Glossary

DACA

A 2012 policy that shields certain people brought to the U.S. as children from deportation and grants work permits, renewed every two years.

Also called: DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, Dreamers

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a program created by a 2012 Obama administration memo under which the Department of Homeland Security agrees not to deport certain people who were brought to the United States as children, and gives them work authorization, for renewable two-year periods. Recipients are often called "Dreamers," after the DREAM Act, a bill to give them legal status that has been proposed repeatedly but has not passed.

To qualify, applicants had to have arrived before age 16, lived in the country continuously since mid-2007, been under 31 on June 15, 2012, be in school or have a diploma or military service, and have no serious criminal record. Hundreds of thousands have received DACA; the program has been closed to new applicants since a 2021 court ruling. It provides no path to citizenship.

The program has had a turbulent legal history. President Trump tried to end it in 2017, and in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California (2020), the Supreme Court held that the termination was improperly explained, keeping it alive. Lower courts have since held that the program itself is unlawful, and litigation continues. See Temporary Protected Status. See also humanitarian parole.

Last reviewed November 8, 2026

In the index now

Related terms

Temporary Protected Status A temporary, renewable status that shields nationals of certain countries in crisis from deportation and allows work authorization. Humanitarian parole Temporary permission, granted case by case, to enter or stay in the U.S. for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. Birthright citizenship The rule, based on the Fourteenth Amendment, that nearly everyone born on U.S. soil is a citizen, regardless of their parents' status. Green card The document showing lawful permanent resident status, which lets a noncitizen live and work in the U.S. indefinitely and later apply for citizenship. Naturalization The legal process by which a lawful permanent resident becomes a U.S. citizen, involving tests, an interview and an oath.