In late 2014, President Obama announced two new executive actions concerning undocumented immigrants, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA). While immigrant rights advocates have argued that both programs—which create paths for qualifying noncitizens to avoid deportation and receive work permits—could deliver much-needed relief to vulnerable segments of the population, legal opposition from Texas and twenty-five other states has suspended their implementation. The fates of DACA and DAPA now rest with the U.S. Supreme Court, which will hear the case, United States v. Texas, in April 2016.

In preparation for the court case, First Focus, a bipartisan child and family advocacy organization, and a number of other education and children’s advocacy groups have filed a new amicus brief on how the implementation of the DACA and DAPA programs will “help promote the healthy development of the over five million children living in mixed-status families in the United States.” The brief cites a range of RSF-funded research on immigration, the labor market, and inequality, including trustee Hiro Yoshikawa’s RSF book Immigrants Raising Citizens—which provides an in-depth look at the challenges undocumented immigrants face as they raise children in the U.S.—and former Visiting Scholar Sean Reardon’s chapter from the RSF book Whither Opportunity, which shows that parents’ socioeconomic status is one of the strongest predictors of children’s academic achievement. As the brief points out, issuing work authorization to undocumented parents can be expected to raise their wages by 6-10 percent.

The main arguments of the amicus brief are:

• The expanded DACA and new DAPA programs will ameliorate the harms caused by family separation and reduce the risk of children entering the child welfare system.
• The expanded DACA and new DAPA programs will benefit individuals, families and communities by allowing individuals to pursue expanded educational and professional opportunities.
• If implemented, the DAPA program would prevent deportation and provide work authorization to immigrants who are the parents of US Citizens or lawful permanent residents. Expanded DACA would apply to those who have been in the U.S. since before they were 16, lived in the country continuously since 2010 and have graduated high school or gotten their GED. These programs have the potential to provide immigration relief to more than 4 million individuals, including up to 3.3 million parents of minor children.

The brief also cites foundation-funded research by a number of RSF authors and grantees, including Ajay Chaudry, Frank Bean, Roberto Gonzales, Susan Mayer, and Annette Bernhardt, as authorities in the field.

Click here to read the amicus brief in full.