It’s been more than a year since I wrote about an immigration program that gives temporary deportation relief to undocumented youth brought to this country as young children by parents.
Through the years, I’ve met many Oklahoma kids in this situation, many not remembering their native land because of being infants and toddlers when leaving.
The
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals mirrors much of the decade-old pending congressional proposal known as the
Dream Act. It’s not a permanent solution.
It’s not a path to residency or citizenship.
It’s enough to give them a chance to apply for jobs and get a two-year reprieve from deportation.
Preliminary results of a
research project funded by the MacArthur, James Irvine and Heising-Simons Foundations shows many youth are improving their lives with help from this administrative policy.
The project – called the
National UnDACAmented Research Project (NURP) – was launched to study the outcomes of the policy’s impact of eligible young immigrants.
Of the youth surveyed, 61 percent obtained a new job since receiving approval into the program.
More than half of the youth opened their first bank account and 38 percent obtained their first credit card.
Also, 61 percent received a driver’s license, which enables them to purchase car insurance and widens their access to education and employment opportunities.
Other findings of the survey:
- 94 percent say they would go through the citizenship process if ever eligible.
- 49 percent say they worry “all of the time” or “most of the time” that friends and family will be deported.
- 14 percent say they have had a parent or sibling deported, and another 31 percent say other family members have been deported.
- 49 percent say they know a neighbor, coworker or friend who has been deported.
Having covered the
immigration issue on and off for about 15 years, it’s fair to say the national studies have local relevance.
Originally, it was estimated about 1.7 youth could be eligible for this program with at least 10,000 of those in Oklahoma.
Those numbers may have been exaggerated.
At the end of August, 430,236 youth have been approved for the program with 3,642 of those in Oklahoma, according to the
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data. Among those 3,600 in Oklahoma are
Gabby and Angel Tepe, Ivan Godinez Reyes and Eleazar Velazquez.Those are youth who consider themselves Oklahomans, yet didn't have the proper paperwork to stay here.
They have high school diplomas, jobs, drive, go to college and have dreams of careers, homeownership and family.
In the debate about what to do about the immigration process – and something does need to be done – their voices are important because their experiences are unique.
The national project helps bring a broader perspective to their individual stories.
The project has been published by the Immigration Policy Center in collaboration with the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration at the University of Southern California.
Follow Ginnie Graham on Twitter.
YOUR IN-DEPTH LOCAL NEWS SOURCE: Visit tulsaworld.com throughout the day for local breaking news and investigative reports about Tulsa and northeastern Oklahoma.
