DACA

POLICY BRIEF

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals: Where Are We Now?

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Since its implementation in 2012, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has given an estimated 800,000 young adults the opportunity to work, learn, and plant roots in the United States without fear of deportation. In order to obtain such protection, however, those individuals were put through a stringent application process that consisted of background checks and sharing personal information about their illegal status (Pope, 2016). They also are only eligible for the program if they entered the United States before turning 16. For those 800,000 individuals, the future now looks unclear, as President Trump signed an executive order initiating a phase-out of the DACA program on September 5, 2017. As it stands, people with protected status under DACA will not be eligible for renewal once their current permits (which last 2 years) end (Pope, 2016). People will lose work permits, jobs, driver’s licenses, higher-education eligibility, and most importantly their ability to live without fear.

Context & Importance of the Problem

To fully understand the outcomes of rescinding DACA, one must look at both the macro and micro level changes that will take place as a result of this move. On a personal level, this decision by President Trump will end the ability for young immigrants to obtain work permits and driver’s licenses, pursue higher education, and pay income taxes. As a result of this they will lose their jobs, be forced to stop attending university, and will once again live in fear of deportation. These individuals will be rid of their freedom of movement and their rights to work and be educated, as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (U.N. General Assembly, 1948). Young immigrants who only know the United States as home will once again be considered criminal, simply for existing in the only place they know.

Looking at the larger impacts of rescinding the DACA program shows a picture of lost revenue and increased turnover in the job market. A 2016 study by Philip Wolgin found that roughly 650,000 of the 800,000 DACA recipients are employed in the United States and therefore pay state, local, and federal taxes on their income (Wolgin, 2016). As their DACA permits expire, these people will become ineligible for employment, by no fault of their own. This will lead to an estimated $433 billion reduction in the United States’ Gross Domestic Profit (GDP) over 10 years (Wolgin, 2016). A similar study by Tom Wong found that enrollment in the DACA program led people to make more large purchases in the United States, such as the 54% of DACA recipients who report having purchased a car after receiving protected status, or the 60% who pursued higher education without federal aid, thus paying their tuition out of pocket (Wong, 2016). Ending the DACA program will largely take these 800,000 individuals out of our economy, leaving a gap that the U.S. Government has no plan to fill.