Mexicans are not benefiting from DACA

Thousands of Mexicans in the United States who qualify for the benefits of the executive action that would prevent their deportation and give them work permits have squandered at the opportunity due to ignorance or lack of money.

Scholars believe that at least some 25,000 Mexicans could benefit from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) just in the state of New York.

Throughout the country, the figure of Mexicans who have missed the opportunity to benefit from the program, which gives work permits to those who arrived in the U.S. before 2007 when they were younger than 16 would amount to hundreds of thousands.

"At least some 20,000 or 25,000 Mexicans in the state of New York have not requested the DACA," explained Robert Smith, director of the DACA Access Project and researcher at the City University of New York (CUNY).

Smith stressed that the reasons are mostly economic because the work permit -only valid for two years- has a cost of US$465, and for many the benefits from the program are not clear.

"The benefits of DACA are limited and must be renewed every two years. It does not give access to educational loans, nor legalizes the partner or children, for example. It is a status but is a very limited one," expressed Smith, in the framework of an event of the Mexican consulate in New York.

According to official figures, some 570,000 have requested the DACA benefits, which represents 77% of all the registered applications.

Throughout the country, however, it is estimated that 1.7 million young people may be eligible for this benefit.