A Majority of Voters Support Continuing DACA and Granting Citizenship to DACA Recipients
By Sabrina Jacobs
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an essential immigration policy implemented during the Obama Administration, protecting undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children from deportation and allowing them to become eligible for a work permit. However, since its inception, DACA has been the target of repeated attacks by Republicans and conservative judges. Last week, a federal judge in Texas ruled that President Obama overstepped his constitutional powers when creating DACA and deemed the program illegal. The decision sets in motion an appeals process that could bring DACA to the Supreme Court once again, while the future of thousands of DACA recipients hangs in the balance.
Despite the recent blow to DACA in court, Data for Progress finds 56% of voters support continuing the DACA program, including 80% of Democrats and 59% of Independents. DACA support is particularly high among Latino voters, with 73% expressing support for it.
Data for Progress also finds that a majority of voters (61%) would support lawmakers in Congress passing a bill to ensure DACA recipients have the opportunity to gain U.S. citizenship. This includes 79% of Democrats and 64% of Independents.
These findings clearly show that voters strongly favor continuing DACA to protect undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children. Many DACA recipients have spent the majority of their lives in the United States, and voters generally believe they should maintain the opportunity to gain U.S. citizenship and employment.
Sabrina Jacobs (@bri_jacobs) is a staff writer at Data for Progress.
Survey Methodology
From September 15 to 17, 2023, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,194 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, geography, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ±3 percentage points.