In September 2017, Trump first announced his plan to end DACA. DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is a program created during the Obama administration to protect undocumented individuals who were brought to the U.S. as children from deportation, and provide them with temporary but renewable work authorization. In June of 2020, the Supreme Court found that this termination was unlawful. The situation, however, is complicated by Texas v. United States, a 2018 lawsuit by seven states (led by Texas) that challenged the legality of DACA. Multiple lengthy trials and multiple rounds of going through the courts have led to a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decision in January of this year. In essence, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is still accepting new applicant requests but is not processing them. For current DACA recipients, USCIS will continue to accept and process renewal requests.
This is a result of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision regarding the law, finding major parts of the DACA rule to be unlawful. However, the court limited its ruling in two key ways: (1) the court kept the stay pending appeal, and (2) the decision is limited to Texas. The first of these limitations ensures that current DACA recipients throughout the U.S. can renew their DACA while the case makes its way through the courts again. Secondly, the state of Texas will no longer give DACA recipients work permits or driver’s licenses, and will only protect them from deportation. Current grants of Employment Authorization Documents will remain valid until they expire or are individually terminated. The 5th Circuit Court’s ruling has now been sent back to Judge Hanen—the original Texas judge who decided the case—to decide how they will move forward with the possibility of processing initial applications.
DACA is a pivotal protection for young, undocumented children who would risk deportation otherwise. Especially under the current administration, it is more important than ever to protect and preserve what little protections are in place, especially for children. Research has shown that DACA improves employment, health, and housing outcomes, largely from the emphasis the program places on high school education. Specifically, DACA has increased educational attainment for undocumented children, increasing high school graduation rates by 12%. It also improved their academic performance, significantly improving ELA achievements. Lastly, the investment in undocumented youth had positive spillover effects on U.S.-born peers, increasing their academic achievements as well.
With work authorization, beneficiaries also have access to better and more stable jobs, decreased stress, and renewed hope for the future. DACA also led to better jobs, pay, working conditions, and benefits. Recipients’ average hourly wage went from $11.92 to $28.27, a 137.2% increase. This leads to an increase in taxes, with recipients paying nearly $2.1 billion to Social Security and Medicare, and $8.7 billion in taxes each year, increasing quality of life for all U.S. citizens. The increase in access to better education and better quality jobs have led to job creation and new local spending that benefits everyone within the U.S., not just DACA residents.
Given the importance of DACA in a state of political uncertainty, especially surrounding immigrants (both documented and undocumented), we have to continue to fight for the pathways that make immigration safer. Protection from deportation is not enough. Work authorization is the key to making life better for hundreds of thousands of undocumented individuals, increasing their access to education, good work, and benefits. We cannot continue a destructive path of criminalization and deportation without understanding the benefits of programs like DACA, and we need to continue to advocate for the protection of these programs for the half a million people that depend on it.