Introduction
It is evident that policy creation, promotion, and implementation are essential and complex steps toward improving the country and the lives of its citizens. At the same time, policymakers should also assess the positive and negative effects and consequences that occur at the state and national levels sooner or later after the policy goal is achieved. The proposed policy intervention is to continue and expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to support undocumented immigrants and secure their rights to reside, work, and receive education in America. This paper explores the potential impact of the policy, considering both short- and long-term effects at the local and federal levels.
Anticipated Public Reaction
To begin with, it is essential to discuss the expected reaction of politicians and ordinary people to the accepted continuation and expansion of the DACA program for undocumented immigrants. Considering the striking differences in views and opposition that have existed since the program’s creation in 2012, it can be assumed that reactions to its expansion will be even more positive among supporters and even more negative among those who find this program detrimental to the country.
Many economic benefits or failures will be attributed to the DACA intervention to prove its value or ineffectiveness. Therefore, support and sympathy for immigrants will increase, as will negative attitudes towards them. At the same time, it is still expected that undocumented Americans will feel safer, better, and more eligible in the country, getting access to education and various jobs, which will strengthen the status of the U.S. as a hospitable country.
Short-Term Effects
Several consequences of the DACA program’s expansion will be seen in the near future, and not all of them are entirely positive. For example, there may be local protests against the policy, and opposers might attack immigrants to demonstrate that they are not welcome in the U.S. Therefore, states will have to manage such activities carefully, not allowing the opposition to become violent or aggressive.
Additionally, more unauthorized youth will become DACA recipients, meaning that the average standard of living in each individual state and in the country as a whole will rise significantly in the shortest possible time. Having received a legal opportunity to work, authorized immigrants will experience upward mobility and find better jobs; some will start their own businesses, creating new jobs for other Americans.
Further, a valuable change will be seen shortly in the country’s budget. Currently, it costs America an enormous sum of money to physically deport unauthorized citizens. Since there will be no need for such mass deportation, as many individuals will become recipients of DACA, these finances will be spent on other, more essential matters.
Long-Term Effects
Overall, the main consequence that will be evident later after the program’s implementation is the rapidly growing number of undocumented immigrants. Despite the fact that the DACA policy will be expanded to include more individuals, not all of them will qualify for it. However, this will not prevent numerous illegal immigrants from staying in the country, hoping to become eligible for the program.
On the one hand, the more people apply for the program, the more evident its positive impact becomes. This will likely secure the need for DACA and ensure that it will be continued in the future. On the other hand, the opposition to the policy might use this fact of the growing number of unauthorized immigrants as proof that DACA does not solve but promotes the problem of undocumented citizens.
A highly positive effect is that the U.S. will receive a great number of professional medical workers, engineers, scientists, and other specialists who will work for the benefit of their states and countries. The youth that will become qualified for the program after its expansion will get quality education, and in four to ten years, various areas like medicine and business management will thrive. This will also have state and federal impacts on the U.S. economy, as numerous studies show that immigration actually boosts employment and economic and entrepreneurial growth.
What is more, America will manage threats more successfully, which was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many DACA recipients worked as medical and social professionals, supporting and helping the population. It is reported that without their valuable contribution, legal Americans would not address the situation easily. All these long-term effects will be evident both at the state and national levels. As for the target population, which is immigrants, their mental and physical health is expected to improve significantly over several years. This will be achieved due to their reduced stress and anxiety, as they will no longer expect DACA to be canceled.
Conclusion
To conclude, there will be a number of positive and negative consequences of implementing the DACA continuation and expansion policy. Some effects, such as increased opposition, enhanced standard of living, upward social mobility, new jobs, and additional finances for other matters, are short-term effects. Further, the long-term ones are the rapidly growing number of immigrants, more specialists and professionals in different fields, boosted economy, and improved well-being of the target population. Although opinions regarding the policy will vary, it is anticipated that the DACA program will bring many more advantages than harm.