Resources for understanding DACA

By Kim Clarke and Karen Carmody-McIntosh

USA Flag, CC BY-SA Mike LoCascio

Earlier this month, the Trump administration called upon Congress to end the DACA program. Since then, the president has issued varying messages about the future status of the program and what, if anything, might take its place.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a United States program that began in 2012. The program applies to young adults who have grown up in the U.S. but are not recognized as citizens because they came to the country as undocumented immigrants when they were children. Under DACA, eligible applicants can receive a renewable two-year term of deferred action on deportation and a work permit.

DREAMers and the creation of DACA

The approximately 800,000 people currently enrolled in the DACA program are often referred to as DREAMers — a reference to the DREAM Act, a bill that has been introduced to Congress many times since 2001, but has never passed, so it is not a U.S. law. DREAM is an acronym for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors and it is intended to provide a pathway to permanent residency or citizenship for undocumented Americans who arrived in the U.S. as children. DACA was created through executive action during the Obama administration and it was intended to provide temporary relief in the absence of a U.S. law providing a path to citizenship.

Since calling for the end of DACA, President Trump has been involved in conversations with Democratic Congressional leaders about reintroducing some form of the DREAM Act to Congress; however, the status of DACA and the DREAM Act remains uncertain.

We’ve gathered some resources to help you explore the topic and think critically about the ongoing news coverage.

Freely available resources

• Five Myths About DACA
• Read The Full Statement From President Trump On Ending The Daca Program
• A Typical ‘Dreamer’ Lives in Los Angeles, Is From Mexico and Came to the U.S. at 6 Years Old
• What Is Daca? A Look At Rescinded Immigrant Programme

Freely available government and nonprofit sources

• Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
  Archived Content. This page contains information that is no longer current but remains on our site for reference purposes.
• DACA Recipients’ Economic and Educational Gains Continue to Grow
• Here to Stay
• Immigration Facts: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
• Know Your Rights
• A New Threat to DACA Could Cost States Billions of Dollars
• Status Report: DACA Is Five Years Old
• President Donald J. Trump Restores Responsibility and the Rule of Law to Immigration

UMN Libraries Resources

• Adkins, D., Sandy, H., & Derpic, J. (2017). Information Sources of Latin American Immigrants in the Rural Midwest in the Trump Era. The Library Quarterly, 87(3), 243-256.
• Boyle, E. H., & Busse, E. (2006). Institutional vulnerablity and opportunity: Immigration and America’s “war on terror”. Law and Social Inquiry, 31(4), 947-974. DOI: 10.1111/j.1747-4469.2006.00041.x
• Fisher, E. L., Deason, G., Borgida, E., & Oyamot, C. M. (2011). A model of authoritarianism, social norms, and personal values: Implications for Arizona law enforcement and immigration policy. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 11(1), 285-299. DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-2415.2011.01247.x
• Garfinkel, S. (2017). The voluntary work program: Expanding labor laws to protect detained immigrant workers. Case Western Reserve Law Review, 67(4), 1287.
• Hadjiyanni, T. (2015). Transbodied Spaces: The Home Experiences of Undocumented Mexicans in Minnesota. Space and Culture, 18(1), 81-97.
• Ilias, S., Fennelly, K., & Federico, C. M. (2008). American attitudes toward guest worker policies. International Migration Review, 42(4), 741-766. DOI: 10.1111/j.1747-7379.2008.00146.x
• Kerwin, D. (2017). Moving Beyond Comprehensive Immigration Reform and Trump: Principles, Interests, and Policies to Guide Long-Term Reform of the US Immigration System. Journal on Migration and Human Security, 5(3), 541-576.
• King, K. A., & Punti, G. (2012). On the margins: Undocumented students’ narrated experiences of (il)legality. Linguistics and Education, 23(3), 235-249. DOI: 10.1016/j.linged.2012.05.002
• Kostandini, G., Mykerezi, E., & Escalante, C. (2014). The impact of immigration enforcement on the U.S. farming sector. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 96(1), 172-192. DOI: 10.1093/ajae/aat081
• Loan Thi Dao. (2017). Out and Asian: How Undocu/DACAmented Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Youth Navigate Dual Liminality in the Immigrant Rights Movement. Societies, 7(3), 17.
• Stebleton, M. J., Soria, K. M., & Huesman, R. L. (2014). Recent immigrant students at research universities: The relationship between campus climate and sense of belonging. Journal of College Student Development, 55(2), 196-202. DOI: 10.1353/csd.2014.0019

University of Minnesota research and expertise

The University of Minnesota’s Experts@Minnesota website shows that the following faculty and staff have conducted research related to immigrants: 

• Elizabeth Heger Boyle, Professor, Sociology
• Catherine A Solheim, Associate Professor, Family Social Science
• Michele L Statz, Post-Doctoral Associate, Administration (DMED)
• Bianet Castellanos, Associate Professor, American Studies
• Michael J Stebleton, Associate Professor, Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development
• Erika Lee, Rudolph J. Vecoli Chair in Immigration History and Director, Immigration History Research Center, Professor of History and Asian American Studies

• History, Latin American Studies, Latinx Studies, Political Science, Rafael Tarrago
• Government Sources, Alicia Kubas
• Immigration, Malaika Grant
• Public Affairs, Mary Schoenborn