On August 15, 2012, the Obama administration began accepting applications from young immigrants for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, known as DACA. DACA recipients were provided work authorization in addition to temporary relief from deportation — a huge reassurance for the immigrants who were brought to the United States as children by their parents. Approximately 822,000 undocumented young people across the United States went on to benefit from the policy.
Now, six years later, DACA recipients are making significant contributions to the economy and their communities, according to a new survey by the University of California San Diego, United We Dream, the National Immigration Law Center, and the Center for American Progress. (Disclosure: ThinkProgress is an editorially independent news site housed at the Center for American Progress.)
Based on surveys of 1,050 DACA recipients in 41 states and the District of Columbia between July 16 and August 7, 2018, the results confirm what previous DACA anniversary surveys have also found: DACA has had a positive impact on hundreds of thousands of young immigrant children.
Notably, DACA has been crucial to the economic upward mobility of immigrants living in the United States. The vast majority — 89 percent — of the survey’s respondents said they were employed. And since receiving DACA, most respondents have been able to improve their employment situation.
Fifty-four percent said they were able to shift to a job with better pay; overall, the hourly wage of respondents increased 78 percent, from $10.32 per hour to $18.42. Forty-seven percent said they moved to a job with health insurance or other benefits, and 46 percents reported better working conditions. Six percent of survey respondents started a small business after receiving DACA.
These economic gains have resulted in a greater purchasing power among immigrant youth. The survey shows that DACA protections have allowed for over 60 percent of respondents to purchase their first car and 14 percent to own a home, a number that increases to 20 percent among survey respondents older than 25. Both are large life purchases that benefit the economy in a number of ways. For example, most states collect a tax on a percentage of the car’s purchase price in sales tax in addition to license and registration fees. Immigrant home ownership, meanwhile, makes the housing market stronger and can even lead to increased job creation.
Educationally, of the 40 percent of survey respondents who said they are currently enrolled in school, three-quarters are pursuing a bachelor’s degree or higher. Ninety-three percent said DACA allowed them to pursue educational opportunities they previously could not have if not for the policy.
While all of the benefits of DACA have undoubtedly served as a benefit for the nation, the fate of the policy remains in legal and political uncertainty — and that uncertainty is taking a toll on DACA recipients.
According to the survey:
“45 percent of respondents reported that they think about being detained in an immigration detention facility at least once a day; 55 percent reported that they think about being deported at least once a day; and 64 percent reported that they think about a family member being deported at least once a day.
Among recipients with children, 76 percent reported that they think about “being separated from [their] children because of deportation” at least once a day, and 74 percent think about “not being able to see [their] children grow up because of deportation” at least once a day.”
In September 2017, the Trump administration began rolling back the DACA program and instituted an arbitrary deadline for current recipients to renew their protection. A series of federal court decisions, however, have since ruled against the administration’s decision to rescind the program.
While just a last week a federal judge ordered the DACA program to be reinstated in full and the federal government to accept new applicants, that ruling is on hold until August 23, allowing the Trump administration to appeal the decision.
The Trump administration is not the only legal threat to DACA.
A lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on behalf of eight states and two Republican governors challenging the constitutionality of DACA may wind up reaching the Supreme Court — where Brett Kavanaugh’s pending appointment may solidly shift the court’s balance to the right and thrust hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients into legal limbo.