DACA

American  

[dah-kuh] / ˈdɑ kə /

noun

1. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals: a program intended to allow undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as minors to legally remain in the country to study or work.

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Usage

What does DACA mean? DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an immigration policy, enacted by the Obama administration in 2012, that allows undocumented people, known as Dreamers, brought to the United States as children to defer deportation and live and work in the U.S. legally.With efforts by the Trump administration to end it being challenged in court, DACA has become a flashpoint for the immigration debate in the U.S.On June 18, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a significant, 5-to-4 ruling against President Trump's effort to terminate DACA in September 2017. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts found that, while a president has the authority to end DACA if they provide valid, proper reasons, the Trump administration's decision was "arbitrary and capricious."The ruling protects hundreds of thousands of Dreamers from deportation for now by blocking the Trump administration's immediate ending of the DACA program. Other implications of the ruling are that DACA is legal, but also that a president could end the program in the future, if done so in a reasoned way. Congress would still need to pass legislation to determine the permanent legal status of Dreamers.

Etymology

Origin of DACA

First recorded in 2010–15

Example Sentences

Immigration advocates have pressed UC, CSU and California community colleges to hire students who missed out on qualifying for the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA.

From Los Angeles Times

Hernandez-Rodriguez, 34, was in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program, or DACA, which grants work permits and deportation protections to certain immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

From Los Angeles Times

Both are members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over DACA.

From Salon

He had lived in Westminster since he was 4 years old, and had previously been protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA.

From Los Angeles Times

Over a decade later, then-President Obama established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, widely known as DACA, to temporarily protect qualified immigrants from deportation.

From Los Angeles Times