Immigration, Migration, and Refugees

Talking Points from the SRCD Briefs

• In 2012, the Obama Administration issued the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Memorandum providing a two-year reprieve from deportation for those under 31 who met certain requirements. 
• The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) separated approximately 2,000 children from their parents in April and May of 2018 as they approached the U.S. border. 
• Parent-child separation is a toxic stressor with lasting effects on a child's well-being, including difficulties with emotional attachment, self-esteem, social functioning, anxiety, depression, and other physical and psychological health issues, even after reunion. 
• Undocumented parents face psychological stress, which affects their children's development and education, often keeping them from accessing federal benefits. Immigrant children are more likely to live in poverty, contributing to educational gaps, especially in preschool. Early exposure to English provides long-term cognitive and economic benefits for these children. 
• Ending DACA would jeopardize the mental and physical health of hundreds of thousands of children—mainly U.S. citizens—whose parents are DACA recipients, by stripping away access to income, food security, housing, healthcare, education, and a sense of safety, which are critical for healthy child development. It would also create fear and uncertainty for these families, as they worry about the loss of their parents' benefits and potential deportation.