Pathway to Citizenship important to DACA Recipients

However, DACA is not a permanent solution: Undocumented immigrants need a path to citizenship to be fully secure in their homes and lives, and it is past time for Congress to act and ensure those permanent protections. This is the main result of a new survey published this month by the U.S. Immigration Policy Center at the University of California, San Diego; United We Dream; the National Immigration Law Center; and the Center for American Progress.

In its seventh edition, the survey confirmed research from previous years illustrating the significant contributions that DACA recipients are making to the U.S. economy and their communities, with approximately 9 out of every 10 respondents currently employed or enrolled in school. However, 2021 survey results also show that amid the backdrop of continued uncertainty around the program’s future and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the gains made possible through the program are vulnerable.

Even with legal challenges threatening its future, DACA remains a critical lifeline for hundreds of thousands of people. The 2021 survey results make it abundantly clear why Congress must take immediate action to permanently protect DACA recipients—as well as people who have been unable to access the program due to the legal challenges—by providing them a pathway to citizenship.

DACA recipients could face widespread harm if they lose their status, including a high risk of potential detention, deportation, and family separation.

An overwhelming 91.6 percent of respondents reported concerns about either their own or their family’s physical safety, ability to access health care or education, food security, or risk of homelessness if they were deported to their respective countries of birth.

DACA has also provided work authorization to more than 830,000 undocumented young people across the country.

The 2021 survey makes clear that DACA has a positive and significant effect on wages, as well as the economy as a whole.

Respondents’ average hourly wage more than doubled from $10.94 to $22.90—a gain of 109.3 percent.

These higher wages are not just important for recipients and their families but also for tax revenues and economic growth at the local, state, and federal levels.

The data also show that respondents’ average annual earnings come out to approximately $52,700, while their median annual earnings total $47,000.

The program has also been critical to recipients’ education, improving their lives.

Importantly, among those who are currently in school, a robust 60.3 percent said that because of DACA, “[They] pursued educational opportunities that [they] previously could not.”

“DACA is a transformative policy that continues to be a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of immigrant youth and their loved ones, but it is no replacement for a permanent solution,” said Marielena Hincapié, executive director at the National Immigration Law Center. “As this survey underscores, the urgency to provide lasting stability for immigrant youth is greater than ever. We urge Senate Democrats to exercise their majority power to create a pathway to citizenship for immigrant youth and millions more who call the United States home.”

The survey was conducted from September 8 to November 5, 2021. It includes 1,021 DACA recipients in 40 states as well as Washington, D.C.