DACA Immigration Policy

Under President Barrack Obama’s administration, on the 15th of June, 2012, it was announced that certain people, who illegally crossed into the United States when they were children by not their own fault but were brought along by their families or relatives, may apply for ‘deferred action’ for a span of two years, subject to renewal. Hence, the name, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Through this program, the eligible immigrant youth would be able to get immunity from deportation for two years along with a work permit, after meeting several guidelines. However, DACA is not a law and doesn’t give lawful status to its recipients. Furthermore, the individuals who may be in the deportation proceedings can be granted DACA and benefit from deferred action and employment authorization.

Benefits of DACA:

Receiving the relief of DACA not only gave the beneficiaries two years temporary deferred action and a work permit but also gave them the tools to benefit from having bank accounts and credit cards-the undocumented immigrants face a lot of difficulties in order to get these basic facilities. Having a temporary Social Security Number (SSN) made their lives a lot easier.

In 2017, the political scientist Tom K. Wong, of UC San Diego, published results from a survey of DACA beneficiaries that displayed the findings that 69 percent of recipients informed of moving to a better job with a better pay and were offered better working conditions.

How it improved the lives of young immigrants:

After the program began, a portion of the undocumented immigrants-the youth-were given the opportunity to live their lives normally, temporarily, and prosper with the benefits of the policy. It gave them relief as before this policy, the undocumented immigrants weren’t able to implement their academic achievements for success in their professional lives. Being relieved of the removal proceedings’ stress, people found stability with the prospect of receiving a further renewal of their DACA status.

Moreover, the employers benefited from DACA, as well, as they were able to hire the highly qualified beneficiaries of DACA providing a significant boost to a great number of people. Researches have been conducted into DACA and its benefits have concluded significantly larger than the drawbacks it may have. One research states that there are now thousands of teachers in the US schools teaching with DACA.

Future of DACA and its beneficiaries:

In September 2017, under President Trump’s administration, the immigrants saw the plans announced for dismantling it. And the uncertainty of future that prevailed amongst the youth ensued in protests in different parts of the country. Fortunately, a federal appeals court ruled against the announcement of phasing the program out and declared that the government could not end the program instantly.

Eight hundred thousand people’s future was at stake all together but the court’s ruling enabled the renewal applications by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). However, with Trump’s administration’s hardline immigration policies, the future of the undocumented immigrants remains uncertain despite them being beneficiaries of DACA.