Get help now

The Fairness of DACA Giving Equal Rights to Young People

Updated September 4, 2022
dovnload

Download Paper

File format: .pdf, .doc, available for editing

The Fairness of DACA Giving Equal Rights to Young People essay

Get help to write your own 100% unique essay

Get custom paper

78 writers are online and ready to chat

This essay has been submitted to us by a student. This is not an example of the work written by our writers.

Stone’s Four Conflicting Goals

Equity (treating likes alike). The most relevant policy surrounding the DACA program is equity because equity encapsulates the main goal of DACA which is to provide an equal opportunity to young undocumented people that otherwise would not be available. Since President Obama signed the 2012 executive order for DACA, the program has permitted over 724,000 immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, work permits and college educations. Those who apply to DACA wish to live happy lives by learning, working and enjoying their personal lives, just as any other young person in America.

Liberty (do as you wish as long as you do not harm others). The second most relevant policy is liberty because the DACA legislation extends right to education to these young undocumented people. Because the immigrants are undocumented, they cannot apply for financial aid in the form of student loans and must instead use private aid, an unreliable and sometimes weak option; this can prevent them from getting the right to education which is a liberty.

Efficiency (getting the most output for a given input). The third most relevant policy is efficiency because it relates to the long-term gains in productivity that will come about as a result of the DACA legislation. One might argue that immigrants in the US harms our economy, however studies show that mass deportation would severely damage the economy. For example, it would reduce the US GSP by 1.46% per year, leading to a $2.6 trillion loss of GDP over a 10 year span.

Security (satisfaction of minimum human needs). The fourth most relevant policy is security. It is least relevant because it only indirectly helps applicants achieve satisfaction of human needs – because DACA allows undocumented people to receive an education and enter the skilled workforce, they earn money and can afford necessarily resources to sustain human life, like food, shelter and clean water. Many families left their native countries due to lack of resources and poverty.

Characteristics of Policies

Identify the claimed rights and their claimed moral bases: Claimed rights refer to human rights which are inherent to all humans – this includes the right to job opportunities, the right to education and the right to unity as deportation splits up families. Claimed moral bases refer to the accepted moral standards regarding treatment of Dreamers in America despite that they are not legal citizens. Individuals should act according to what they believe should be universal rules, therefore everybody should treat others how they wish to be treated, and everybody should be accepted.

Determine which claimed rights satisfy accepted moral standards: The right to job opportunities, to education and to unity all satisfy the moral standard to treat people with kindness and acceptance.

Check whether right is already established by the government: The right is established by the government as it is written in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights under socio-economic rights. Freedom from discrimination as well as the right to marry and have a family are listed as civil liberties in the UDoHR. While they do not explicitly address the right to job opportunities and the right to unity, they are implicit rights embedded within a broader idea.

Identify the actions consistent with protection or promotion of the rights:

  1. The government can protect and promote these rights by monitoring the abuse of rights and investigating breaches. Specifically, the rescinding of DACA may be at least delayed if litigants take Trump to court, because he violated the Administrative Procedure Act which requires notice before changes in government rules.
  2. A bill can be introduced to Congress that protects rights of DACA applicants. The bill would qualify around 1.2 million individuals to apply for a green card so long as they met certain requirements. Additionally, the bill would thin out the backlog in immigration courts by adding more immigration judges and attorneys. At the same time, the bill would improve enforcement measures by installing sensors, radars and drones to secure the border rather than building a physical wall.

Identify conflicts among rights. If none, respect rights with moral standing: A conflict exists among the right of education and the right to job opportunities for Dreamers. When Dreamers are given access to education opportunities beginning at a young age, they are more likely to enter the workforce. When education and job opportunities are nearly guaranteed to Dreamers, certain Americans feel as though they are robbed of their own opportunities. They believe that if Dreamers were deported, Americans would benefit because they would no longer need to compete with them for both low and high skilled jobs.

If conflict among rights with moral standing, weigh the importance of the goals those rights are intended to promote or protect: The goal of equity is more important than the conflict that is created for US citizens. While the application of the right to education and job opportunities to Dreamers creates some controversy, DACA and supporters of DACA support the notion that these rights should extend to Dreamers because they are human and deserve to be treated equally.

Prioritize the rights, and determine the constrains placed on one by another: The right to marry and have a family is prioritized because breaking up families with mass deportation is inhumane and causes psychological and financial issues for family members. The right to education and job opportunities may constrain this right because they may actually encourage families to split because members cannot turn down certain opportunities they are presented with and therefore need to leave the home their family lives in to take on such responsibilities. Secondly, the right to education is prioritized because it creates a foundation for future success. Without an education, it is difficult to become employed, so the right to job opportunities is constrained by the right to education because one typically must come before the other.

Relevant Frameworks

  • Framework #1: Role of the Public: The views of the public are important to the public policy process. 55% of a random sample of Americans reported they approved of DACA and 27% disapproved. Those who disapprove claim that DACA encourages illegal immigration and greediness, thereby leaving America with limited resources. Within the 55%, 70% were Democrats and only 43% Republicans. There is a divide amongst Americans, but the majority of citizens are in favor of DACA. However, government officials and lawmakers are often biased towards those who can help with re-election, rather than the majority. Lawmakers are influenced by those who will donate to their re-election campaigns, and in this case it is the small faction of wealthy Republican donors that might influence lawmakers, and those are people who would disapprove of the bill.
  • Framework #2: Majoritarian Politics – Wilson Matrix: Immigration policies are difficult to implement because the costs and benefits are widely distributed. More immigrants in the US means more people looking to enter the workforce, leading to competition for jobs for both immigrants and born-citizens. However, more immigrants in the US can boost the economy. Deportation of current illegal immigrants would reduce the US GSP by 1.46% per year – so their presence does positively impact the economy. Because such a large amount of people are effected, it is difficult to implement because there are so many opinions.
  • Framework #3: Kantian Rights: Kantian Rights say that individuals are to be treated as ends in themselves. And should be granted universal and reversible rights along universal maxims. Although legal immigrants must be given the choice to apply for a green card, it is their own choice whether or not to choose to take this path, and further it is their own decision to decide what they will do after they receive citizenship.
The Fairness of DACA Giving Equal Rights to Young People essay

Remember. This is just a sample

You can get your custom paper from our expert writers

Get custom paper

The Fairness of DACA Giving Equal Rights to Young People. (2022, Sep 04). Retrieved from https://sunnypapers.com/the-fairness-of-daca-giving-equal-rights-to-young-people/