Today’s the third year undocumented youth have been able to apply for President Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which granted permission to be in the country and work for a renewable two-year period.

It was estimated that roughly 700,000 young migrants qualified, according to the advocacy group Mi Familia Vota.

On Nov. 20, 2014, Obama announced an expansion of the DACA program and a similar relief for parents of U.S. citizen or legal resident children, a program nicknamed DAPA. However, on Feb. 16, a federal district court judge in Texas temporarily blocked both programs. 

Currently, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is solely accepting applications for people who qualify for the 2012 DACA.

The Center for American Progress’ Silvia Mathema wrote about a recent report on the economic impact DACA, extended DACA and DAPA have/would have in each state. If the three programs are implemented fully, the U.S. economy would grow by $230 billion over the next 10 years, the analysis says. 

An interactive map shows that about 137,000 people in Arizona are eligible for extended DACA and DAPA, which is more than half of the state’s undocumented population.

Here are some of the Arizona numbers:

Cumulative increase in state GDP (gross domestic product): $6,199,000,000
Cumulative increase in earnings of all state residents: $4,053,000,000
Cumulative increase in earnings of DAPA- and DACA-eligible workers: $3,378,000,000
Average annual number of jobs created: 780

From the write up:

The reasons why states see such large gains from the deferred action programs are similar to why the whole nation stands to benefit. Nationally, more than half the undocumented individuals have been living in the United States for at least 13 years with the majority of them working in our farms, factories, construction, hotels, and restaurants. If allowed an opportunity to receive temporary work permits, these immigrants will likely experience significant wage gains. These work permits will allow them to get jobs that better match their skills and protect against workplace exploitation such as wage theft. The increase in income of undocumented immigrants means that they will have more to spend on everyday goods and services. This increase in demand will have a ripple effect throughout the state’s economy, increasing the incomes of all state residents and creating jobs for all.

Check out the state-by-state economic benefits on the CAP website. 

This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2015.

I was born and raised in Guatemala City, Guatemala. I moved to Tucson about 10 years ago. Since I was old enough to enjoy reading, I developed an interest in writing, and telling stories through different...

11 replies on “It’s Been 3 Years Since Obama Issued DACA: Here’s the Estimated Economic Impacts of His Immigration Relief Programs”

  1. “If allowed an opportunity to receive temporary work permits, these immigrants will likely experience significant wage gains. These work permits will allow them to get jobs that better match their skills and protect against workplace exploitation such as wage theft.”

    Sucking even more money and opportunities from hard working and non-working Americans.

  2. Ah yes, the wonderful economic impact of 30 years of illegal immigration. Results: overpopulation, strained public services, crumbling infrastructure, water shortages. It’s paradise.

  3. “Hard working” Americans have jobs. “Non-working” Americans – most of them white — prefer to suck on welfare.

    Which immigrants do not do, because they’re too proud to do that.

  4. Hey Gringo – what does the work ethic of immigrants have to do with it. By their very definition, these are not immigrants who came here to be Americans, these are illegals, brought to the country by their criminal family members who abandoned their own country to suck off Americans.

    If they were immigrants, they wouldn’t need DAPA, they would have their paperwork and the number of them allowed would be controlled by Americans.

  6. These would be good programs, IF birthright citizenship was abolished.

    In 2015 we no longer need this policy, it has outlived it’s original intention.

    Let’s be honest, without cheap labor and migrant workers we would be paying $8 for a head of lettuce and $15.00 for a basic car wash. Americans don’t want to do this work, not even convicted felons would do this work.

    We need real solutions. Solutions where undocumented aliens are not afforded the same rights as American citizens, legal aliens, temporary workers.

  7. stalecloud – instead of asking for the migration of thousands going both directions across the border, wouldn’t the carbon footprint be much smaller if those that felt that way would drive 60 miles south? You could save the planet and not have to deal with those awful, probably white, Americans.

    Oh, but that would require effort and their own money from the invader sympathizers.

  8. The elephant in the room is the one word used in the headline:

    ESTIMATE

    Just like everything else nobody will keep track of it and nobody will be held accountable for it.

    So it’s meaningless.

  9. Old Pueblo, I’m not disagreeing with you but the birthright rule is a bit more complicated because of reciprocity. For whatever reason Americans born overseas are allowed to choose citizenship {done by the parents} and are afforded some benefits by the country THEY are born in. We may not like it in the here & now but it’s important we don’t do some things willy nilly creating unforseen problems.

  10. What, Again I have no idea what you’re trying to say there, but here’s a environmentally-friendly solution: catapults and used mattresses.

  11. But, if we make it so you have to pay them the same as everyone else, then how they gonna take our jobs?

    My job’s going overseas. Ain’t no one “taking” it, my boss is “giving” it to someone else…

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