IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/glodps/1617.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

DACA's Uncertain Path: How Policy Threats Reshape Economic and Social Gains for Recipients

Author

Listed:
  • Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina
  • Wang, Chunbei

Abstract

Since 2012, DACA has provided deportation relief and work authorization to immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. This study examines how legal and political uncertainty, triggered by the Trump administration's 2017 announcement to end the program, affected recipients' economic and social outcomes. Using difference-in-differences and event study methods, we find that gains in education, health, and geographic mobility largely persisted, while employment and income benefits eroded, particularly in nonsanctuary and high-enforcement states. However, strong local DACA networks helped buffer these losses. The results underscore how policy uncertainty can erode some gains while others persist in more supportive environments.

Suggested Citation

  • Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Wang, Chunbei, 2025. "DACA's Uncertain Path: How Policy Threats Reshape Economic and Social Gains for Recipients," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1617, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:1617
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/318885/1/GLO-DP-1617.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Amy Hsin & Francesc Ortega, 2018. "The Effects of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals on the Educational Outcomes of Undocumented Students," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(4), pages 1487-1506, August.
    2. Borjas, George J., 2017. "The labor supply of undocumented immigrants," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 1-13.
    3. Giuntella, Osea & Lonsky, Jakub & Mazzonna, Fabrizio & Stella, Luca, 2021. "Immigration policy and immigrants’ sleep. Evidence from DACA," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 1-12.
    4. Wang, Jia & Winters, John V. & Yuan, Weici, 2022. "Can legal status help unauthorized immigrants achieve the American dream? Evidence from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    5. David Card & Carlos Dobkin & Nicole Maestas, 2008. "The Impact of Nearly Universal Insurance Coverage on Health Care Utilization: Evidence from Medicare," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 2242-2258, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina & Wang, Chunbei, 2025. "DACA’s Uncertain Path: How Policy Threats Reshape Economic and Social Gains for Recipients," IZA Discussion Papers 17914, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Gihleb, Rania & Giuntella, Osea & Lonsky, Jakub, 2023. "Dreaming of leaving the nest? Immigration status and the living arrangements of DACAmented," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    3. Borjas, George J. & Cassidy, Hugh, 2019. "The wage penalty to undocumented immigration," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    4. Tran, Nhan, 2024. "Parents' legal status and children's health insurance: Evidence from DACA," MPRA Paper 120173, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Derek Christopher, 2023. "Seeking sanctuary: Housing undocumented immigrants," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(4), pages 1065-1091, September.
    6. Leafia Zi Ye, 2025. "Suppressed Potential: Undocumented Status and Child Arrivals’ Socioeconomic Development throughout the Life Course," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 44(1), pages 1-34, February.
    7. Ortega Francesc & Edwards Ryan & Hsin Amy, 2018. "The Economic Effects of Providing Legal Status to DREAMers," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-18, June.
    8. Jorgen M. Harris & Rhiannon Jerch, 2025. "The long‐run effects of temporary protection from deportation," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 151-182, January.
    9. Tran, Nhan, 2023. "The effects of deferred action for childhood arrivals on labor market outcomes," MPRA Paper 118496, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Charles Courtemanche & James Marton & Benjamin Ukert & Aaron Yelowitz & Daniela Zapata, 2018. "Early Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Health Care Access, Risky Health Behaviors, and Self‐Assessed Health," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 84(3), pages 660-691, January.
    11. Angrisani, Marco & Atella, Vincenzo & Brunetti, Marianna, 2018. "Public health insurance and household portfolio Choices: Unravelling financial “Side Effects” of Medicare," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 198-212.
    12. Dong, Yingying, 2010. "Jumpy or Kinky? Regression Discontinuity without the Discontinuity," MPRA Paper 25461, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Catalina Amuedo‐Dorantes & Francisca M. Antman, 2022. "De facto immigration enforcement, ICE raid awareness, and worker engagement," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(1), pages 373-391, January.
    14. Marianne P. Bitler & Christopher S. Carpenter & Danea Horn, 2021. "Effects of the Colorectal Cancer Control Program," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(11), pages 2667-2685, November.
    15. Kevin Devereux & Mona Balesh Abadi & Farah Omran, 2019. "Correcting for Transitory Effects in RCTs: Application to the RAND Health Insurance Experiment," Working Papers 201910, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    16. Wang, Jia & Winters, John V. & Yuan, Weici, 2022. "Can legal status help unauthorized immigrants achieve the American dream? Evidence from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    17. Ivan A Canay & Vishal Kamat, 2018. "Approximate Permutation Tests and Induced Order Statistics in the Regression Discontinuity Design," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 85(3), pages 1577-1608.
    18. Giesecke, Matthias & Jäger, Philipp, 2021. "Pension incentives and labor supply: Evidence from the introduction of universal old-age assistance in the UK," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    19. Brilli, Ylenia & Lucifora, Claudio & Russo, Antonio & Tonello, Marco, 2020. "Vaccination take-up and health: Evidence from a flu vaccination program for the elderly," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 323-341.
    20. Campo, Francesco & Giunti, Sara & Mendola, Mariapia, 2024. "Refugee crisis and right-wing populism: Evidence from the Italian Dispersal Policy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    DACA; undocumented immigrants; Trump; employment; health; education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:1617. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/glabode.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.