WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program marks its 13th anniversary, it remains both a lifeline and a source of legal uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. Since its inception in 2012, DACA has provided protection from deportation and work authorization to over 800,000 people—allowing them to build stable lives and contribute to their communities.
According to FWD.us, the program has offered parents “the peace of mind to go to bed at night and drive their kids to school in the morning.” Their children, in turn, have grown into “teachers, engineers, small business owners, and doctors.” Yet DACA’s temporary nature—and persistent legal and political attacks—have left hundreds of thousands of recipients in limbo and placed more than one million eligible Dreamers in legal and economic peril.
The instability stems from DACA’s design as a stopgap solution. When President Obama announced the program, it was intended as a temporary fix amid congressional inaction on immigration reform. Thirteen years later, most recipients—now averaging 32 years of age with 26 years of U.S. residency—must still renew their status every two years, remaining stuck in bureaucratic limbo.
As the Coalition for the American Dream notes, DACA recipients have “gotten married, bought homes, had children, and advanced in their careers,” all while contributing “tens of billions in taxes” to the economy. And yet, the lack of permanent legal status leaves their futures in constant jeopardy.
Legal challenges began in earnest just five years after DACA’s launch. Since 2017, the policy has faced repeated attacks in federal courts, including at the Supreme Court. Although current recipients are protected for now, a court-ordered freeze has blocked new applications, excluding over 100,000 undocumented students graduating from high school each year.
FWD.us highlights the consequences of this exclusion: “Some 1,500 DACA recipients working in healthcare, including doctors and nurses; 700 education professionals like teachers and aides; and 600 personal care workers serving children or seniors would be forced out of their jobs” if the program ends.
The economic toll of ending DACA would be staggering. The Coalition estimates that terminating protections could cost the U.S. economy $1 trillion over the lifetimes of current recipients—roughly equivalent to the annual GDP of Illinois. These workers serve in vital sectors already experiencing labor shortages, such as healthcare, education, and caregiving. Without a legislative fix, these essential workers remain at risk of sudden unemployment and deportation.
While the Coalition notes that “a majority of lawmakers, along with the U.S. public, agree that upending the futures of Dreamers is morally wrong and economically foolish,” the precise percentage of public support is not cited in the available sources. What is clear, however, is that nearly 500,000 DACA recipients are raising over one million U.S. citizen children. Without protection, those families face the possibility of forced separation.
Despite broad support for a permanent solution, political gridlock continues to stall meaningful reform. The Dream Act has been introduced in every Congress since 2001, yet has never passed. Meanwhile, 12 states are actively suing to end DACA entirely. The Coalition warns that ending the program would “devastate families” and “upend industries,” disrupting communities and destabilizing an economy that benefits from Dreamers’ labor and contributions.
After 13 years of demonstrated success, the need for congressional action is more urgent than ever. Without it, the human and economic cost of inaction will only grow.
