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The Effects of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals on the Educational Outcomes of Undocumented Students

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  • Hsin, Amy

    (Queens College, CUNY)

  • Ortega, Francesc

    (Queens College, CUNY)

Abstract

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is the first large-scale immigration reform to affect undocumented immigrants in the United States in decades and offers eligible undocumented youth temporary relief from deportation and renewable work permits. While DACA has improved the economic conditions and mental health of undocumented immigrants, we do not know how DACA improves the social mobility of undocumented immigrants through its effect on educational attainment. This paper uses administrative data on students attending a large public university to estimate the effect of DACA on undocumented students' educational outcomes. The data are unique because they accurately identify students' legal status, account for individual heterogeneity, and allow separate analysis of students attending community colleges versus baccalaureate-granting, 4-year colleges. Results from difference-in-difference estimates demonstrate that as a temporary work-permit program, DACA incentivizes work over educational investments but that the effect of DACA on educational investments depends on how easily colleges accommodate working students. At 4-year colleges, DACA induces undocumented students to make binary choices between attending school on a full-time basis or dropping out of school to work. At community colleges, undocumented students have the flexibility to simply reduce course work to accommodate increased work hours. Overall, the results suggest that the precarious and temporary nature of DACA creates barriers to educational investments.

Suggested Citation

  • Hsin, Amy & Ortega, Francesc, 2017. "The Effects of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals on the Educational Outcomes of Undocumented Students," IZA Discussion Papers 11078, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11078
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Ortega Francesc & Edwards Ryan & Hsin Amy, 2018. "The Economic Effects of Providing Legal Status to DREAMers," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 9(1), pages 337-370, June.
    6. Ortega Francesc & Edwards Ryan & Hsin Amy, 2018. "The Economic Effects of Providing Legal Status to DREAMers," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-18, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Richard C. Jones, 2021. "Has DACA promoted work over schooling and professional advancement for qualifying Mexican Dreamers?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(6), pages 3007-3019, November.
    2. Battaglia, Emily, 2023. "Did DACA Harm US-Born Workers? Temporary Work Visas and Labor Market Competition," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    3. Wang, Jia & Winters, John V. & Yuan, Weici, 2022. "Can legal status help unauthorized immigrants achieve the American dream? Evidence from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    4. Giuntella, Osea & Lonsky, Jakub, 2020. "The effects of DACA on health insurance, access to care, and health outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    5. Giuntella, Osea & Lonsky, Jakub & Mazzonna, Fabrizio & Stella, Luca, 2021. "Immigration policy and immigrants’ sleep. Evidence from DACA," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 1-12.
    6. Ortega, Francesc & Connor, Phillip, 2024. "Shattered Dreams: The Economic Impact of Eliminating DACA," IZA Discussion Papers 17066, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Derek Christopher, 2023. "Seeking sanctuary: Housing undocumented immigrants," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(4), pages 1065-1091, September.
    8. Mónica García-Pérez, 2019. "DACA Recipients and Their Health Insurance Dream: Employment, Schooling, and Health Coverage," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 77-108, June.
    9. Borjas, George J. & Cassidy, Hugh, 2019. "The wage penalty to undocumented immigration," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    10. Gihleb, Rania & Giuntella, Osea & Lonsky, Jakub, 2023. "Dreaming of leaving the nest? Immigration status and the living arrangements of DACAmented," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    11. George J. Borjas & Hugh Cassidy, 2020. "The Adverse Effect of the COVID-19 Labor Market Shock on Immigrant Employment," NBER Working Papers 27243, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Yvonne M. Luna & T. Mark Montoya, 2019. "“I Need this Chance to … Help My Family”: A Qualitative Analysis of the Aspirations of DACA Applicants," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-15, September.
    13. Ortega, Francesc & Hsin, Amy, 2022. "Occupational barriers and the productivity penalty from lack of legal status," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    14. Jimena Villanueva Kiser & Riley Wilson, 2024. "DACA, Mobility Investments, and Economic Outcomes of Immigrants and Natives," CESifo Working Paper Series 11106, CESifo.
    15. Ortega Francesc & Edwards Ryan & Hsin Amy, 2018. "The Economic Effects of Providing Legal Status to DREAMers," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-18, June.
    16. Tran, Nhan, 2023. "The effects of deferred action for childhood arrivals on labor market outcomes," MPRA Paper 118496, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals; education; undocumented immigration; immigration; natural experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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