While President Donald Trump was tweeting that DACA is “dead,” new research concludes that the program, which protects hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants from deportation, has important educational benefits for recipients.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program had a “significant impact” on the educational outcomes of undocumented immigrant youths, including a 15 percent increase in high school graduation rates, a 45 percent drop in teenage births, a 3 percent increase in the school attendance of high-school-age students, and a 22 percent increase in college enrollment among Hispanic women, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper.
The researchers did caution that the study has yet to undergo peer review. Despite that, the findings could emerge as a rallying point in the ongoing debate over immigration reform.
