DACA’s impact on employment
The opportunity to apply for employment authorization, which allows recipients to work legally in the United States and participate more fully and more productively in the labor force, is an essential component of DACA. With work authorization, DACA recipients have access to career advancement, better wages, benefits, and opportunities to find better career fits.
The 2023 data show that more than 9 out of every 10 respondents (94.1 percent) are currently employed. This represents a significant jump over the past years, even when compared with pre-pandemic levels; the 2019 survey showed that 89.2 percent of respondents were employed.
According to the 2023 survey results, after receiving DACA:
- 59.1 percent of respondents moved to a job with better pay.
- 47.3 percent of respondents moved to a job with better working conditions.
- 47.5 percent of respondents moved to a job that “better fits [their] education and training.”
- 49.6 percent of respondents moved to a job that “better fits [their] long-term career goals.”
- 57.3 percent of respondents moved to a job with health insurance or other benefits.
- 19.6 percent of respondents obtained professional licenses.
Survey data also show that approximately 9.5 percent of DACA recipients are business owners. DACA harnesses recipients’ entrepreneurial spirit by enabling them to formally engage in the workforce and empowering them to start and grow their own businesses, which creates employment opportunities and supports local communities.
DACA’s impact on earnings
The work authorization component of DACA enables recipients to pursue more robust education and employment opportunities, leading them to earn higher incomes and make greater tax and economic contributions to their communities.
Data from the past nine years show that DACA has had a significant and positive effect on wages: Recipients’ average hourly wage more than doubled from $11.92 to $31.52 per hour—an increase of 164.4 percent—after receiving DACA . According to the data, respondents’ average annual earnings total approximately $67,050, and their median annual earnings total $58,240. This is beneficial for recipients, their families, and the U.S. economy.
With higher earnings, DACA recipients pay more in taxes and are able to spend more, helping grow local, state, and federal economies and strengthening social insurance programs. In 2022, recipients earned $27.9 billion in annual wages as employees and employers, and they contributed nearly $2.1 billion to Social Security and Medicare—helping ensure that millions of U.S. residents can access health care and comfortably retire.
Recipients and their families have gained more financial independence and security through the increased earnings that DACA has made accessible:
- 81.9 percent of respondents reported that their increased earnings have “helped [them] become financially independent.”
- 78.9 percent reported that their increased earnings have “helped [their] family financially.”
- 38.2 percent reported that their increased earnings have “helped [them] take care of an elderly parent or relative.”
The economic stability and higher earnings that recipients have achieved with DACA have also helped them offset important costs, such as schooling and child care. Of respondents who indicated they are currently pursuing higher education, 79.7 percent reported that their increased earnings helped them pay for tuition. Additionally, 52.7 percent of respondents with children reported that their increased earnings have helped them pay for child care.
DACA’s impact on the economy
In addition to strengthening the American economy through the higher tax contributions linked to higher earnings, DACA recipients boost the economy with their spending and purchasing power. Financial independence and security have enabled recipients to invest in home and car ownership, which has positive economic impacts such as job creation and new local spending. These purchases also symbolize the deep roots that recipients have laid in the United States.
Data from the past nine years show that receiving DACA has been a major factor in recipients’ decision and ability to purchase their own homes, something that provides additional confirmation of the strong ties they’ve built to their communities. Year after year, more DACA recipients become homeowners: 30.7 percent of survey respondents purchased their first homes in 2023, a percentage that has trended upward over nearly a decade of surveys. For example, an estimated 17.7 percent and 13.6 percent purchased their first home in 2022 and 2019, respectively. As homeowners, they pay hundreds of millions of dollars annually in mortgages as well as make property tax payments that ultimately strengthen national and local economies. The trend of increased homeownership helps illustrate that a sustained opportunity to live and work freely can result in huge economic advancement for recipients and communities.
According to the data, more than two-thirds (67.1 percent) of survey respondents reported buying their first car after receiving DACA. In addition to strengthening the broader economy, car purchases boost state revenues through sales tax and registration and title fees. And as DACA recipients obtain driver’s licenses and car insurance, they help improve public and community safety.
Over the past decade, survey data have illustrated that DACA has helped recipients attain greater financial stability, benefiting themselves, their families, and the U.S. economy. If DACA recipients could access a pathway to citizenship instead of relying on renewable, temporary work authorization, however, their earnings and contributions could be increased even further. Economic models show that the American Dream and Promise Act could increase wages for all workers in the United States, leading to higher tax contributions and productivity gains that would reverberate across the entire economy. Research from CAP and the Global Migration Center at the University of California, Davis, has estimated that a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers would lead to nearly $800 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) growth over a decade.
DACA’s impact on education
DACA continues to open educational opportunities to recipients. Among respondents, 22.9 percent indicated they are currently enrolled in school, with the majority—73.5 percent—pursuing a bachelor’s degree or higher. Notably, 65 percent of respondents currently in school said that because of DACA, “[they] pursued educational opportunities that [they] previously could not.” Furthermore, 49.5 percent of respondents who are currently not in school reported already having a bachelor’s degree or higher.
The uncertainty created by DACA’s temporary status
DACA has endured relentless political and legal challenges since its creation in 2012 that threaten the security and well-being of its recipients and their families. In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an attempt by the Trump administration to dismantle DACA. In 2022, in response to a presidential directive to “preserve and fortify DACA,” the Biden administration engaged in rulemaking and published a final rule to strengthen DACA against ongoing challenges. Despite the fact that the new rule addressed one of the prior legal concerns, Republican attorneys general amended their suit challenging DACA’s legality. And in September 2023, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen ruled against DACA for the second time, allowing current DACA recipients to remain eligible to renew their grants of DACA but continuing to block first-time applicants from receiving DACA protections. An appeal of Judge Hanen’s decision is pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, and the case is expected to head to the U.S. Supreme Court.
As the future of DACA remains tied up in the courts, recipients face uncertainty in nearly every aspect of their lives. They must, for example, renew their DACA every two years to ensure they remain protected from deportation and authorized to work—but they must wait for renewal approval and may lose their jobs if their employment authorization lapses before their renewals are processed.
Moreover, many recipients have spent the majority of their lives in the United States and consider it their only home. They have become breadwinners, homeowners, and parents, and their lives would be significantly altered if DACA were to be terminated.
With the looming threat over DACA’s future, recipients are grappling with the unsettling reality that they may be deported to countries they hardly know. Almost 4 in 10 survey respondents (36.6 percent) reported that they think about being deported from the United States at least once per day, and more than half (55.7 percent) reported that they think about a family member being detained or deported at least once per day.
As DACA recipients have begun building families and becoming parents and grandparents, concerns about family separation have intensified. Survey data reveal that 32.9 percent of respondents are parents. Among them, 70.7 percent reported that they think about “being separated from [their] children because of deportation” at least once per day, while 67.6 percent reported thinking about “not being able to see [their] children grow up because of deportation” at least once per day.
The loss of DACA could greatly harm these families’ well-being through consequences including detention, deportation, and family separation. Nearly 9 in 10 respondents (88.4 percent) reported concerns about their own or their family’s physical safety, ability to access health care or education, the risk of food insecurity, or the risk of homelessness if deported:
- 80.5 percent reported: “In my country of birth, I would be concerned about the physical safety of myself and my family.”
- 72.9 percent reported: “In my country of birth, I would be concerned about the quality of healthcare for myself and my family.”
- 62.3 percent reported: “In my country of birth, I would be concerned about the quality of education for myself and my family.”
- 60.9 percent reported: “In my country of birth, I would be concerned about food insecurity for myself and my family.”
- 46.9 percent reported: “In my country of birth, I would be concerned about homelessness for myself and my family.”
Without congressional action to enact a pathway to citizenship, DACA recipients will remain in a cycle of uncertainty, forced to grapple with the possibilities of deportation and separation from their families.
The consequences of life without DACA
For the second consecutive year, the survey included questions designed to assess the repercussions that losing DACA would have on the life of recipients. The survey was randomized so that some respondents received the control prompt, “How likely are you to do the following?”, while other respondents received the treatment prompt, “If you no longer had DACA, how likely are you to do the following?”
By comparing the differences between the control and treatment groups, it is possible to quantify how much recipients anticipate their life would change if they no longer had DACA protections. For example, when asked how likely they were to “participate in public events where police may be present,” 72.4 percent in the control group responded “likely” or “very likely.” However, in the treatment group, only 35.6 percent responded “likely” or “very likely.” This means that respondents are 36.8 percent less likely to participate in public events where police may be present if DACA no longer existed. This result, and all those following, are highly statistically significant (with a p value < .000).
When it comes to education, the data found that without DACA:
- 58.2 percent of recipients would be less likely to continue their education.
- 63.4 percent would be less likely to pursue new educational opportunities.
On the employment side, without DACA:
- 43.1 percent of recipients would be less likely to look for a new job.
- 42.0 percent would be less likely to report wage theft or other abuses by their employer.
- 65.1 percent would be less likely to pursue an occupational license.
In terms of the way recipients would interact with public institutions, without DACA:
- 40.9 percent of recipients would be less likely to report a crime they witnessed.
- 31.0 percent would be less likely to report a crime of which they themselves were the victim.
- 46.5 percent would be less likely to use public services that require providing personal contact information, such as going to city hall.
- 50.0 percent would be less likely to conduct business with institutions that required personal contact information, such as opening a bank account or getting a loan for which they are qualified.
These findings exemplify the essential role that DACA plays in shaping the lives and decisions of its recipients. Beyond the anxiety recipients experience due to DACA’s uncertain status, the absence of its protections would have wide-ranging impacts not only on recipients but also on their children, families, and communities.
Conclusion
In the nearly 12 years since DACA’s creation, it has been a catalyst for positive change in the lives of recipients, helping them reach educational milestones, contribute more to the economy, and achieve financial stability as well as improve their families’ overall well-being. These contributions have subsequently enriched communities across the United States. But if Congress does not enact a clear path to citizenship, DACA recipients will continue to live in a state of limbo, unable to fully contribute to and thrive in the country they call home.
The authors would like to thank all those who completed and shared this survey.
Methodology
The questionnaire was administered to an online panel of DACA recipients recruited by the partner organizations. Several steps were taken to account for the known sources of bias that result from such online panels. To prevent “ballot stuffing”—one person submitting multiple responses—the authors did not offer an incentive to respondents for taking the questionnaire and used a state-of-the-art online survey platform that does not allow one IP address to submit multiple responses. To prevent spoiled survey submissions—people responding who are not undocumented—the authors used a unique validation test for undocumented status. Multiple questions were asked about each respondent’s migratory and DACA application history. These questions were asked at different parts of the questionnaire. When repeated, the questions were posed using different wording. If there was agreement in the answers such that there was consistency regarding the respondent’s migratory history, the respondent was kept in the resulting pool of respondents. If not, the respondent was excluded. To recruit respondents outside the networks of the partner organizations, text, email alerts, Instagram, and TikTok posts were also used. Because there is no phone book of undocumented immigrants, and given the nature of online opt-in surveys, it is not possible to construct a valid margin of error.