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Adriana Cantu

Professor Charley Bevill

English 1301-PHS 2

11 October 2017

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals: Does It Benefit or Hurt the U.S. Economy?

As of today, nearly 665,000 people are DACA recipients in the United States. The

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, commonly known as DACA, is a government

funded organization established under the Obama administration in 2012. This program was

initiated to assist children that have come to the United States as an undocumented minor in

search for a better life. Over the past couple of months, this association has faced a lot of debate

of it either benefitting or hurting the national economy. DACA has become more relevant

because of immigration, working people, and money and its effects on the United States

government and economy.

Since this program developed, it has highly encouraged illegal aliens to come into

America with no documentation and has allowed them to still be able to go to school and work

legally under DACA. Being that there are two sides to this topic, one side may agree that this is

harshly unfair to current working class citizens of America today. This is the number one

political issue in America because the two sides of the argument do not quite see eye to eye. One

side strongly agrees to keep them out, while the others think we should give them a chance since,

in fact, they are risking it all to be here on U.S. soil. This topic is very controversial today being

that we always see it in headlines and it is Trumps main focus. In some cases, undocumented

people can take advantage of this program in many ways. To receive an American citizenship,
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one must apply and hope for the best. The full process itself can take months, most times years.

This is unfair to people applying for the citizenship because the DACA recipients simply have to

come to America rather than wait. An example of a situation like this would be a medical student

from Bangkok, Thailand at Harvard Universitys Public Health School. Jirayut New

Latthivongskorn is a DACA recipient and is unsure if he will be able to pursue his career in the

medical field in America legally. Jirayut is among many of the beneficiaries that are currently

working towards a career in fear of what they will have to face soon.

Another major issue would be the working people that are already DACA recipients.

Many people under DACA will be forced to lose their jobs and more jobs with major degrees

will be needed due to this major hole in the field. According to research, 91% of the recipients

are employed in the labor force. This does give native-born Americans more opportunities, but

the people have worked to earn the degree have worked for nothing is what it seems like. Forcing

these recipients to another country could be harsh to some, but more relieving to others. It can

open up more doors for Americans and possibly be easier since the field will be in need.

Money is a huge factor in this topic, in the sake of our government. On one side of this

argument, the United States economy suffers tremendously. Losing DACA could deepen our

economic debt. Currently, the United States is looking at a shocking 20 trillion-dollar debt. This

massive number is growing constantly and becoming more and more challenging each day. As

the days pass, the debt rises and makes the earlier generations be held reliable for the payment of

this large fund. After all, America does get a cut of the money from DACA recipients. If this

program were to derail, the United States will in fact lose money. Meanwhile, the other side feels

this isnt a major issue. Some may agree to the fact that these illegal aliens should not be here

under any circumstances, in which money is not the matter. In one side of the topic,
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Works Cited

Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina and Thitima Puttitanun. "DACA and the Surge in Unaccompanied

Minors at the US-Mexico Border." International Migration, vol. 54, no. 4, Aug. 2016,

pp. 102-117. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/imig.12250.

Martinez, Lisa M. "Dreams Deferred: The Impact of Legal Reforms on Undocumented Latino

Youth." American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 58, no. 14, Dec. 2014, pp. 1873-1890.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/0002764214550289.

Swan, Richelle S. and Marisol Clark-Ibez. "Perceptions of Shifting Legal Ground: Daca and

the Legal Consciousness of Undocumented Students and Graduates." Thomas Jefferson

Law Review, vol. 39, no. 2, Spring2017, pp. 67-92. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=124293169&site=ehost-live.

Trevio, Luis, et al. "'The Day That Changed My Life, Again': The Testimonio of a Latino

Dacamented Teacher." Urban Review, vol. 49, no. 4, Nov. 2017, pp. 627-647.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s11256-017-0412-2.