees submitted the 2021 report to Congress, there has been one change in policy that has a notable effect on OASDI program operations. On July 16, 2021, pursuant to a United States District Court order, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services stopped approving first time applications under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy but continues to approve renewal applications. On September 10, 2021, the Administration appealed the District Court ruling. Changes in DACA policy affect OASDI program operations because those who apply for and receive deferred action status are eligible for work authorization, which leads to additional workers covered by the OASDI program and increased payroll tax revenue. The estimates presented in last year’s report reflected the assumption that the DACA program would be maintained in full, consistent with the Administration’s intent. The estimates presented in this year’s report continue to reflect the assumption that DACA will eventually be fully in effect. However, because of the court challenges, the estimates now incorporate a roughly one-year delay in resuming approval of new applications. This change is estimated to have negligible financial effects on the OASDI program over both the short-range and long-range projection periods. Sections IV.A.4 and IV.B.6 of this report provide further description of the magnitude of effects on the financial status of the OASDI program.
