Deferred Action Research Articles

Using sport to promote the well-being among Latinx immigrants in the United States

Drawing upon the theoretical frameworks of Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) and Sport for Development and Peace Theory, this study seeks to examine the potential of sport participation, physical activity, and community programs as mechanisms for addressing the challenges confronted by Latinx immigrants in the United States. The research is anchored by two primary questions: What social, legal, and economic challenges are encountered by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, undocumented individuals, and the broader Latinx community in the United States, and how might involvement in sports, physical activity, and community events help mitigate these challenges. To investigate these questions, an ethnographic methodology was adopted, with data collected over a 13-week period in a predominantly Latinx community in Houston, Texas. The research findings underscore the resilience demonstrated by these individuals in response to the complex challenges within US society and highlight the crucial role of community-oriented sports and cultural programs in fostering inclusivity. The authors provide a comprehensive analysis of the findings and offer recommendations for future practical initiatives centered on community-oriented approaches.

“I’m in a Good Position to Advocate Now”: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Recipients’ Deployment of Navigational Capital and Brokerage in the D.C. Metropolitan Region

During its decade-plus of existence, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has concretely changed recipients’ incorporation trajectories and facilitated their transition into adulthood. Because it was established by Executive Order, though, DACA has always had an uncertain future. Since 2017, DACA recipients have endured a rollercoaster of lawsuits and court decisions that have evoked profound psychological distress. Yet during this time, they have also developed strategies for negotiating ongoing uncertainty and promoting immigrants’ collective well-being. We present results from a longitudinal (2016–2021) study of DACA recipients in the D.C. Metropolitan region, which encompasses multiple jurisdictions with different local policies. Applying a community cultural wealth (CCW) framework, we demonstrate that DACA recipients have become adept at leveraging place-based navigational capital into everyday acts of brokerage performed for more legally precarious family and community members. DACA recipients promote collective well-being specifically by brokering access to services, promoting household security, and developing innovative advocacy strategies. Results underscore the importance of policies to address immigrants’ exclusion at multiple levels and to ensure that DACA recipients are able to continue performing these critical acts of brokerage.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and birth outcomes in California: a quasi-experimental study

BackgroundThe Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program provides temporary relief from deportation and work permits for previously undocumented immigrants who arrived as children. DACA faced direct threats under the Trump administration. There is select evidence of the short-term impacts of DACA on population health, including on birth outcomes, but limited understanding of the long-term impacts.MethodsWe evaluated the association between DACA program and birth outcomes using California birth certificate data (2009–2018) and a difference-in-differences approach to compare post-DACA birth outcomes for likely DACA-eligible mothers to birth outcomes for demographically similar DACA-ineligible mothers. We also separately compared birth outcomes by DACA eligibility status in the first 3 years after DACA passage (2012–2015) and in the subsequent 3 years (2015–2018) - a period characterized by direct threats to the DACA program - as compared to outcomes in the years prior to DACA passage.ResultsIn the 7 years after its passage, DACA was associated with a lower risk of small-for-gestational age (− 0.018, 95% CI: − 0.035, − 0.002) and greater birthweight (45.8 g, 95% CI: 11.9, 79.7) for births to Mexican-origin individuals that were billed to Medicaid. Estimates were consistent but of smaller magnitude for other subgroups. Associations between DACA and birth outcomes were attenuated to the null in the period that began with the announcement of the Trump U.S. Presidential campaign (2015-2018), although confidence intervals overlapped with estimates from the immediate post-DACA period.ConclusionsThese findings suggest weak to modest initial benefits of DACA for select birthweight outcomes during the period immediately following DACA passage for Mexican-born individuals whose births were billed to Medicaid; any benefits were subsequently attenuated to the null. The benefits of DACA for population health may not have been sufficient to counteract the impacts of threats to the program's future and heightened immigration enforcement occurring in parallel over time.

Contraceptive use and consistency and the role of deferred action for childhood arrivals: A cross-sectional survey of undocumented young adults

ObjectiveThe Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program grants young, undocumented immigrants work authorization and protections from deportation, with about 1.3 million eligible for the program. This exploratory study examines the association between DACA status and contraceptive use among undocumented young adults. Study designWe conducted an internet-based survey between June 2017 and August 2017 among Asian and Latinx undocumented immigrants (N = 204) aged 18–31 years in California. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to examine the associations between DACA status and contraceptive use and consistency. ResultsAmong undocumented participants who were sexually active, about 60% reported having unprotected sex (52% DACA vs. 63% non-DACA) and about 80% reported that documentation status affects how they access care for sexual/reproductive health at least a little. Overall, Asians were 81% less likely to have unprotected sex compared to Latinx individuals (aOR = 0.19, 95%CI: 0.06, 0.56). DACA recipients were more likely to report using contraception every time compared to non-recipients (42.9% vs. 30.5%, p = 0.04). DACA recipients were 63% less likely to report having unprotected sex in the past 12 months compared to those without DACA (aOR = 0.37, 95%CI: 0.14, 0.99). DACA recipients were more than three times as likely to use contraception during sex every time compared to those without DACA (aOR = 3.19, 95%CI: 1.19, 8.54). ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that undocumented young adults have low rates of contraceptive use; however, DACA is associated with improved reproductive health for certain undocumented immigrants. Implications and contributionState and federal policies that extend protections and promote immigrant integration are needed to fully achieve reproductive justice for all.

Review: Culture Strike: Art and Museums in an Age of Protest, by Laura Raicovich

Review: <i>Culture Strike: Art and Museums in an Age of Protest</i>, by Laura Raicovich

Differences in Barriers to Healthcare and Discrimination in Healthcare Settings Among Undocumented Immigrants by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Status

Undocumented immigrants face barriers to and discrimination in healthcare, but those with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status may fare better. This analysis uses the cross-sectional BRAVE Study of young undocumented Latinx and Asian immigrants to examine differences in barriers to and discrimination in healthcare by DACA status. A majority of respondents experienced financial, language, and cultural barriers, and up to half experienced documentation status barriers, discrimination when seeking healthcare or by a health provider, and negative experiences related to documentation status. In multivariable analyses, DACA recipients have over 90% lower odds of language and cultural barriers, approximately 80% lower odds of discrimination when seeking healthcare and by a health provider, and approximately 70% lower odds of documentation status barriers and negative experience related to documentation status compared to nonrecipients. These findings indicate that DACA recipients experience fewer barriers to healthcare and discrimination in healthcare compared to nonrecipients.

‘지연된 사후 작용’의 관점으로 본 비평에 대한 고찰: 1970년대 단색화를 중심으로

We examine Dansaekhwa of the 1970s, which championed nationalism in the backdrop of the global trend of interpreting identity as something fluid rather than a static concept, in terms of ‘deferred action’. The 1970s were a period where the generation that endured the Korean War was beginning to establish cultural policies, and the Korean art scene was going through a discourse on the issue of identity. In this paper, we will examine how the nation's identity has been internalized in Dansaekhwa and establish how the critique thereof has turned into the context of 'tradition.' The purpose of this paper is to break away from the interpretation of critique as an advocate of certain ideologies representing a particular group or class by analyzing the features of critique from the perspective of ‘deferred action'.

Exceptional upward mobility sin papeles: the case of Familia Arias and their fútbol team in New York City

In this paper I analyze cases of Mexican families in New York, which have experienced exceptional upward mobility while being headed by long-term undocumented immigrants. The focus is on Familia Arias, from Tlaxcala. They are part of a larger group of families who I identified in an amateur football team based in New York. I explain that some of these families are exceptional because out of 53 family-households headed by undocumented or DACA immigrants from Mexico in New York City and Long Island, only half a dozen reported an annual family income above $70,000 USD. Along the paper I explain how individual and group factors in each case combine to promote this upward socio-economic mobility. These mechanisms or processes that promote mobility for long term unauthorized immigrants, strongly interacting around amateur football teams, include (i) transferring binational labour skills, (ii) long-time tenure in jobs or prosperous self-employment, and (iii) positive intra-family dynamics. Stories such as the ones of Marcela and Claudio Arias are part of 92 individual ethnographic cases I developed and collected between the fall of 2014 and the summer of 2017 in two urban counties – the Bronx and Queens – and suburban towns in Suffolk County, Long Island. Almost all of these cases were incorporated into the Mexican Initiative for Deferred Action project, initiated in the summer of 2015, which includes other areas, regions, and counties in New York State and the metro area (screening over 1,700 individuals). The 92 cases studied and developed are mainly short biographies, labour and migratory trajectories of foreign-born Mexicans, most of them unauthorized immigrants, who have been living in New York for an average of 17 years with an estimated median family-household income of $43,000 USD annually. Fútbol, for participants in Queen, in New York City, was a key activity to develop strong local networks in the city.

DACA's Association With Birth Outcomes Among Mexican-Origin Mothers in the United States.

The 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program granted work authorization and protection from deportation to more than 800,000 young undocumented immigrants who arrived to the United States as minors. We estimate the association between this expansion of legal rights and birth outcomes among 72,613 singleton births to high school-educated Mexican immigrant women in the United States from June 2010 to May 2014, using birth records data from the National Center for Health Statistics. Exploiting the arbitrariness of the upper age cutoff for DACA eligibility and using a difference-in-differences design, we find that DACA was associated with improvements in the rates of low birth weight and very low birth weight, birth weight in grams, and gestational age among Mexican immigrant mothers.

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

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.

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

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.

Discovering One’s Undocumented Immigration Status through Family Disclosures: The Perspectives of U.S. College Students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

ABSTRACT Many undocumented youths who come to the United States as children are unaware of their status until family disclosure; this likely has identity implications for youth. Through 40 semi-structured interviews with deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) college students, we explored how youth discovered their undocumented status, the type of information that was discussed during family disclosures, and how these youth perceived their identity changed after discovering their undocumented status. Most youths learned through direct parental disclosure, although several learned accidentally. Others reported always knowing, due in part to memories of crossing the U.S.–Mexico border. During disclosures, youth’s family helped youth make sense of what being undocumented meant. After disclosure, many youths felt cautious, experienced identity confusion, and felt dehumanized; however, some felt empowered. Our findings extend Communication Privacy Management Theory by highlighting environmental contextual features’ (e.g. political and legal systems) role in learning about and interpreting private information.

Resurrecting Animus/Renewing Intent

The Supreme Court’s decision in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California, invalidating the Trump Administration’s recission of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, focused mainly on administrative law requirements of reasoned decision-making. Commentary on the case has also focused on that aspect of the decision. But a sleeper issue in the case is the Court’s rejection of the plaintiffs’ equal protection animus claim. Perhaps surprisingly, though, that rejection may well portend a revival of the animus concept that many had speculated the Court would abandon after its primary proponent, Justice Anthony Kennedy, left the Court. This article considers what the Court’s treatment of the animus claim means for that concept. After Part I introduces the article, Part II provides the necessary background, tracing the Court’s engagement with animus from its early appearance in equal protection cases to its borrowing (by Justice Kennedy) into Free Exercise cases, and, with Regents, its return to equal protection. Part III argues that the Court’s very act of engaging the animus issue in Regents is significant, and establishes the viability of animus claims going forward. Part IV turns to the substance of the Court’s engagement with animus. It examines how Regents deployed the Court’s discriminatory intent jurisprudence in its treatment of the animus claim. It concludes that the Court’s connection of animus and discriminatory intent jurisprudence recalls the Court’s early understanding of the intent idea, before it rigidified into the familiar classificatory exercise we know today. If the newly-explicit connection the Court has drawn between animus and intent ends up influencing both concepts with insights from the other, then intent jurisprudence may be susceptible to a rethinking that hearkens back to the Court’s earlier, more contextual understanding of discriminatory intent. Part V considers the implications of this new connection. For animus doctrine, a new, explicit connection to discriminatory intent methodology places the animus concept on a sturdier doctrinal foundation. The influence of this connection on intent doctrine itself is more mixed, but intriguing. It may be that a new connection with animus will make it harder for equality advocates to prove discriminatory intent, if intent ends up being further suffused with notions of subjective ill-will. On the other hand, if the connection with animus results in a more holistic, less rigid intent inquiry, the way might be open for successful defenses of remedial race-conscious government action. The connection Regents has drawn between animus and intent raises the prospect of renewing both concepts. But risks remain, and require careful monitoring of the use litigants and courts make of these renewed doctrinal tools.

Transition into Liminal Legality: DACA’s Mixed Impacts on Education and Employment among Young Adult Immigrants in California

Abstract The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, implemented by executive order in 2012, granted a subset of undocumented youth temporary relief from deportation, work authorization, and other benefits. While theories of immigrant integration predict that legalization will enable immigrant socioeconomic mobility, past research on DACA’s effects on education and employment have reached mixed conclusions, possibly reflecting the limitations of different methodological approaches to the question. Using multiple data sources and mixed methods, we analyzed both whether and how DACA impacted education and employment among undocumented immigrants in California. Our difference-in-differences analysis of the 2007–2017 waves of the California Health Interview Study employs a more precise definition of the DACA-eligible population than previous studies, yet we also find mixed effects. Our analysis of surveys and in-depth interviews collected with DACA recipients in California provides context for this finding. DACA enabled college for some, but discouraged it for others. DACA recipients perceived substantial occupational mobility, but this was not reflected in movement out of the secondary labor market for many. Our findings suggest that without access to permanent legal status, DACA recipients will experience liminal legality with limited and contingent impacts on socioeconomic integration.

The integration paradox: contrasting patterns in adaptation among immigrant children in Central New Jersey

ABSTRACTI report findings from research conducted among immigrant children and children of immigrants in Princeton and Trenton, New Jersey—including unaccompanied minors and those protected by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). On the basis of participant observation and extended interviews, I investigate the role played by human and financial resources, advocacy organizations, kin and friendship networks, and religiosity in the capacity of young people to resist downward mobility. Demographic factors and class-related dynamics prove to be decisive factors shaping the self-image of immigrant children. The paper provides a theoretical framework accounting for variations in young people’s power to adjust in hostile environments.

"We Have a Lot of Power…": A Medical School's Journey Through Its New Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Initiative.

PurposeTo describe and analyze qualitatively the impact of implementing the “Stritch Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Initiative” (SDI) at the Stritch School of Medicine (SSOM), Loyola University, Chicago in 2012. The SDI is a three-step process that included: 1) opening the Stritch admissions policy to welcome DACA students to apply, 2) evaluating DACA applicants equitably with all other applicants, and 3) seeking funding to enable these students to matriculate. MethodFocus groups and in-depth interviews were conducted to explore DACA and non-DACA students’ experience of the SDI on their medical school journey and the institutional culture. During the study (in 2017-18), the medical school year (M)1-M3 cohorts included DACA students, while the M4 class did not. A grounded theory method was used to summarize and analyze qualitative data.ResultsFour major themes and 11 subthemes emerged from the data analysis. "Beliefs and Attitudes" included the subthemes of motivation to become physicians, resilience, and the mission and values of individuals and the institution. Students noted "obstacles" in reaching medical school, along with those they encountered within it. They also noted multiple "opportunities" presented through the SDI and the importance of mentors and allies. Lastly, the "impact" of the SDI on individuals, the institution, and the wider community was discussed by participants.ConclusionEnacting the SDI enabled cohorts of DACA recipients to matriculate at SSOM. Both DACA and non-DACA students in this study identified the importance of including these students as future physicians and articulated the impact of this change on them, their classmates, the institution, and the community as solidarity was formed and students' awareness of their power as future physicians to advocate for underserved populations developed.

Life as a DACA Recipient: A Case Study Approach

Migrating to the United States as a child, growing up as an undocumented immigrant, and transitioning into adulthood can affect one’s mental health. Although there are numerous discussions and proposals related to reform immigration, the Dream Act continues to be dismissed by Congress. Following is a qualitative case study that utilizes a semi-structured interview method with one South Asian participant. The case study will describe the experiences of a South Asian dreamer and how becoming a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipient has changed her life in a positive as well as in a stressful manner. The study will explore various themes related to mental health and wellbeing including: fears, biopsychosocial impact, personal identity, and resilience that were found as a result of using a semi-structured interview with one DACA recipient. The author will also highlight how the implications of advocacy can play a role in improving the mental health of individuals in this population.

The Economic Effects of Providing Legal Status to DREAMers

Abstract This study quantifies the economic effects of two major immigration policies aimed at legalizing undocumented individuals that entered the United States as children and completed high school: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the DREAM Act. The former offers only temporary legal status to eligible individuals, whereas the latter provides a track to legal permanent residence. Our analysis is based on a general equilibrium model that allows for shifts in participation between work, college, and non-employment. The model is calibrated to account for productivity differences across workers of different skills and documentation status, and a rich pattern of complementarities across different types of workers. We estimate that DACA increased gross domestic product (GDP) by almost 0.02% (about $3.5 billion), or $7,454 per legalized worker. Passing the DREAM Act would increase GDP by around 0.08% (or $15.2 billion), which amounts to an average of $15,371 for each legalized worker. The larger effects of the DREAM Act stem from the expected larger take-up and the increased incentive to attend college among DREAMers with a high school degree. We also find substantial wage increases for individuals obtaining legal status, particularly those that increase their educational attainment. Because of the small size of the DREAMer population, and their skill distribution, legalization entails negligible effects on the wages of US-born workers.

Breaking the Silence: a Framework for School Psychologists Working with Students of Undocumented Immigrant Families

Recent action from the White House canceling the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Act has increased the fear felt by undocumented families about their security to continue living in the USA. This fear especially affects children, whether they are undocumented or have parents that are undocumented. Beyond the legal ramifications, this is a mental health issue that affects school academic performance and behavior; yet, too often many school staff members prefer to avoid the issue as too sensitive or complex for them to address. As such, it falls within our role as school psychologists to help schools deal with the avoidance that this political development creates. This article discusses the issues that emerge for these dual language learners, as well as best practices in mental health services and the promotion of culturally relevant curriculum and dual language programs in supporting immigrant students to succeed in our schools and society.

Keeping the Dream Alive: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and the Necessary Next Step

In September 2017, the Trump administration announced it was repealing the executive memorandum that provided Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Rescinding DACA revokes protections promised to hundreds of thousands of people brought to the United States as children who now reside in the United States without immigration status. This Note proposes that because both DACA's implementation and its repeal were constitutional, Congress must act to prevent those protected by the DACA program from having their previous trust in the U.S. government now used against them.