Immigration

Resources on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

By the CAP Immigration Team
Demonstrators, many of them recent immigrants to America, protest the government shutdown and the lack of a deal on DACA, January 2018, in New York City.

For 825,000 undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has served as a critical relief from deportation and work authorization during the past seven years. Beyond that, DACA created new avenues of opportunity for these individuals to access their American dream. DACA recipients have been able to pursue driver’s licenses and new educational opportunities; access health care; and move into better-aligned, more secure jobs, ultimately deepening their connections and expanding their contributions to the United States.

Although the Trump administration announced the rescission of DACA in September 2017, individuals who have—or who once had—DACA remain eligible to renew their protections as a result of multiple preliminary injunctions issued by federal courts hearing legal challenges to the termination of the initiative. To date, every federal court that has issued a decision in a case challenging the Trump administration’s termination of DACA has preliminarily ruled against the government and concluded that the termination was likely unlawful.

In July 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will hear the Trump administration’s appeal in three of these cases. The court will hear arguments on November 12, 2019, and is expected to issue a decision in spring 2020. The lists below include the Center for American Progress’ top recent resources on DACA.

Annual, national surveys of DACA recipients, conducted by Tom K. Wong of the University of California, San Diego; United We Dream; the National Immigration Law Center; and CAP, measure DACA’s impacts on recipients’ lives and are discussed in the columns below: