Taking Giant Leaps Forward: Experiences of a Range of DACA Beneficiaries at the 5-Year Mark
This brief describes the impact of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on a particularly vulnerable segment of the DACA-eligible population: high school dropouts and those whose educations had been interrupted because of financial, legal, and motivational barriers. Based on interviews with 319 such individuals in Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, New York, and South Carolina, the report concludes that DACA has been instrumental in opening up important educational and career pathways for this population. DACA recipients have been able to get their high school equivalency diplomas, attend college at affordable rates, obtain driver's licenses, and obtain jobs commensurate with their education and skills. Through their success, the entire economy benefits through increased purchasing power, higher tax revenues, and higher home ownership rates. The authors argue that a permanent solution to the problem of undocumented status, i.e. providing a path to citizenship, would lock in all these benefits. (American Immigrant Policy Portal)
Gonzales, R. G., Murillo, M. A., Lacomba, K., Franco, M. C., Lee, J., & Vasudevan, D. S. (2017). Experiences of a Range of DACA Beneficiaries at the 5-Year Mark (Taking Giant Leaps Forward) (p. 8). Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress & National UnDACAmented Research Project. Retrieved from https://www.americanprogress.org/about/mission/