An American Immigration Council study released Monday found that young immigrant adults who were able to work and study in the U.S. without fear of deportation saw solid economic gains, especially among those attending a four-year college or those who have graduated from college.
The study, by Harvard researchers Roberto Gonzáles and Angie M. Bautista-Chavez, surveyed almost 2,700 young adults who qualified for and received Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program initiated by the Obama administration in 2012. It found almost six-in-ten had been able to obtain new jobs and 45 percent reported an increase in earnings, boosting the economy through increasing the tax base. Almost sixty percent had obtained driver's licenses, which facilitated education and employment options.
Moreover, almost half of young immigrant adults who got deferred deportation had opened their first bank account and about a third obtained credit cards. More than two-thirds of DACA recipients surveyed were employed. About 21 percent had obtained health insurance since becoming eligible for deferred deportation, likely through employment-based plans or college enrollment in some states that allow it.
