A Profile of Current DACA Recipients by Education, Industry, and Occupation

In September 2017, the Trump administration announced it would discontinue the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which granted temporary legal protection against deportation for unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. Using recent data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), MPI researchers have prepared this educational and occupational profile of individuals currently holding DACA status. Among the key findings is that DACA recipients are almost as likely as U.S. adults to be enrolled in college, but only four percent have graduated  compared to 18 percent of U.S. adults. The data also show that more than half of DACA recipients are employed and they are much more likely than unauthorized immigrants to work in more skilled professions like office support rather than construction jobs. DACA recipients are a largely middle-skilled population, either enrolled in school or working or both. They are also widely dispersed across industries and occupations. Beginning in March 2018, 915 DACA recipients will lose their protected status each day and may face deportation. The report also includes state-level occupational and educational profiles of the DACA population.  (Deb D’Anastasio for Immigrant Learning Center’s Public Education Institute)

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