DACA’s Three-Year Anniversary

*It’s been three years since President Obama signed the DACA executive action. In that time there’s been no movement on comprehensive immigration reform, one of the main reasons he signed the order. So now DACA is quickly becoming a litmus test for 2016 presidential candidates. VL

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By Matt A. Barreto, Thomas F. Schaller and Gary M. Segura, Huffington Post/Latino Decisions

[tweet_dis]Today marks the third anniversary of President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order[/tweet_dis], a critical moment in immigration policy history. DACA directed the Department of Homeland Security to temporarily defer action on young immigrants living in the United States who came to the U.S. at an early age as undocumented immigrants with their parents; in effect, via executive order DACA classified young immigrants who would have qualified for protection under the still-unpassed Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act to be treated as if the legislation had been enacted, at least in a recurring two-year temporary manner.

Three years later, what is the political significance of DACA? This analysis considers the two-fold political and electoral significance.

[pullquote][tweet_dis]Three years later, what is the political significance of DACA?[/tweet_dis][/pullquote]

First, along with the subsequent Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) executive order issued by President Obama [tweet_dis]following the 2014 midterms, DACA immediately joined Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) as a certifiable litmus test issue for Latino voters[/tweet_dis] and, presumably, for many non-Latinos as well. Second, DACA boosted President Obama’s re-election prospects, thereby altering the electoral calculus for the 2016 presidential aspirants.

[pullquote][tweet_dis]Without comprehensive immigration reform passing, all candidates hoping for the White House now face a DACA test.[/tweet_dis][/pullquote]

Without comprehensive immigration reform passing, all candidates hoping for the White House now face a DACA test: Do you support protecting such covered immigrants from deportation, or do you support lifting DACA executive orders which has the effect of continuing deportation orders against DREAMers and parents alike?

Click HERE to read the full story.

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[Photo by Neighborhood Centers Inc./Flickr]

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