Immigration Policy and Belonging: Ramifications for DACA Recipients’ Sense of Belonging

Marie L Mallet-García,Lisa García-Bedolla

doi:10.1177/0002764221996777

Marie L Mallet-García, Lisa García-Bedolla

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764221996777

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Abstract

The socioeconomic benefits of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program initiated in 2012 by executive order from then-president Obama have been documented in the recent literature. However, the consequences of the legal challenge brought against the program by the Trump administration have not yet been fully examined. This article analyzes qualitative data from Latino Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients in California to assess how the legal turmoil around the program is affecting their sense of belonging in the United States. We find that the uncertainty around the program has negative consequences on their sense of belonging, despite the program’s aims at improving it, and despite the respondents’ living in a rather welcoming state in terms of state-level immigration policies. Notably, we find that respondents feel increasingly alienated from and unwanted in American society and postpone major life goals.

Highlights

The socioeconomic benefits of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program initiated in 2012 by executive order from -president Obama have been documented in the recent literature
In-depth interviews were conducted with 65 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients during October 2017 and August 2019 in the California Bay Area, that is after the announcement that the Trump administration intended to end DACA
California was selected as an interview site because the majority of DACA recipients reside in this state (“Top 20 Metropolitan Areas,” 2017), which magnifies the impact on its population

Summary

Introduction

The socioeconomic benefits of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program initiated in 2012 by executive order from -president Obama have been documented in the recent literature. This article analyzes qualitative data from Latino Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients in California to assess how the legal turmoil around the program is affecting their sense of belonging in the United States. There are an estimated 5.6 million undocumented children and young adults younger than the age of 34 years, who were brought as minors, and were raised in the United States (U.S Department of Homeland Security, 2017). This group, referred to by migration scholars as the 1.5 generation, has been at the center of recent scholarly research on undocumented immigrant. We answer the following question: how does the legal turmoil around DACA affect DACA recipients’ sense of belonging to American society?

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