The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA)
President Barack Obama issued an executive order creating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), which was designed to remove immigration enforcement attention from low priority individuals with good behavior.
President Obama issued the executive order for DACA after the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act failed to pass in Congress. The DREAM Act would have provided a pathway to permanent residency for young immigrants residing in the US unlawfully after being brought in by their parents. A majority of US voters agreed that some pathway to citizenship should be available to persons who had arrived as children and had no culpability in their unauthorized immigration.
The DACA program allowed people under the age of 30 who came to the US as children (DREAMers) to apply for renewable two-year deportation deferrals and work permits. In 2014, Obama expanded DACA and established the Deferred Action for Parents of US Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program, which gave the parents of US citizens or lawful permanent residents a path to remain in the country and to obtain work permits. However, implementation of DAPA was blocked in court and was never implemented.
