Lives Still in Limbo: UnDACAmented and Navigating Uncertain Futures

• In Event: DACA and Families

Abstract

While scholars have long sought to understand the adaptation processes of immigrant children, immigration policy has become increasingly consequential in shaping how immigrant youth adapt, come of age, and experience life in the United States. Over the last decade, two measures have characterized U.S. immigration policy. First, this decade has seen a continuation of a policy of heavy immigration enforcement that began to accelerate in the late 1990s, with record numbers of deportations in the early part of the decade. Second, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has provided a substantial boost for more than 800,000 undocumented immigrant youth and their families. This talk draws from a seven-year national study assessing DACA’s impact on young people’s everyday lives and their future outlooks. Findings underscore two general points: 1) DACA has substantially improved the lives of its beneficiaries and their family members; and 2) despite the important gains, its limitations leave young people and their families in a precarious position.

Author

• Roberto G. Gonzales, Harvard University
  Presenting Author