My oldest son asks, 'Where are my rights as a US citizen? Where is my right to live with my family and have a home?'"-Mother of three US citizen children and wife of detained immigrant "My husband called and said that he had a normal check-in like every year. He went like always, but this time they arrested him. I asked why if everything was going well. He had a clean record. He is a good father. He is working to help our kids get ahead. We have two children who are citizens and we are fighting for them, so that they are good people and professionals. I didn't see any reason for him to get arrested."-Woman whose husband was deported "In my preaching, I guide and insist that it is important to be aware of our rights, to not have fear, and to know that we all are God's children and need a piece of land in this planet. I try to remind them that they are immigrants but also human beings before anything else and that all human beings have rights."-Priest
governmental and community-based organizations (NGOs and CBOs) and their public and private partners to build capacity and to prepare to implement a large legalization program. Over a three-month period, the CMS team interviewed more than 40 agencies and 66 individuals, and intensively analyzed the work of five communities on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, expanded DACA (known as DACA-plus), and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). The study assessed the progress of the NGO/ CBO community in building capacity to promote maximum participation in DACA, to enlist DACA beneficiaries in service, advocacy and community organizing work, and to prepare for a future large-scale legalization program. The study covers the period from DACA's inception in 2012 to the eve of the presidential election.The prospects for any kind of legalization in the short term have darkened with the election of Donald J. Trump, and the prospects for widespread and potentially draconian enforcement actions have heightened. Although this project was commissioned, conceived, and executed with a legalization program in mind, its findings on the capacity of the immigrant-serving sector remain timely and relevant. This report presents a narrative of how the sector developed over the past four years and assesses its capabilities. As such, it presents a valuable catalogue of assets as the sector considers how it will respond to the challenges ahead. Building greater capacity to serve immigrant communities has become an even more urgent task since the presidential election. Recommendations formulated for a potential legalization program can serve as a starting point for the development of strategies to contend with the Trump administration's immigration and refugee policies. FindingsWorking within the existing statutory and administrative frameworks of federal policy, the immigrant-serving sector has achieved steady and significant gains in legal status for large numbers of immigrants over the past four years. These gains, which have been the result of an ongoing, intentional process of growth and professionalization in the immigrant-serving sector, have constituted a de facto legalization program. While most communities across the country lack sufficient capacity even to meet existing needs, substantial and varied capacity has been built over the last four years and well-tested models are available to expand capacity if the resources become available. CMS Report February 2017 2Strengthening and expanding existing capacities in the immigrant-serving sector would be: 1) the most efficient preparation for a large-scale legalization program; 2) an effective antidote to the ravages of draconian enforcement policies; and 3) an important step in promoting the full participation and integration of immigrants in our nation's life.When the DACA program was launched on June 15, 2012, many participants in the immigrantserving sector rose to the challenge by redirecting staff, physical assets,...
Executive Summary In June 2012, the Obama administration announced the establishment of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which sought to provide work authorization and a temporary reprieve from deportation to eligible undocumented young immigrants who had arrived in the United States as minors. Hundreds of thousands of youth applied for the program, which required providing extensive evidence of identity, age, residence, education, and good moral character. The program allowed its recipients to pursue higher education, to access more and better job opportunities, and to deepen their social ties in the United States. This article provides a statistical portrait of DACA recipients based on administrative data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and estimates drawn from the 2017 American Community Survey (ACS) Census data. It finds the following: As of September 30, 2019, there were 652,880 active DACA recipients. Sixty-six percent of recipients are between the ages of 21 and 30. The top five countries of birth for DACA recipients are Mexico (80 percent), El Salvador (4 percent), Guatemala (3 percent), Honduras (2 percent), and Peru (1 percent). DACA recipients reside in all 50 states and Washington, DC, and in US territories including Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. The top five states with the highest number of DACA recipients are California (29 percent), Texas (17 percent), Illinois (5 percent), New York (4 percent), and Florida (4 percent). Eighty-one percent of DACA recipients has lived in the United States for more than 15 years. Six percent is married to US citizens, 4 percent to lawful permanent residents (LPRs), and 13 percent to undocumented immigrants. Among US-born children younger than 18 years, 346,455 have at least one DACA parent. Fifty-five percent of DACA recipients graduated from high school, 36 percent has some college education, and 7 percent a bachelor’s degree or higher. Ninety-five percent is employed. The Trump administration rescinded the DACA program in September 2017, leaving recipients and their families in a legal limbo. Federal litigation led to a nationwide preliminary injunction and DACA’s partial reinstatement for existing recipients. At this writing, the case is before the US Supreme Court, which will determine the program’s fate. Beyond its statistical portrait, the article provides testimonies from DACA recipients who recount how the program improved their lives and their concerns over its possible termination. It also provides recommendations for Congress, local and state governments, and immigration advocates. In particular, it recommends passage of legislation that would create a path to citizenship for DACA recipients and programs and policies to support and empower young immigrants.
Cover photo credits and description: Top left, a young man at the Kino Border Initiative aid center in Nogales, Sonora (Larry Hanelin); top middle, Eloy Detention Center in Arizona (Greg Constantine); top right, a woman at the Kino Border Initiative aid center in Nogales, Sonora (Larry Hanelin). Bottom left, a painting in downtown Nogales, Sonora along the wall as a warning of the dangers that people face in the desert (Larry Hanelin); bottom right, Florencio, who was deported from Arizona after 16 years living there and left behind four children (Larry Hanelin).
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