In Marshall McLuhan’s book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, written in 1964 he explains that in many cases, the medium itself is the message. In other words, the medium is the foundation of the indicated message (McLuhan). For instance, the medium of a news media has contextual messages that are displayed in things such as updates on day to day events or ads. Each piece contains its own content and purpose, but the main message, is the news media itself. The underlying meaning of a news media is importance, fact, and popularity. Without these underlying messages that new medias possess, its contextual message would be less effective and credible (McLuhan). Because of this, new medias have played an important role in the telling of narratives throughout history. Media and literature have played a role through telling the narrative of DACA.
With each new rendition of immigration policies and comments about a wall being built to separate the United States from its neighboring country of Mexico, immigration gains more popularity, more attention, and more curiosity. In the past, news medias wrote what they could about the harsh truth of immigration, trying to give the most enticing story in order to make a name for themselves and others inspired by the story. They grasp the attention of their audience with alluring events that leave their viewers with a strange feeling of compassion and concern. The audience remains weary, anxiously anticipating the appearance of the next dreamer’s journey.
How exactly did DACA come about? While struggling to find a solution to protect minors who were brought to the United States, the Obama administration created the DACA program in June 2012 (Harper). Obama’s suggestion of DACA had strong public support according to a 2012 survey, indicating that sixty-three percent of those polled approved of the program (Harper).
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DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. DACA is an American immigration policy that enables individuals brought to the country as children with unlawful residence in the United States to obtain a renewable two-year duration of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for a work permit in the United States (Gonzales). DACA does not implement citizenship nor official legal status to qualifying individuals, rather it allows them to be lawfully accounted for (Harper).
DACA is intended to benefit immigrants who came to the United States as children. The individuals that are eligible for DACA are those who arrived in the United States before their sixteenth birthday (Robertson). To apply applicants must be at least 15 and must have been under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012 (Robertson). The only exception to the age requirements are applicants younger than 15 who are in deportation proceedings but have not been detained. In addition, applicants must have lived continuously in the United States since June 15, 2007 and applicants must also be living in the United States when submitting their request for DACA (Robertson). DACA also requires applicants to be in school, a high school graduate, or holder of a General Educational Development (GED) ( Robertson). DACA applicants may also be honorably discharged veterans of the United States military (Robertson). Lastly, applicants cannot have had lawful status on or before June 15, 2012. Applicants convicted of crimes such as a felony, significant misdemeanor, or three or more misdemeanors are ineligible for the program (Robertson). Applicants are not eligible if they are considered to be a threat to national security or public safety (Robertson).
In order to apply for DACA, individuals must submit a seven-page application accompanied by documentation proving the applicant meets the eligibility requirements (Robertson). There’s also a form and a worksheet required for those who seek employment authorization. The fee for the application process is $495. The majority of the fee ($410) goes toward the employment authorization application and the remaining fee ($85) covers mandatory biometric data services ordered by USCIS (Robertson). Since DACA’s creation in 2012, approximately nine in every ten DACA applications have been approved, and the remaining few are denied, terminated, or withdrawn (Harper).
According to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) there are about 800,000 DACA recipients, also known as Dreamers (Gonzales). Most Dreamers arrived in the U.S. from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. There are also thousands from Asia, primarily South Korea and the Philippines. They reside in all states, with the largest populations in California (222,795), Texas (124,300), New York (41,970), Illinois (42,376) and Florida (32,795) (Gonzales).
Depending an applicant’s place of residence, deferred action may qualify recipients for additional benefits, such as driver’s licenses and in-state tuition (Harper). A survey of DACA recipients found that nearly fifty percent opened their first bank account and over half of those polled got a driver’s license after qualifying for DACA (Harper). Although DACA recipients aren’t eligible for federal aid, the program has helped applicants in getting a college education. Sixteen states allow DACA students to pay in-state tuition at state universities (Harper). Scholarship funds like TheDream.us help Dreamers bear the cost of tuition and DACA allows students to work jobs and earn money. According to a recent study forty-five percent of DACA recipients are in school and nearly seventy-five percent of those are pursuing a bachelor’s degree or higher (Harper).
Beyond education, a majority of Dreamers work. A benefit of DACA for undocumented individuals is the opportunity to receive employment authorization, also effective for a two-year duration (Rhodan). Individuals who request work authorization must do so when they apply for DACA and must indicate what USCIS considers an economic need to work (Harper). A survey of DACA recipients found that ninety percent of DACA recipients are employed and sixty-nine percent said the program’s work permit helped them find a job with improved pay (Harper). An additional fifty-nine percent had found new jobs since receiving deferred action (Harper).
Under DACA, the U.S. government will not seek the deportation of qualified individuals for two years. DACA recipients may apply for a renewal of their deferred action four to five months before the two-year duration is up (Harper). The approval process can take up to 120 days (Harper). Deferred action does not grant permanent residence to approved applicants, nor does it provide a path to citizenship (Robertson). However, roughly 40,000 former DACA recipients have proceeded to get their green cards, permitting them to be lawful permanent residents (Robertson).
The Department of Homeland Security has the ability to terminate someone’s deferred action at any time (Robertson). Submitting a request for deferred action does not guarantee protection of applicants from deportation (Harper). Claims from the USCIS have indicated that the agency would not share an applicant’s information with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) unless the applicant met criteria for doing so (Harper). Instances including national security concerns, committing fraud on an application, or being the suspect of a criminal investigation are reasons to share DACA information with national security and law enforcement officials, such as ICE and CBP (Harper).
All in all, DACA has been one of the most controversial renditions of immigration policies. DACA being particularly at the forefront of media coverage has caused each piece to contain its own content and purpose, but the main message is the news media itself. Media and literature have played a role through telling the narrative of DACA.
References
- Gonzales, R. (2017, September 06). 5 Questions About DACA Answered. Retrieved July 14, 2019, from https://www.npr.org/2017/09/05/548754723/5-things-you-should-know-about-daca
- Harper, B., & O’Boyle, B. (2018, September 13). Explainer: What Is DACA? Retrieved July 14, 2019, from https://www.as-coa.org/articles/explainer-what-daca
- McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Retrieved July 14, 2019, from https://individual.utoronto.ca/markfederman/article_mediumisthemessage.htm
- Rhodan, M. (2017, October 05). DACA: Clock Runs Out for Dreamers to Renew Paperwork. Retrieved July 14, 2019, from https://time.com/4969492/daca-dreamers-renewal-deadline/
- Robertson, L. (2018, August 10). The Facts on DACA. Retrieved July 14, 2019, from https://www.factcheck.org/2018/01/the-facts-on-daca/
