The Movement toward a DREAM
On June 15, 2012, President Obama announced a significant shift in immigration policy: under a new program referred to as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA, his administration would protect certain young undocumented immigrants from deportation and issue them work permits and social security cards. Nationally, an estimated 1.4 million youth are eligible to apply for DACA. The youth targeted under this program are American in every sense of the word except for their immigration status. Many came to the US as infants and have completed high school or are attending college. They are valedictorians and babysitters, musicians and meatpackers, law students and restaurant workers. Without stable immigration status, these youth are relegated to work in the underground economy. They face uncertainty about their future, knowing that at any time they may be forcibly returned to their countries of birth—countries with which they may have few ties and where they may not speak the language. Without legal work authorization, these young immigrants work in marginal jobs and are often subject to exploitation.
DACA is not a permanent solution for these young immigrants, but rather a stopgap measure implemented by the President after the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, better known as the DREAM Act, languished in Congress. President Obama’s DACA policy does not go as far as the DREAM Act would have and eligibility is limited. Unlike the DREAM Act, DACA does not provide a pathway to citizenship for childhood arrivals, and it does not enable beneficiaries to obtain any public benefits or student grants or loans. To be eligible, applicants must have lived in the US for five years, have entered before the age of 16 and be at least 15 years old and under 31 years old as of June 15, 2012. But under DACA, those who meet these conditions are allowed to work legally and are protected from deportation for a renewable period of two years.
DACA Creates a Need
Immediately after the June announcement of DACA, nonprofit immigration service providers, advocates and community-based groups began receiving calls requesting information or assistance. Eligible DACA applicants had to weigh considerable risks and overcome significant challenges to apply. With thousands of youth in the Philadelphia region eligible to apply for DACA, no single immigrant legal service provider or advocacy organization had the capacity to meet the need for outreach and legal assistance.
Judith Bernstein-Baker, executive director, and Philippe Weisz, managing attorney, of HIAS Pennsylvania felt that their organization was well positioned to convene a network of local immigration advocates and services providers to address DACA. The Immigrant Youth Advocacy Project of HIAS Pennsylvania specializes in legal assistance to unaccompanied, abused and neglected immigrant youth and has strong relationships with stakeholders. Weisz convened a meeting of advocates and service providers to prepare a coordinated response. The Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians (Welcoming Center) provided space for the first meeting and led the group in developing a preliminary fact sheet to dispel myths and explain what was known about the program at the time. A week later, the group met with representatives of the Philadelphia Foundation, the Samuel S. Fels Fund and Delaware Valley Grantmakers to alert them to the opportunities and needs created by DACA. Foundation staff encouraged the organizations to continue their collaboration and to hire one coordinator who would do extensive outreach to set up community information sessions, recruit pro bono attorneys and other volunteers and leverage the resources of each group.