Social Capital and the Fear of Deportation: Pre– and Post–Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Experiences of Undocumented Youth

• In Event: Social Capital in a Time of Uncertainty: New Evidence From a National Effort to Study the Impact of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

Abstract

Under current U.S. immigration law, undocumented immigrants are prevented from legally working, driving, traveling, and receiving federal benefits (e.g. health care and federal financial aid). They also run the risk of being apprehended, detained, and deported. In fact, being undocumented is most often experienced through this palpable sense of deportation (De Genova 2002). Under the President Barack Obama administration a record of 2 million undocumented immigrants have been deported (Gonzalez-Barrera and Krogstad 2014). Scholars have explored the consequences of deportation on undocumented immigrant adult deportees and their families left behind in the United States (Brabeck and Xu 2010; Dreby 2012; Suarez-Orozco and Hernandez 2012). Nevertheless, much remains unknown about how the omnipresent possibility of being deported actually affects undocumented youth in their everyday lives. Given the recent implementation of DACA, which provides eligible undocumented youth with temporary relief from deportation and the ability to legally work, it is critical to further explore how DACA has impacted undocumented youths’ perspectives on deportation.

In this paper, I draw from in-depth interviews conducted with undocumented youth in California to examine the impact of DACA on their lives, particularly on the palpable sense of being deported, and how their social capital impacts the fears, risks, and consequences associated with deportation.

Drawing from existing literature on deportation, we know that a large percentage of deportees have immediate and distant family members in the United States (Hagan et al. 2011). Thus, deportations very often separate families. Family separation creates emotional and psychological trauma among adults and children, and can often lead to estranged and distant parent-child relationships (Brabeck and Xu 2010; Dreby 2012). This paper seeks to contribute to the literature by focusing on the effect that DACA has had on undocumented youths’ understanding of deportation. Notably, I find that the possibility of deportation causes great fear, anxiety, stress, and sadness among undocumented youth. Undocumented youth often worry about the worst case scenario of being deported and separated from their family and never being able to see them again.

I have found that undocumented youth who have successfully applied for DACA are less likely to think of deportation as a real possibility. DACA beneficiaries draw on their social capital to express their sense of belonging in the United States, which they perceive as a shield from possible deportation. They often refer to their length of stay in this country, extensive networks, higher educational degrees, as well as understanding of the English language and U.S. culture. They also highlight the importance of their civic and political participation; they note that should they be placed under deportation proceedings, they would organize and fight back. Nevertheless, this finding differs among undocumented youth who have children. Despite the parents’ access to DACA and overall social capital, they note that their deportation would not only lead them to return to their birth countries, but it would effectively also result in the de facto deportation of their U.S. citizen children.

Author

• Carolina Valdivia, Harvard University