The Future of DACA

 

I am one of the roughly 580,000 DACA recipients in the United States. Since I entered the U.S. around 21 years ago, I have faced various obstacles in my journey to achieve the American dream. As someone eager to continue my education in efforts to become an attorney, it becomes challenging having to balance a busy work and school schedule. Constantly, I am faced with the challenge of having to work full-time to be afford having to pay an out-of-state tuition rate, despite residing in Georgia for over 21 years. Like myself, many DACA recipients are faced with these same challenges to succeed in America. 

DACA is among one of the most crucial topics that individuals must learn about as these DACA recipients are key contributors to our society. However, before continuing it is essential to know the background on what DACA actually is. DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The DACA program was created in June 2012 under the Obama Administration to protect young adults brought into the U.S. as children from deportation. Since October 2022, USCIS cannot process and grant new DACA applications; however, they can still accept DACA renewals. It is crucial to acknowledge that only some qualify for DACA.

For DACA recipients to be eligible to renew their temporary relief, they must have no criminal record, be in school or have graduated and have a degree. Most, if not all, DACA recipients are contributing members of our society and account for over 141 billion in our economy. Many of these DACA recipients are now parents or professionals within their field. However, uncertainty and challenges rise with a lack of permanent solution for these individuals. 

Each year, Congress drafts legislation that would benefit DACA recipients, such as providing citizenship pathways. However, each time, that legislation fails to pass. Statewide, we see efforts being made to assist DACA recipients, such as providing in-state tuition. A perfect example would be the proposal from Rep. Kasey Carpenter (R. 4th District, Dalton) in 2021. Rep. Carpenter "proposed the Georgia Resident In-State Tuition Act," which would allow DACA recipients to qualify for an in-state tuition rate (Ramirez, 2022). However, those efforts also failed while in session.

Despite ongoing efforts to establish a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients, much more work must be done to create change. The future of DACA remains caught in a cycle as constant changes have been introduced and put into effect since the program's start. 

References

A DACA fix could add $400 billion to the U.S. economy in the next 10 years. Fwd.us. (2022, December 5). https://www.fwd.us/news/daca-fix/#:~:text=This%20would%20be%20a%20significant,%2C%20state%2C%20and%20local%20taxes.

Ramirez, T. (2022, March 7). Tuition equity for DACA recipients. GALEO. https://galeo.org/2022/03/tuition-equity-for-daca-recipients/

Comments

  1. DACA is something that I am not as familiar with as I should be and I appreciate your explanation of the challenges it presents. I had no idea that because of this you would have to pay out of state tuition! Personally, I would be in full support of legislation to pave the way for citizenship and in-state tuition simultaneously. It seems as if there should be a way for some of the classes you are required to take for university count toward citizenship, such as American History and the Georgia Constitution components. I would love to read more about what excuses politicians use not to support these things. I can really only see that providing better and more affordable educational opportunities AND citizenship would be beneficial not only to individuals but the state/country as well. Again, thank you for posting such a wonderful explanation of the challenges, it really feels as if the media isn't giving us a full story on this. I will be reading your blog weekly and hope to learn a lot more!

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