UCLA

How do policies influence behavior? Current research on the effect of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (or DACA) is centered on economic and health outcomes. However, as DACA provides greater membership in American society, it is also important to examine its impact on political incorporation. I argue that although DACA has positively and significantly changed the lives of many young undocumented immigrants, it has also become another means of drawing a boundary of marginality based on arbitrary and subjective standards. In-depth interviews and an original survey show that while DACA provides greater access to its recipients, it also decreases recipients’ propensity for civic engagement due to heightened social exclusion. Also, regardless of DACA status, young undocumented immigrants are more likely to be engaged in safer political activities. This dissertation has broad implications for the study of minority civic engagement, as it provides a better understanding of how undocumented immigrants, who do not have access to formal modes of political participation, become politically incorporated.