The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is an enormous victory for the nation’s nearly 700,000 DACA beneficiaries. But the fight is far from over. While we should celebrate the continuation of DACA for now, philanthropy and local governments must reinvest in community organizations that have made this historic program a reality for young immigrants and their families.
DACA, which provides temporary deportation relief and work authorization to young undocumented immigrants, has had a remarkable impact on those would benefit from it. Since it was established by President Obama eight years ago, the program has helped improve graduation rates, employment and wages, and the physical and emotional health of recipients. But those successes would not have happened without the community organizations providing key services to immigrants seeking access to DACA.
Our research shows that since the federal government started accepting DACA applications in August 2012, philanthropyand some local governments (such as New York City and San Francisco) have offered vital assistance to the grassroots support networks that help individuals apply for DACA. Across the country, activists, lawyers, outreach workers, and student organizations have informed and screened applicants, helped them gather documents and fill out applications, responded to requests for evidence from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, assisted with application renewals, and provided educational programs and work opportunities.
In 2014, the same network of advocates mobilized in favor of a broader relief program aimed at the undocumented parents of U.S. citizen and legal permanent-resident children, which the courts ultimately struck down.
Filling a Gap
Last month’s Supreme Court ruling means that existing DACA beneficiaries can continue to renew, and thus keep their jobs, financial aid, and the many other benefits tied to their DACA status. Additionally, 66,000 new individuals could apply for the program immediately. In the absence of federal support to implement DACA, philanthropy and local governments fill a major gap in assisting these applicants. This funding must continue despite the current pandemic-induced recession and especially in neighborhoods where resources remain thin.
Our recently published research documents how DACA support networks tend to be concentrated in big cities with large immigrant populations. Some cities have more resources than others, and even within larger regions, inequalities exist, especially in suburban and rural areas. Places with poor public transportation, racist and xenophobic school staff, and a shortage of GED classes created major barriers for thousands of immigrants who could have qualified and applied for DACA but were unable to get support and pay the hefty $495 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services application fee.
Not only do community organizations improve access to DACA, but they also strengthen the ability of advocates to fight the persistent and deep inequalities experienced by Black and Latinx people in the United States, illustrated by the recent police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Andres Guardado. Community support networks have been at the forefront of advocating for racial justice and a long-term solution for all 11 million undocumented immigrants, including those in dangerous detention facilities and those crossing our increasingly deadly borders.
Activists Under Threat
Covid-19 has also hit Black and Latinx communities hardest, including the mixed-status families in which many DACA recipients live, and especially in immigrant cities like New York. The Affordable Care Act and Covid-19 relief packages exclude DACA recipients and their undocumented parents. And DACA activists, who have long been at the forefront of police- and immigration-reform fights, are targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for their work, including during recent antiracist and antifascist organizing. This climate makes the uphill battle to help undocumented youth apply for DACA even steeper, while also making the continued work of community advocates more critical.
What happens to DACA in the long term remains an open question. The Supreme Court ruled only on the process by which the Trump administration ended the program in 2017, not the legality of DACA itself, leaving the door open for a renewed challenge. President Trump and his supporters have vowed to try to terminate DACA again, a prospect that is sure to galvanize voters in the November 2020 election.
Now is the time for Congress to step in and create a clean path to citizenship for DACA beneficiaries and all other undocumented immigrants who call the United States home. Meanwhile, community organizations and activists are preparing for this long fight ahead, and they need our support.