scholarly journals National Identity and Integration Challenges of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Recipients

Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 24
Author(s):  
Sofia Paschero ◽  
Jody McBrien
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
The United States ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Deferred Action ◽  
Driver's License ◽  
Everyday Realities ◽  
American Society

Approximately 650,000 children and young adults currently reside in the United States with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, providing them with temporary legal status to reside in the country. We explored the phenomenon of how five DACA recipients experienced their national identities and how it contributed to their acculturation patterns using in-depth semi-structured interviews. We interpreted their comments through the theoretical lens of Berry’s (1997) acculturation theory and Edensor’s (2002) emphasis on everyday life as a critical factor of national identity. Although the participants had the desire to remain in the United States and be a part of U.S. culture, everyday realities of discrimination, and challenges accomplishing common life tasks taken for granted by American peers (getting a driver’s license, travelling, working, obtaining financial aid for higher education) kept the participants from fully integrating into American society and gaining a sense of belonging.

DACAmented Homecomings: A Brief Return to Mexico and the Reshaping of Bounded Solidarity Among Mixed-Status Latinx Families

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-165
Author(s):  
Alissa Ruth ◽  
Emir Estrada
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Family Dynamics ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
The United States ◽  
Immigrant Community ◽  
Country Of Birth ◽  
Deferred Action ◽  
Mixed Status ◽  
Depth Interviews

This study builds on the intergenerational family dynamics literature among mixed legal status families. Through in-depth interviews with beneficiaries of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) who traveled to Mexico and their undocumented parents who stayed in the United States, we uncover how their journey back to their country of birth influenced their roles within their families and the immigrant community. DACA recipients experienced feelings of guilt when traveling back to Mexico and leaving their parents behind, but they adopted a new role of family ambassador and transnational mediator. Through this experience, they developed a greater empathy toward their parents’ sacrifices and reshaped their bounded solidarity with their parents and the immigrant community. As a result, they justify a movement away from personally identifying with the traditional Dreamer narrative.

The Dreamers

2018 ◽  
pp. 155-174
Author(s):  
Hannah Gill
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Access To Higher Education ◽  
President Obama ◽  
Deferred Action ◽  
Driver's License ◽  
State And Local ◽  
The Military ◽  
The U.S

Chapter 6 describes the efforts of North Carolina’s “Dreamers,” young undocumented people who were part of a national social movement for immigrants’ rights and access to higher education. Dreamers began to mobilize throughout the United States soon after the implementation of local immigration enforcement programs in the mid-2000s and an increase in restrictive state and local policies. The Dreamers’ generation came of age in a society that barred them from attending college, obtaining a driver’s license, applying for jobs with a liveable wage, joining the military, or starting a business. Many of these problems had persisted for decades for immigrants, and Dreamers both engaged in and diverged from a tradition of immigrant advocacy led by Latin Americans and others since the 1980s in North Carolina. Dreamer actions publicly exposed the inequalities and dysfunction in the U.S. immigration and educational system and influenced President Obama to create the “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

scholarly journals The Case for a National Legalization Program without Legislation or Executive Action: Results from Screening for Immigration Legal Options

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-166
Author(s):  
Jeanne M. Atkinson ◽  
Tom K. Wong
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
The United States ◽  
Length Of Residence ◽  
National Project ◽  
Profound Impact ◽  
Deferred Action ◽  
Executive Action ◽  
Permanent Residents

This article presents the results of a study that finds that as many as two million unauthorized immigrants in the United States could have a path to permanent legal status. However, these immigrants may not know that they are eligible for legal status, much less be able to afford the costs or take the necessary steps to obtain it. The two million figure is drawn from an analysis of screening data from 4,070 unauthorized immigrants from 12 states. The study highlights the profound impact that a national project to screen for legal status would have on the entire US population, including eligible immigrants, their family members, and the country at large. The need for legal screening has become particularly acute in light of the Trump administration’s focus on apprehension and deportation of unauthorized immigrants without regard to their length of residence in the United States, family relationships to US citizens and lawful permanent residents (LPRs), or other positive factors. The proposed termination of benefits for many Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) 1 recipients would add more than one million individuals — approximately 325,000 ( Warren and Kerwin 2017 ), and 700,000 ( Krogstad 2017 ) people, respectively — to the pool of unauthorized immigrants.

A Reason to Wait: The Effect of Legal Status on Teen Pregnancy

2019 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
pp. 213-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elira Kuka ◽  
Na’ama Shenhav ◽  
Kevin Shih
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Teen Pregnancy ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The United States ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Deferred Action ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Teenage Fertility

Although teen pregnancy has been on the decline in the United States, it remains among the highest within developed countries. Hispanics, who are more likely to be undocumented immigrants, lead this trend, yet the role of legal status has yet to be considered. To investigate this question, we examine teenage fertility responses to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides temporary legal status to undocumented youth. We find that DACA reduced the likelihood of having a teenage birth by 1.6 percentage points and eliminated roughly half of the gap in teenage childbearing between documented and undocumented women.

More than victims: Resiliency of undocumented Latinas near Chicago, United States, and the strategic use of psychological suffering in obtaining legal status

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-368
Author(s):  
Stephanie Jean Kohl
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
The United States ◽  
Immigration Law ◽  
Application Process ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Psychological Suffering ◽  
Visa Application ◽  
Biological Citizenship

Caught between abusive partners and restrictive immigration law, many undocumented Latina women are vulnerable to domestic violence in the United States. This article analyzes the U-Visa application process experienced by undocumented immigrant victims of domestic violence and their legal advisors in a suburb of Chicago, United States. Drawing on theoretical concepts of structural violence and biological citizenship, the article highlights the strategic use of psychological suffering related to domestic violence by applicants for such visas. It also investigates the complex intersection between immigration law and a humanitarian clause that creates a path towards legal status and eventual citizenship.

Consular Protection and Solidarity across Borders

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Délano Alonso
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Migrant Populations ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
Mexican Government ◽  
Working Together

This chapter demonstrates how Latin American governments with large populations of migrants with precarious legal status in the United States are working together to promote policies focusing on their well-being and integration. It identifies the context in which these processes of policy diffusion and collaboration have taken place as well as their limitations. Notwithstanding the differences in capacities and motivations based on the domestic political and economic contexts, there is a convergence of practices and policies of diaspora engagement among Latin American countries driven by the common challenges faced by their migrant populations in the United States and by the Latino population more generally. These policies, framed as an issue of rights protection and the promotion of migrants’ well-being, are presented as a form of regional solidarity and unity, and are also mobilized by the Mexican government as a political instrument serving its foreign policy goals.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Valls
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Color Blind ◽  
American Society ◽  
Liberal Political Theory

The persistence of racial inequality in the United States raises deep and complex questions of racial justice. Some observers argue that public policy must be “color-blind,” while others argue that policies that take race into account should be defended on grounds of diversity or integration. This chapter begins to sketch an alternative to both of these, one that supports strong efforts to address racial inequality but that focuses on the conditions necessary for the liberty and equality of all. It argues that while race is a social construction, it remains deeply embedded in American society. A conception of racial justice is needed, one that is grounded on the premises provided by liberal political theory.

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