For more than a decade, DACA recipients have been helping to power this country. They are teachers in our classrooms, nurses in our hospitals, small business owners and restaurant workers on our main streets, and students across our campuses. DACA recipients and immigrants are at the heart of all of our communities. Their presence here is not temporary, it’s foundational.
Nearly 95% of DACA recipients are either working or enrolled in school, according to the 2024 DACA Survey conducted by Professor Tom Wong at UC San Diego, in collaboration with United We Dream, Center for American Progress, and the National Immigrant Law Center. Over 60% moved into better-paying jobs, and nearly 58% secured positions that provide health insurance or benefits. These opportunities aren’t just life-changing for individual recipients — they ripple outward into supporting families and entire communities. It looks like a DACAmented mom paying the mortgage on time and enrolling her kids in summer camp. It means young professionals helping their parents retire with dignity or covering a sibling’s college textbooks.
DACA isn’t just a program; it’s about dignity, safety, and the freedom to contribute fully to our communities
Most DACA recipients have lived in the U.S. for over 25 years. Their roots are deep, having spent childhoods here, raising U.S. citizen children, buying homes, starting businesses, and helping to strengthen the only country they’ve ever called home. Their contributions are not hypothetical; they are visible, experienced, and vital. DACA has benefited us all.
But DACA’s success as a program is at risk, and with it, the lives of nearly half a million DACA recipients and the stability of millions of American families. With court rulings slowly chipping away at DACA’s protections and escalating nationwide efforts to carry out mass deportations, DACA’s future is in peril. Without tens of thousands of DACA recipients in Texas facing the imminent threat of losing access to their work authorizations, many will lose their ability to support themselves and their families. Some could be forced out of the workforce entirely, even if they are trained professionals like teachers, nurses, and therapists, which will have far-reaching consequences on the workforce and economy not just in Texas, but nationwide.
As mentioned, the economic cost of ending DACA would be catastrophic. DACA recipients contribute over $2.1 billion annually to Social Security and Medicare, programs millions of Americans rely on. Their average annual income is over $66,000, and they’ve used those earnings to buy homes, pay rent, purchase cars, and stimulate local economies. Removing their ability to work legally doesn’t just hurt them, it destabilizes our economy.
The 2024 survey found that more than 81% of recipients fear losing their health insurance if DACA ends. Over 63% say they would be less likely to pursue professional licenses, and 60% would abandon their educational goals. That means fewer bilingual teachers, fewer immigrant nurses, and fewer therapists and counselors from the communities they serve. These are the very professions we depend on and stripping DACA protections would force talented, experienced people out of them.
Beyond the numbers, the emotional and discussional infrastructure of American life deeply embeds DACA recipients. Many are the primary providers for their families, including aging parents and young children. Without work permits, they wouldn’t just lose income, they would lose access to basic necessities like housing, healthcare, and food. One recipient put it plainly: “We’d have to sell our home. My husband’s income alone wouldn’t cover our mortgage, bills, and food for the kids.”
DACA recipients live with the looming anxiety of being separated from their children and loved ones.
Over the years, the fear and emotional toll have only intensified. In 2024, 57% of DACA recipients reported thinking about being deported at least once per day, a sharp increase from 36.6% in 2023. Similarly, 60.4% now think daily about a family member being deported, up from 46.1% last year.
For DACA parents, the stakes are even higher. In 2024, 82.4% of DACA recipients who are parents reported thinking about being separated from their children due to deportation on a daily basis – up from 70.7% in 2023 and 67.3% in 2022. These numbers tell a clear story: the anxiety of living in limbo is growing each year. DACA recipients are not just dreaming of better lives – they are bracing for unimaginable loss.
This discussion isn’t about politics. It’s about people. It’s about recognizing the very real lives that would be uprooted if DACA ends and the immense value those lives bring to the U.S. every single day. DACA recipients are not draining the system; they are sustaining it. They deserve more than uncertainty, they deserve permanent protection, dignity, and the chance to live without fear.
Now is the time to act. History will remember how we treated those who held us together in times of uncertainty. Congress must deliver a pathway to citizenship before it’s too late. Because the future of this country isn’t powered by cruelty or indecision. People power it, and DACA recipients have been at the forefront all along.
