Assessing the Economic Impacts of Granting Deferred Action Through DACA and DAPA

The executive actions of President Barack Obama in 2012 (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA, currently in place) and 2014 (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents or DAPA, currently stalled in the courts) were proposed as common-sense approaches to dealing with pressing immigration issues: that they offer greater opportunities for immigrants to be more economically productive.

This article by the Center for American Progress, “Assessing the Economic Impacts of Granting Deferred Action Through DACA and DAPA,” shows that giving DACA and DAPA recipients the ability to work legally will increase incomes across the U.S. by $46 billion over five years and $124 billion over 10 years. Overall, the Gross Domestic Product will also increase by $86 billion over five years and $230 billion over 10 years. The new economic activity will spur 28,814 jobs per year for 10 years for all U.S. residents and $41 billion in tax revenues for the Social Security system over the next 10 years. The report suggests that the efforts to block DACA ignore the substantial economic gains states will receive from this initiative to regulate undocumented immigrants. 

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