I am writing today to urge our community and elected officials to support reauthorizing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
Currently, DACA has not accepted new eligible applicants since October 2020. According to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services website (2022), DACA is a policy that came to life through an executive order from President Barack Obama.
DACA provides temporary relief from deportation (deferred action) and work authorization to eligible young undocumented immigrants. However, it does not offer a pathway to citizenship. The eligible DACA recipients must reapply every two years to continue to receive deferred action to deportation and work authorization.
This policy was created to give this population a middle ground to their situation. This means they would have some protection and the right to work lawfully but would not hold legal status in the U.S., thus not having U.S. citizen rights.
DACA is a policy that helps the childhood immigrant population with protection from deportation and work authorization for its recipients (USCIS, 2022). DACA can be seen as a compromise from the DREAM ACT or a step toward fighting for the DREAM ACT.
However, DACA continues to create fear and anxiety within its recipients. It is not accepting new applications, an issue for childhood immigrants eligible for DACA. It’s important to note that more than half of DACA recipients reported moving to jobs with better pay and benefits that are more closely aligned with their education and training; the CAP analysis states that DACA recipient households pay $6.2 billion in federal taxes and $3.3 billion in state and local taxes each year. However, they are not eligible for federal funding.
Similarly, most undocumented immigrants file federal and state taxes, yet they do not qualify for those funding streams, causing this population to face disparities and inequalities. Providing DACA to active and allowing eligible applicants to gain DACA protections would benefit childhood immigrants and the U.S. economy.
Erika Chagolla
SJSU Graduate Student
