About the Project
On June 2012, President Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an executive initiative intended to provide temporary deportation relief and work authorization to some young undocumented immigrants. Though a federal initiative, the work of actually implementing DACA has rested largely on the efforts of community-based organizations and local government officials, who have helped immigrants apply for DACA and to mobilize their new rights. Yet, local communities have faced distinct challenges in reaching potential DACA applicants, and have varying resources and political will to implement the policy. This has led to a diverse set of local strategies on a range of matters, such as program funding, models for legal services, adult education classes, policy advocacy efforts, and worker mobilizing campaigns.
Funded for three years (2014-2017) by the National Science Foundation Law & Social Sciences Program (SES-1353889), this project uses a comparative case study approach to examine the role that distinct local actors are playing in the implementation of DACA in four central cities: Houston, New York City, San Francisco, and San Jose. To this end, we are interviewing a range of stakeholders, including elected and appointed city officials, school district representatives, nonprofit organization leaders, union representatives, legal service providers, and consular officials to better understand how these localities are implementing DACA. Through this comparison, we highlight how the characteristics of a community shape local policy implementation, namely: population demography, partisan politics, and the history and density of civil society. Each of these have practical implications for local investment in immigrant rights and services, coalitions and partnership models, and advocacy on the part of newly DACA-mented workers and their families.
Funded for three years (2014-2017) by the National Science Foundation Law & Social Sciences Program (SES-1353889), this project uses a comparative case study approach to examine the role that distinct local actors are playing in the implementation of DACA in four central cities: Houston, New York City, San Francisco, and San Jose. To this end, we are interviewing a range of stakeholders, including elected and appointed city officials, school district representatives, nonprofit organization leaders, union representatives, legal service providers, and consular officials to better understand how these localities are implementing DACA. Through this comparison, we highlight how the characteristics of a community shape local policy implementation, namely: population demography, partisan politics, and the history and density of civil society. Each of these have practical implications for local investment in immigrant rights and services, coalitions and partnership models, and advocacy on the part of newly DACA-mented workers and their families.