President Obama’s 2012 program to defer deportation of young illegal immigrants greatly eased their ability to get jobs, credit cards, bank accounts, driver’s licenses and even Obamacare despite their undocumented status, according to a new Harvard University report.
The review of over 2,000 young illegals given relief from deportation by Obama’s June 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, found that many have won the same benefits as U.S. citizens, including higher education despite the failure of the so-called Dream Act that led to the president’s initiative.
“Since receiving DACA, many have obtained new jobs and internships. Some have also opened bank accounts and obtained credit cards,” said the study just published in the journal American Behavioral Scientist.
It added: “And although the Affordable Care Act does not guarantee health insurance to DACA recipients, a significant share of our respondents have reported obtaining health care since receiving their DACA paperwork.”
The report, made available to Secrets, even coined a special phrase for the new class of illegal immigrants created by Obama. “They may grade their label ‘undocumented’ for ‘DACAmented,’” it said.
The study provides a window into what would likely happen if Obama moves forward with rumored plans to grant amnesty to some 5 million illegal immigrants. It was authored by Roberto G. Gonzales, an expert on DACA at Harvard, and co-authored by experts at the University of Southern California and City University of New York.
The study said that DACA hasn’t paved the way for younger illegals to win “full membership in U.S. society,” but it has helped them to “become integrated into an array of U.S. institutions.”
The program has also helped the “emotional well-being” of the undocumented younger illegals. “For many of these young people, this policy represents an affirmation of legitimacy, and the 2-year stays of deportation can ease some of their fears of apprehension, detention and deportation.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
