What's up: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an Obama-era policy allowing some immigrants brought illegally into the country as children to pursue schooling and work authorization with temporary and limited protections from deportation. About 800,000 recipients nationwide have been able to study and work in the U.S. — including about 8,000 in Massachusetts and close to 15,000 throughout New England. In 2017, Trump moved to dismantle the program, sparking a sprawling legal battle that culminated in June 2020 with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Trump's legal maneuvering was faulty.
The Biden factor: Biden further solidified the future of DACA on his first day in office when he signed an executive order calling on his administration to fortify and protect the program. This re-opens the process to new applicants in Massachusetts and across the country. Attorney General Maura Healey has estimated nearly 20,000 young people living here are eligible for DACA. A pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients is also included in Biden's plan for comprehensive immigration reform that he's already proposed to Congress.
The coming weeks: That vision for immigration reform also offers a pathway to citizenship for people living in the U.S. with Temporary Protected Status (TPS). There are an estimated 12,000 TPS recipients living in Massachusetts, many of whom own businesses and homes and who have started families here. And it's not only DACA and TPS recipients who'll be closely watching the trajectory of immigration reform under Biden. The president's proposal also includes a new pathway to citizenship for the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. – marking perhaps the most stark departure from the Trump-driven immigration agenda. But this lofty piece of legislation certainly faces an uphill battle, even with a Democrat-controlled Senate.

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