A study published last month by the Migration Policy Institute estimates some 14,000 individuals enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)program work in farming, fishing and forestry.
DACA individuals are persons who were under the age of 18 when they were brought to the United States illegally—mostly by their families.
On Tuesday, the Trump Administration announced it was rescinding President Obama’s Executive Order issued in 2012 that allowed those enrolled in DACA to remain in this country for two years. The Trump Administration gave Congress six months to fix the problem, but has since sent mixed messages on what it would do if Congress fails to act.
According to the MPI report: “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reported that 887,000 individuals had applied for DACA as of March 2017; 788,000 had been approved; and 799,000 requests for two-year renewals had been granted.”
The MPI analysis, using U.S. Census data, shows that about 14,000 of these DACA individuals are working in farming, fishing and forestry. This represents about 3.6% of all those employed in the category.
