Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW 1

Literature review

Naila Chairez

The University of Texas at El Paso

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Abstract

This paper is a literature review that discuses four important questions regarding the

program Deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA). The United states has always been

known to be land of the immigrants. DACA is a program that was introduced by President

Barack Obama in the year 2012. This program was established to protect over 800,000 illegal

immigrants from deportation. These illegal immigrants are protected because they were brought

to the United states as children meaning that as children they do not know what they are doing.

DACA not only protects them from deportation but it provides them with work permits and

opportunities to pursue an education and to have a life in the United States. Unfortunately,

President Donald Trump ended DACA on September 2017. Since then there has not been a

definite decision and DACA recipients are still awaiting. There is two decisions that can make;

either completely eliminating DACA and deport the immigrants or to pass a Dream act in order

to offer a path to citizenship. Meanwhile DACA recipients are waiting with hopes of a decision

that can make the American dream come true.

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Introduction

Immigration in the United states has been a major source for cultural change and

population growth. Today more that 11 million illegal immigrants are residing in the United

States. A percentage is Hispanic, Asian, Eastern and Southern as well as Middle Eastern. There

are several reasons for illegal immigration such as; poverty, asylum, and family reunification.

Illegal immigration is an extremely controversial topic among the population in the United

States. There are various ways that immigrants achieve to cross the border these include crossing

trough certain illegal areas that can be dangerous, and overstaying a visa. Trough the years the

controversy against and for illegal immigration has come up with new laws to follow in order to

help immigrants to achieve a legal status. Some of the laws that have been passed to benefit

immigrants are the dream act and DACA.

DACA is a program that was introduced to protect some immigrants from deportation.

This program gave immigrants the opportunity to continue a life in the country by allowing them

to work, study and live in the country. These immigrants are called dreamers. The dreamers are

immigrants that come from all over the world, mostly from Mexico, Asia, South and Central

America. These people were brought as children into the United States. This means that even

tough they were born in another county they do not know any other place or language other than

the United States and English.

The program is very important because it helps people to make the American dream

come true, not only that but it protects many hard working people that contribute a lot to the

country. DACA claims that the dreamers might not have been born here in the United States but

that does not mean that they do not belong here if all they grew up knowing is this country

therefore it protects them.

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DACA was eliminated by president Donald Trump because he disagreed with the

program, but because of all of the controversies there is still no definite decision. Eliminating

DACA can be a bad thing or a good thing. It would be bad if it is completely eliminated with

intentions of deporting every dreamer. It would be good if it is eliminated with the purpose of

introducing a new pathway for dreamers to obtain citizenship.

This literature review will explore and discuss various sources that answer four questions

regarding DACA. The four questions are Why was DACA created and what are the positive

effects? Why was DACA ended and what are the negative effects? And What will happen to the

DACA recipients and what is for them to follow?

Literature review

What is DACA? DACA refers to Deferred action for childhood arrivals. It is a federal

government immigration policy presented by president Barack Obama in the year 2012. This

policy was established to protect certain immigrants from deportation. It basically determined the

fate of an important group of young illegal immigrants. These immigrants are called dreamers.

The dreamers are illegal immigrants that were brought in to the United States as children.

They are referred as dreamers after another immigrant policy called the Dream Act. The Dream

Act promised a path to American citizenship for these individuals, but was never passed. After

the dream Act was not passed it gained reputation and that is when DACA was introduced with

new plans but not with pathway to citizenship.

Immigrants are only eligible for DACA if they had arrived to the United States before

they turned sixteen; if were currently in school or had completed high school or had been

discharged from the US military; if they were younger than age thirty-one on June 15, 2012; had
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never been convicted of a felony, serious misdemeanor, had continuously lived in the United

States since June 12, 2007; and very importantly if they did not present a risk to US national

security (Ruth, Michael 2017).

Why was DACA created and what are the positive effects? The DACA program was

created to help the millions of undocumented immigrants to legally reside in the United States.

This was established to receive a deferred action that is renewable in a two-year period. Not only

that but it comes with a range of benefits, they receive permission to legally work in the United

States, to receive health insurance, drive legally, as well as to pursue a higher education. The

DACA program also opened up access to in-state tuition and state-funded grants and loans in

some states (Dickerson, 2018).

The most important thing that dreamers are pursuing with the opportunity given is

education. According to a 2017 survey by the Center for American Progress, an estimated 45

percent of dreamers are currently enrolled in higher education. Of those, 72 percent are pursuing

a bachelor’s degree or higher (Bohanon 2017). DACA increases the chance for immigrants to

have a life in the United states, to buy cars and to own a home.

Why was DACA ended and what are the negative effects? President Donald Trump

ended the program in September 2017, after nine conservative state attorneys’ general with strict

views on immigration threatened to sue President Donald Trump over the policy, arguing that it

represented an overreach of presidential power (Dickerson 2018). Trump asked congress to come

up with a decision within nine months regarding the dreamers.

Some of the negative effects of terminating DACA is that in March the first group of

dreamers lost their protection. Even though the fear of deportation is out there, there is a law suit
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for not deporting the immigrants. This law suit discus that DACA was not eliminated properly.

This shows that there is still a lot of controversies regarding the future of the dreamers.

According to Do DACA ‘Dreamers’ work for your company? Business owners who

continue to hire dreamers who’s DACA has been expired or eliminated, could be facing very

serious consequences such as fines and jail time. Ending the deferred action for childhood

arrivals could be causing 30,000 DACA recipients to lose their job each month for two years

(Kurtz, 2017).

If congress does not make a final decision Business companies will be forced to fire

dreamers. If employers do no follow up with the law, they could be facing civil fines ranging

from $548 to $4,384 per unauthorized worker plus 10 years’ prison sentence (Kurtz, 2017).

Considering that is is illegal to hire a dreamer with and expired DACA permit, it is also illegal to

fire a dreamer with a valid unexpired DACA permit. The employer must not discriminate and

must not ask the employee about their DACA status because it is also illegal and could be facing

penalties.

Dreamers are in risk, deciding weather to renew or not renew their DACA permits. This

is because depending on future decisions, If permits are renewed they might get more time to be

in the United states legally or if DACA is completely eliminated the one who renew the permit

might be the first ones to be facing deportation since their information is fresh in the system.

What will happen to the DACA recipients and what is for them to follow? All of the

dreamers are in fear of what might happen and what to follow. After the decision of eliminating

DACA President Donald Trump has proposed a path to citizenship in exchange to building a wall

and adding strictly immigration norms. In reality the dreamers are seeking for a “clean” dream act

path to citizenship that will not be tied to any immigration policies.

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There are still many debates regarding DACA but, if congress does not come up with a

definite solution, dreamers will begin to loose their protection to lose their benefits a will be

exposed to immediate deportation, and for all of the dreamers with a life in the United States what

will be next? In the image below five undocumented immigrants that have obtained an education

are protesting what it is for them to follow if DACA ends.

Image 1 In this image there are five undocumented immigrants questioning what will happen now

after they have completed an education.

DACA recipients who’s permits expired before March 5, 2018 can resubmit an

application by October 5, 2018 giving them a chance to have DACA for two more years that

would be expiring in the year 2020. According to an emailed statement from a U.S.

immigration attorney, there are several key steps that dreamers can take to protect

themselves ( Bohanon, 2017).

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Conclusion

The deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) has protected over 800,000

immigrants from deportation. It has given great opportunities to immigrants such as an

education, and work permits. The creation of DACA has given many illegal immigrants hopes to

make the American dream come true. With President Donald Trumps decision to end DACA

many dreamers live in fear with deportation, with fear of losing their jobs, losing their friends

and leaving the dream behind. Many dreamers and others that support DACA continue to protest

in hopes of not eliminating the program or even better in hopes of a Dream act which promises a

path to citizenship.
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References

Bohanon, M. (2017). What DREAMers need to know about the termination of

the DACA program. INSIGHT into Diversity, 90(1), 6-7.

Dickerson, C. (2018). What is DACA? who are the dreamers? here are some

answers The New York Times Company.

Five years in, what's next for DACA? (2017).

All Things Considered,

Kurtz, A. (2017). Do DACA 'dreamers' work for your company? here's what

you'll need to know. Fortune.Com, , 1-1

On the Fourth Anniversary of DACA, A Reminder of the Stakes of the 2016 Election [Digital

image]. (2016, August 23). Retrieved from http://holaamericanews.com/on-the-fourth-

anniversary-of-daca-a-reminder-of-the-stakes-of-the-2016-election/

Ruth, M. (2017). Deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA). Salem Press

Encyclopedia

Sacchetti, M. (2017). Their lives were transformed by DACA; here's what will

happen if it disappears The Washington Post

What we know about who is enrolled in DACA (2018).

CNN Newsource Sales, Inc.

What's next for 700,000 DACA recipients as immigration debate breaks down. (2018). All

Things Considered.

Zarya, V. (2018). DACA permits are expiring today. here's what that means

for dreamers. Fortune.Com, 1-1.