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DACA & the DREAM Act
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A diverse group of protesters stands in front of a brick building holding colorful signs with messages supporting DACA and Dreamers at a rally at the University of Michigan.
Madeleine Albright
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DACA & the DREAM Act

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History

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Discussion questions

  1. Is DACA good for America? Explain you answer(s).
  2. What do you think of the idea of ending DACA for future immigrants but allowing the Dreamers, many of whom know no other country than the United States, to remain in the U.S.?
  3. Should other undocumented immigrants be allowed a pathway to citizenship? Why or why not?
  4. What other immigration policies would you change? How would you change them? Explain your answer(s).

Sources

The ProCon staff used the following resources for this feature:

  1. Undocumented Student Program, “DACA Information,” undocu.berkeley.edu (accessed Jan. 30, 2018)
  2. Homeland Security, “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA),” dhs.gov, Jan. 29, 2018
  3. Orrin Hatch, “S.1291 – DREAM Act,” congress.gov, June 20, 2002
  4. Lindsey Graham, “Graham, Durbin Introduce Bipartisan Dream Act to Give Immigrant Students a Path to Citizenship,” lgraham.senate.gov, July 20, 2017
  5. SSRS, “CNN January 2018,” cnn.com, Jan. 19, 2018
  6. Tom K. Wong, et al., “DACA Recipients’ Economic and Educational Gains Continue to Grow,” americanprogress.org, Aug. 28, 2017
  7. Nicole Prchal Svajlenka, Tom Jawetz, and Angie Bautista-Chavez, “A New Threat to DACA Could Cost States Billions of Dollars,” americanprogress.org, July 21, 2017
  8. Fracesca Ortega, Ryan Edwards, and Philip E. Wolgin, “The Economic Benefits of Passing the Dream Act,” americanprogress.org, Sep. 18, 2017
  9. Benjamin Harris, “Why Your Economic Argument against Immigration Is Probably Wrong,” fortune.com, Sep. 11, 2017
  10. Bob Goodlatte, “Goodlatte Statement on Ending Executive Overreach on Immigration,” goodlatte.house.gov, Sep. 5, 2017
  11. Jeh Johnson, “United States Border Patrol Southwest Family Unit Subject and Unaccompanied Alien Children Apprehensions Fiscal Year 2016,” cbp.gov, Oct. 18, 2016
  12. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement, “Unaccompanied Children’s Services,” www.acf.hhs.gov (accessed Jan. 29, 2016)
  13. Karl Eschbach, “Exhibit 14 – Declaration of Karl Eschbach, Ph.D.,” scribd.com, Jan. 6, 2015
  14. Lamar Smith, “DREAM Act Rewards Illegal Immigrants for Law-Breaking,” thehill.com, May 20, 2011
  15. Alicia Parlapiano and Karen Yourish, “A Typical ‘Dreamer’ Lives in Los Angeles, Is from Mexico and Came to the U.S. at 6 Years Old,” nytimes.com, Jan. 23, 2018
  16. Andrew Rafferty, “Obama on DACA: Trump’s Decision to End Program ‘Cruel’ and ‘Wrong,’” nbcnews.com, Sep. 5, 2017
  17. Thiru Vignarajah, “Deporting Dreamers Is as Cruel and Unusual as It Gets,” seattletimes.com, Nov. 12, 2017
  18. David Benkoff, “Let Dreamers Stay – If Their Parents Go,” dailycaller.com, Sep. 4, 2017
  19. Adam Edelman and Kasie Hunt, “Steve King: Dreamers Can ‘Live in the Shadows’ after DACA Ends,” nbcnews.com, Sep. 6, 2017
  20. Ronald W. Mortensen, “DACA: Granting Amnesty to Dreamers Committing Crimes while Abandoning Their Victims,” cis.org, Mar. 10, 2017
  21. Nina Shapiro, “Seattle Judge Won’t Immediately Release ‘Dreamer’ from Detention Center,” seattletimes.com, Feb. 17, 2017
  22. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, “Active DACA Recipients – (Fiscal Year 2024, Quarter 4),” uscis.gov, Dec. 16, 2024
  23. Adam Edelman, “Trump Ends DACA Program, No New Applications Accepted,” nbcnews.com, Sep. 5, 2017
  24. Donald Trump, twitter.com, Sep. 5, 2017
  25. Brett Samuels, “Judge Blocks Trump Move to End DACA,” thehill.com, Jan. 9, 2018
  26. Reuters, “Another Judge Blocks Trump Administration from Ending DACA Program,” nbcnews.com, Feb. 13, 2018
  27. Joseph P. Williams, “Supreme Court Doesn’t Act on DACA Appeal,” usnews.com, Feb. 20, 2018
  28. Richard Wolf and Alan Gomez, “Supreme Court Snubs Trump, Keeps DACA Immigration Program in Place for Now,” usatoday.com, Feb. 26, 2018
  29. Pete Wiliams, “In Blow to Trump, Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal of DACA Ruling,” nbcnews.com, Feb. 26, 2018
  30. Nina Totenberg, “DACA Recipients Look to Supreme Court for Hope,” npr.org, Nov. 12, 2019
  31. Michael J. Wishnie, et al., “Re: Wolf, et al., v. Batalla Vidal, et al., No. 18-589,” supremecourt.gov, Mar. 27, 2020
  32. Charles Franklin, “New Nationwide Marquette Law School Poll Finds Confidence in U.S. Supreme Court Overall, Though More Pronounced among Conservatives,” law.marquette.edu, Oct. 21, 2019
  33. Jynnah Radford and Luis Noe-Bustamante, “Facts on U.S. Immigrants, 2017,” pewresearch.org, June 3, 2019
  34. Hans Johnson and Laura Hill, “Illegal Immigration,” ppic.org, 2011
  35. White House, “Remarks by President Trump in Meeting with Bipartisan Members of Congress on Immigration,” whitehouse.gov, Jan. 9, 2018
  36. Dick Durban, “Durbin: Let’s Show The American Dream Is Still Alive by Passing the Dream Act,” durbin.senate.gov, Sep. 12, 2017
  37. Adam Liptak, “‘Dreamers’ Tell Supreme Court Ending DACA During Pandemic Would Be ‘Catastrophic’,” nytimes.com, Mar. 27, 2020
  38. Donald Trump, “Statement from President Donald J. Trump,” whitehouse.gov, Sep. 5, 2017
  39. Hans A. von Spakovsky, “It’s Time to End DACA – It’s Unconstitutional Unless Approved by Congress,” foxnews.com, Jan. 23, 2019
  40. Elizabeth Murrill, “Symposium: DACA Is Unlawful,” scotusblog.com, Sep. 13, 2019
  41. John Kruzel, “Supreme Court Blocks Trump Plan to End DACA Program,” thehill.com, June 18, 2020
  42. Joseph R. Biden, “Preserving and Fortifying Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA),” whitehouse.gov, Jan. 20, 2021
  43. Priscilla Alvarez and Tierney Sneed, "What to Know about DACA Being Ruled Illegal," cnn.com, July 17, 2021
  44. Camilo Montoya-Galvez, "Biden Administration Moves to Formalize DACA and Shield It from Legal Challenges," cbsnews.com, Aug. 24, 2022
  45. Migration Policy Institute, "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Data Tools," migrationpolicy.org, Mar. 31, 2022
  46. Congress.gov, "S.264 - Dream Act of 2021," congress.gov (accessed Aug. 26, 2022)
  47. Congress.gov, "H.R.6 - American Dream and Promise Act of 2021," congress.gov (accessed Aug. 26, 2022)
  48. Eileen Sullivan, "Appeals Court Says DACA Is Illegal but Keeps Program Alive for Now," nytimes.com, Oct. 5, 2022
  49. Miriam Jordan, “Appeals Court Riles Obama-Era Immigration Program Is Unlawful,” nytimes.com, Jan. 17, 2025
  50. Briana Ballis, “Research Shows That DACA Benefits Both Dreamers and Their U.S.-Born Peers,” brookings.edu, Oct. 7, 2024
  51. Daniela Alulema, “DACA Recipients are Essential Workers and Part of the Front-line Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, as Supreme Court Decision Looms,” cmsny.org, Mar. 30, 2020
  52. Sabrina Jacobs, “A Majority of Voters Support Continuing DACA and Granting Citizenship to DACA Recipients,” dataforprogress.org, Sept. 20, 2023
  53. Dan Gordon, “New Survey: Americans Want a Legislative Solution for Dreamers,” immigrationforum.org, June 10, 2024