The problem of illegal immigration is quite controversial in the United States. We once discussed this issue here at the Latino Observatory, such as the selectivity of immigration authorities; the relaxation of entry rules at the southern border; and immigration from the “Northern Triangle”. In essence, our analysis highlights the difficulty faced by the Biden administration in advancing the agenda of reforming immigration rules, legalizing 11 million undocumented migrants, and expanding the social rights of Latino/Hispanic communities in general in the United States, just like his government proposed in the comprehensive Build Back Better Initiative. 

This week, this topic once again drew the attention of American society. June 15th, 2022, marks the 10th anniversary of the “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA) program, created by former President Barack Obama to protect the children of undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States until 2007. DACA is an ordinance of the U.S. federal government of that grants the children of undocumented immigrants the right to education, as well as prevents deportation and establishes a period of two years, which can be renewed, to obtain a work authorization document. The beneficiaries of the measure could not have committed serious crimes or misdemeanors that appeared in their police records, but it does not guarantee people the right to obtain citizenship. Therefore, it would be necessary to create specific legislation for this purpose. The program became operational on August 15th, 2012. It is estimated that between 600 and 800 thousand people have joined DACA.

Debates over legislation that would provide for the regularization of the legal status of thousands of children and adolescents, children of immigrants, have dragged on in the United States Congress since 2001. At that time, United States Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) first introduced the bill in the Senate as “S. 1291,” which was intended to grant temporary conditional residency and let the right to work to undocumented immigrants who entered the United States as minors—and, if they later met other qualifications, would obtain permanent residency. This project was called “Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act” (DREAM Act). A similar bill was presented to the House of Representatives by Congressman Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL), but both initiatives were rejected for lack of support from the Republican Party.

Similar initiatives were presented in 2007, during the George W. Bush administration, and in 2009, during the first term of Barack Obama. In 2010, the 111th Legislature of the House of Representatives approved the initiative on Dec’08th, 2010. Still, again the project was vetoed by the Senate due to the difficulty of obtaining support from Republicans.

Faced with the difficulty of gaining support in Congress, the Obama administration issued the “executive order” that created the DACA, whose essence deals with the problems related to the migration of minors, as the DREAM Act had tried. Because of the acronym, DACA beneficiaries became known as “dreamers.”

Despite the fact that the executive order has made it possible to serve thousands of children and young immigrants, a fact that avoided extradition and allowed many of them to have access to education, the situation of this segment remained precarious, as the authorizations had to be renewed every two years beyond the cost of approximately US$500.00 to process the request. In theory, the DACA legislation would give the beneficiaries the chance to ascend to US citizenship, but this did not happen.

The situation of the “dreamers” worsened after the inauguration of Donald Trump. On Sep’05th, 2017, Trump announced that he would not proceed with the initiative. According to NPR, Trump states: “I do not favor punishing children, most of whom are now adults, for the actions of their parents. But we must also recognize that we are nation of opportunity because we are a nation of laws.” In the same report, Barack Obama contested the measure of his successor: “Let's be clear: the action taken today isn't required legally. It's a political decision, and a moral question. Whatever concerns or complaints Americans may have about immigration in general, we shouldn't threaten the future of this group of young people who are here through no fault of their own, who pose no threat, who are not taking away anything from the rest of us.”

In theory, Donald Trump wanted to force Congress to take action on the problem. Still, again the Republican Party, contrary to any relaxation of the immigration law, blocked the regularization of the "dreamers", leaving them in legal limbo until today, as no solution has been found to a problem that has dragged on for over 20 years.

Joe Biden's victory brought hope that the situation of the "dreamers" would finally be regularized. In one of his first measures, Biden reinstated the precepts formulated by Barack Obama's legislation. However, after being urged by the Governor of Texas and other Republican governors, Federal Judge Andrew Hanen ruled on July 16th, 2021, that DACA was "created in violation of the law" and "implemented illegally." In the decision, Hanen argued that then-President Barack Obama had no authority to create DACA as it bypassed Congress. The judge blocked the government from accepting new applications for the program, effectively overturning Biden's executive order. However, the decision allowed immigrants currently protected by the program to maintain their status and allowed DACA renewals during the appeals process.

On July 17th, 2021, the White House reacted to Hagen's decision and urged Congress to legalize the status of dreamers “Yesterday’s Federal court ruling is deeply disappointing. While the court’s order does not now affect current DACA recipients, this decision nonetheless relegates hundreds of thousands of young immigrants to an uncertain future. The Department of Justice intends to appeal this decision in order to preserve and fortify DACA. And, as the court recognized, the Department of Homeland Security plans to issue a proposed rule concerning DACA in the near future. But only Congress can ensure a permanent solution by granting a path to citizenship for Dreamers that will provide the certainty and stability that these young people need and deserve. I have repeatedly called on Congress to pass the American Dream and Promise Act, and I now renew that call with the greatest urgency. It is my fervent hope that through reconciliation or other means, Congress will finally provide security to all Dreamers, who have lived too long in fear.”

While the prospect of legalizing the status of this segment of the population is still a long way off, given Republicans' resistance to changing current immigration legislation, many young people report insecurity about the future of their lives. Because of DACA, many beneficiaries could go to university and become professionals. However, it cannot guarantee they will be able to work legally because they do not have full right to citizenship.

Former President Barack Obama hosted a meeting with a group of "dreamers" on the occasion of DACA's anniversary on Jun’15th, 2022. The meeting was attended by program beneficiaries who grew up in the United States as undocumented immigrants Tony Valdovinos (founder of consulting firm, Mexico), Jessica Astudillo (Doctor, Ecuador), Devashish Basnet (Political Scientist, Nepal), Josue de Paz (CEO & Co-Founder of First Tech Fund, Mexico) and Sumbul Siddiqui (Medical Student, Saudi Arabia). By bringing these guests together, Obama wanted to draw attention to their potential for American society. However, they run the risk of having to leave the country due to the legal limbo in which they find themselves.

According to the Obama Foundation website, regarding his conversation with the roundtable participants, “In his conversation with roundtable participants, President Obama encouraged them to continue sharing their stories and being advocates in their communities, referencing the urgent need to reform the immigration system and the work that remains to provide a more permanent solution for all Dreamers. ‘I hope all of you continue to be advocates in whatever your professional lives are. I think that it is going to be a long road for us – and so the more voices like yours are out there, the better chance we have of changing people’s attitudes. Part of the reason why we feel like it’s important on this 10th anniversary to highlight it, is because it’s not done.’ Reflecting on their stories, President Obama noted, ‘Having seen the remarkable things that this group of DACA kids have done with their lives, what an asset they are to this country, I hope it inspires us to redouble our efforts to permanently resolve their status.’”

Several media covered DACA's 10th anniversary, in addition to the difficulties faced by the beneficiaries and those young people who did not even have the opportunity to enroll in the program.

The issue remains an open wound in American society. The support group for undocumented immigrants, "Immigrants Rising", advocates more effective action by politicians from both parties to find a solution to this huge contingent of young people: “DACA was only meant to be a temporary stopgap solution, but now we celebrate its 10-year anniversary because of bipartisan political dysfunction and anti-immigrant vitriol in mainstream U.S. political discourse. Time and time again, the Trump Administration tried to end the program but only failed due to its incompetence. For the foreseeable future, there seems to be no viable momentum towards change.”

In fact, given the dysfunctionality of the United States political system, the solution to the country's major problems is blocked by a system of "cross vetoes," except for belligerent politics, since the Republicans and Democrats always find common ground for cooperation to increase the military budget. But issues that involve the daily lives of the population, such as income concentration, poor infrastructure, the low supply of jobs with compensating wages, or even the climate transition, are paralyzed in the corridors of the Capitol.