Running head: DACA 1

DACA Immigrational Program affecting the US

Ivan Galindo

University of Texas at El Paso

 2
DACA
Abstract

The creation of the immigrational program “DACA” gave hope to many illegal

immigrants in the US, immigrants that were afraid of going out and stand out in the society. The

purpose of this literature review is to address the DACA program especially by educating people

about all the implications and consequences the DACA program have towards the US. This

literature review was possible thanks to multiple academic journals and even an interview from

an actual DACA recipient (Diego Galindo) that had been made to give the literature review a

more human point of view. Diego Galindo is a 23-year-old that thanks to DACA he has the

opportunity to attend college and pursued his dream of becoming an engineer. He gave his

experiences on how the immigrational program had changed his life completely.
 3
DACA
DACA Immigrational Program affecting the US

Many undocumented immigrants cross the border from Mexico to the US illegally seeking a

better and safer life. They are from all around the world running away from their homes because

of the insecurity and lack of opportunities. Many of them are kids that have nothing to do with

the decision of crossing illegally the border, but just because their parents brought them illegally,

now they have to live as an undocumented person. The DACA program was created to give all

those illegal people that crossed as kids a second opportunity. The DACA program became

constituted in June 2012 by ex US president Barack Obama and it stated that if an individual

crossed the border illegally at the age of 16 years old or younger that individual has the right to

apply to the DACA program and obtain most of the privileges as an US citizen. But because of

what the program offers, many people assure that the program have being only promoting illegal

immigration and violating the laws on the constitution.

With the arrive of the new US president Donald Trump, the DACA program has been

debated in congress many times for its elimination causing the possible deportation of more than

700,000 people who live under the DACA program, people who have been living in the US since

they were little and have built their entire lives in this country (Uwemedimo, O. T. 2017, October

09). Minorities in the US have come together to protest and demand the continuity of the DACA

program while the congress continues reviewing and deciding if the program would remain or

end in the nation. In order to explore this controversy, the following questions must be explored:

1- What is DACA and why was created?

2- How is DACA being debated since its beginning?

3- Should DACA be legalized by the US government?

 4
DACA
4- If DACA became legalized, what are the legal and moral implications?

These four questions will help give a better understanding of the DACA program as well as

identifying the implications and possible consequences if the immigrational program remains or

if it gets banish from the US.

What is DACA and why was created?

In 2012, ex-president Barack Obama made one of the most controversial announcements

in his entire presidency, the creation of a new American immigration policy called “DACA” that

stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The DACA program gave the freedom to live

in the US without fear of deportation to more than 700000 illegal immigrants. Before DACA was

crated, many illegal immigrants that were brought into the US at a younger age lived with

constant fear of losing everything in their lives and being deported. The DACA program states

that if an immigrant came into the US illegally at the age of 16 years old or at a younger age,

they have the opportunity of applying to DACA and get most of the benefits of a regular US

citizen such as having a social security number to being able to work and the opportunity of

getting higher education.

The DACA program was created to help all the kids that crossed the border illegally

without knowing of the severity and danger of their actions in that moment. Those kids are now

adults struggling to work and to expose themselves in the community having a low quality of life

in this country because of a decision they didn’t make. Thanks to DACA everything changes in

the lives of those illegal immigrants by giving them the tranquility to express themselves and

contribute to this country without fear. One crucial factor that led to the creation of DACA was
 5
DACA
the fact that most of the illegal immigrants that have been in this country since early ages are

exceptional people that contributes with the success of the country by their services. The creation

of DACA helped their recipients attend higher education and work legally. The DACA program

provides their recipients with the most important service and one of the main reasons of its

creation that is healthcare because immigrants are the most vulnerable part of the community

when it comes to health. Before the creation of DACA, illegal immigrants were the part of the

community with the highest risk of dead at an early age because their inability of attending

clinics or hospitals fearing getting caught by immigration and being deported (Uwemedimo

2017).

How is DACA being debated since its beginning?

Since its creation, DACA has been a polemical topic in the US. The DACA program is

fully unconstitutional because the constitution of the US states that illegal immigration is a crime

and shouldn’t be accepted but the DACA program ignores that statement and it gives the right to

live and work in the US to many illegal immigrants that qualify (Cebulko, K. 2013). People that

are against the program assume that DACA is promoting more illegal immigration to the US

since it gives many rights and commodities to some of those people that cross illegally the

border. Also, many argue that those immigrants are just hurting the country by getting the

opportunities that a citizen should have or even worst by doing crimes in the US.

In the other hand, people who promotes in a positive way the DACA program argue that

the program is fundamental to the US because the program just offers a solution to those illegal

immigrants that where too young to really understand the crime they have done. Those DACA
 6
DACA
recipients now they have families in the US, children that are US citizens and if the program

suddenly disappeared, all those families would be separated leavening children without their

parents because of the difference on nationalities. Religion people are the main supporters of

DACA since they make more emphasize in the welfare of the people rather than in the legal

aspect. They argue that ending DACA can be consider inhuman and cruel because the ending of

DACA would induce to many deportations breaking families apart. Another fact that supporters

of DACA use to promote the existence of the program is the opportunities that it provides to its

recipients such the access to higher education.

The table in the right (Cadenas, G. Bernstein, B.

& Tracey T. 2018, January 18) shows the

comparison of DACA recipients, Hispanics and

Non-Hispanics that are attending college. The

table also shows how even that the DACA

students comes from families that most of the

time haven’t achieve higher education, they still

have the drive to stand out in the community.

Table 1 a study made on a university

Should DACA be legalized by the US government?

With the end of the Obama presidency and the beginning of the new president Donald

Trump the country started to make more emphasize in the economic aspect without taking into

consideration the human rights and ethics of it making the DACA program an enemy to the US.
 7
DACA
Since his beginning, Donald Trump made the statement of ending DACA and now no more

applications have been accepted. People that are currently living under the DACA program are

feeling uncertainty about their future because in many states of the US are not accepting DACA

renewals, so they got automatically in a process of deportation to their birth country. Most states

support DACA and they assure that the program is contributing with their economy and the

success of the community.

The image below (Hoban, B. 2017, September 22) shows the percentages of the

DACA recipients between 18-24 years old in the different state’s populations. The states that

have the most percentage of DACA recipients are the ones supporting the DACA program. This

shows that DACA have been contributing to the well of the state giving them a positive outcome.

People who live under the DACA program are mainly students and hard-working people whose

only purpose consist in become professionals and give their families a better life since must of

them comes from rural areas and poor families.

In the other hand, people opposing DACA assure that the program shouldn’t be

legalized mainly because of the political outcome. Since DACA benefits are unconstitutional, its

legalization can change the way we look at the whole constitution of the US.
 8
DACA
If DACA became legalized, what are the legal and moral implications?

The DACA program implies many divided decisions between the whole community of

the US. Its legalization can imply issues in the legal aspect because of the difference of opinions

on the topic. DACA legalization will make the government see immigrants and treat them with

more importance and actually heard them and take them in mind when creating programs to the

community (Dussault 2018). By legalizing DACA, the US would become a more diverse country

where many illegal immigrants get the opportunity to growth professionally by having more

opportunities to succeed in life. Also, another legal implication would be that now that an illegal

immigrant has the opportunity to become legal by the DACA program, the government would

need to secure even more the border, so people wouldn’t take advantage of the program by

crossing illegal just to get DACA.

The moral implications of legalizing DACA would be that now all those illegal

immigrants will have the tranquility and freedom to have a decent life. DACA recipient have

now the opportunity to be something in their lives since before the program they couldn’t

outstand in the community because of the fear of deportation and the lack of opportunities since

they didn’t have any documentation. Most of the illegal immigrants lived their lives as ghosts

without getting notice by anyone and without getting any health treatment when needed, so by

legalizing DACA, immigrants now would have the chance to have a healthy life. Also, by

legalizing DACA, American citizens would treat more morally and respectfully all immigrants.

Now many illegal immigrants can work legally in the US without the fear of being corrupted

because before the creation of DACA more than 90% of illegal immigrants working in the US
 9
DACA
were subject of abuse and immorality by making them work the riskiest jobs and paying them

low salaries (Amuedo 2015).

Conclusion/Synthesis

The DACA program have revolutionized the US when it comes to immigration. Too

many divided opinions about the program and questions between if is benefiting or damaging the

country. The DACA program have many uncertainties, but the only certainty of the program is

that more than 700000 people depend fully on this program and without it, their lives would

change in 360 degrees by losing everything they have. This literature review was possible by

many academical journals and scientific research on the topic that convened gave a better

understanding on the DACA program. Also, with the help of Diego Galindo who is a DACA

recipient living in the US.

 10
DACA
References

Amuedo, C. (2015). Schooling and labor market effects of temporary authorization: evidence
from DACA. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00148-016-0606-
z
Cadenas, G. Bernstein, B. & Tracey T. (2018, January 18). Critical Consciousness and Intent
To Persist Through College in DACA and U.S. Citizen Students: The Role of
Immigration Status, Race, and Ethnicity. Retrieved from
http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=e1289e91-3d06-4f49-
b79c-5c6fc8a0bf2e%40sessionmgr4008

Cebulko, K. B. (2013). Documented, undocumented, and something else: The incorporation

children of Brazilian immigrants. El Paso, TX: LFB scholarly Publishing LLC.
Retrieved from https://0-ebookcentral-proquest-
com.lib.utep.edu/lib/utep/detail.action?docID=1316484&query=DACA

Dussault, S. (2018). Who needs DACA or the dream act? how the ordinary
use of executive discretion can help (some) childhood arrivals become citizens. Retrieved
from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=9&sid=e1289e91-3d06-
4f49-b79c-5c6fc8a0bf2e%40sessionmgr4008

Gonzales, R. (2016) Understanding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) impact
on young adults’ well-being. Retrieved from
https://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/newsletter/2016/11/deferred-action.aspx

Hoban, B. (2017, September 22). The reality of DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals program. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings-
now/2017/09/22/the-reality-of-daca-the-deferred-action-for-childhood-arrivals-program/

Hsin, A. (2017) The effects of deferred action for childhood arrivals on the educational
outcomes of undocumented students. Retrieved from http://ftp.iza.org/dp11078.pdf

Uwemedimo, O. T., Monterrey, A. C., & Linton, J. M. (2017, October 09). A Dream Deferred:
Ending DACA Threatens Children, Families, and Communities. Retrieved from
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2017/10/05/peds.2017-3089