Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals who, on June 15, 2012, were physically present in the United States with no lawful immigration status after having entered the country as children at least five years earlier, to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and to be eligible for an employment authorization document (work permit). By 2026, there were approximately 500,000 people with DACA status.

DACA was implemented by the Barack Obama administration after the failure of Congress to pass the DREAM Act, bipartisan legislation to grant temporary conditional residency, with the right to work, to qualified applicants following illegal immigration to the United States as minors—and, if they later satisfy further qualifications, they would attain permanent residency. The DREAM Act had majority support in Congress but could not overcome a filibuster by the Republican Party in the Senate.

In American politics, the Democratic Party supports protection of DACA recipients and a pathway to citizenship for these individuals, whereas the Republican Party seeks to repeal DACA and deport the recipients. Enacted by the Barack Obama administration, DACA was rescinded by the first Trump administration, restored by the Joe Biden administration, and rescinded again by the second Trump administration which detained and deported DACA recipients.