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Journal Article Review
Burciaga, E., & Malone, A. (2021). Intensified Liminal Legality: The Impact of the
DACA Rescission for Undocumented Young Adults in Colorado. Law & Social Inquiry, 46(4),
1092-1114. doi:10.1017/lsi.2021.8
According to the immigration legislation of the United States, those without proper
documentation are living in an unlawful situation. The fact that illegal immigrants may still be
discovered and deported even in states that have been designated as sanctuary creates a
dichotomy for those individuals. However, as a result of a decision made by the Supreme Court
in the case of Phyler v. Doe in 1982 and the establishment of DACA by President Obama in
2012, there exists a set of undocumented migrants who live in a unique scenario. These
individuals are young adults who have been brought to the country by their parents when they
were kids. This peculiar circumstance, in which a number of young adults live concurrently as
registered and unregistered individuals, is commonly described as "liminal legality." The primary
objective of the research was to provide evidence that the lack of clarity around DACA poses
problems not just from a legal standpoint, but also in terms of the mental, emotional, physical,
financial, and social well-being of the individuals whom it is intended to assist. Therefore, it
cannot be stressed enough how important it is for Congress to approve comprehensive
immigration reform legislation that would permanently safeguard this population.
Research data may be broken down into two distinct types: quantitative and qualitative.
The foundation of quantitative research is on numerical values and items that can be tallied.
Quantitative information answers queries like How much, long, many, and so on, with concrete
answers since they lend themselves to statistical analysis or average. The interpretation of
qualitative data might be more ambiguous. Interviews, questionnaires, and/or direct observation
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are the most common methods used to acquire qualitative data, which is then subjected to
analysis by the researcher. A significant amount of qualitative information is focused on a
subject's thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. The interpretation of qualitative data is highly dependent
on the thoughts and feelings of the researcher. This research only used qualitative data at any
point in its process.
Numerous previous research has been conducted to investigate the impact that DACA has
on the people included in this population. These studies have revealed that despite the
uncertainty, DACA beneficiaries have experienced positive benefits in the financial, social,
mental disorders, and psychological aspects of their life after being eligible for the program.
When the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was first put into effect, the
researchers wanted to investigate the ways in which undocumented young people in Colorado
were adapting to the new situation. The researchers observed that at the beginning of this
investigation, they were presented with an extraordinary opportunity. After the election of
Donald Trump as president and the subsequent declaration of the intention to wind down the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, the researchers have the opportunity
to inquire about the subject group's level of knowledge and their frame of mind in relation to a
developing crisis. In order to get the information they need for this study, the researchers resorted
to both questionnaires and in-person conversations. Due to the fact that the questionnaires for
both phases of the study were completed entirely online, the researchers were tasked with
establishing not only the veracity of the respondents but also their location within the
geographical region of Colorado. “During both iterations of the survey, we gave monetary
incentives of twenty dollars for replies that were both comprehensive and accurate. We ensured
the reliability of the replies by taking a number of precautions. Qualtrics' anti-ballot stuffing
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tools, together with a Captcha test, were used to ensure that only a single respondent per IP
address submitted an answer. Finally, a combination of automatic and human screening was used
to exclude replies that seemed to be fake. This was accomplished by using a geolocation
function, which enabled confirmation that the responses were from inside the state of Colorado.
Also checking for things like exceptionally quick response times, brief answer replies that make
no sense, considerable discrepancies across responses, and duplicate content that appears
verbatim in several responses.”
The initial batch of responders was gathered solely via the use of email. The total number
of returned questionnaires was fifty-seven. In these questions, DACA beneficiaries responded
that they thought that the program had a beneficial influence on their personal lives, but that they
were additionally aware of the transitory nature of the program and that it might be terminated at
any moment. The researchers conducted interviews with staff members at three immigrant rights
groups and observed two DACA refresh discussion groups in an attempt to increase the total
amount of respondents who participated in the second phase of the study.
In the second phase, we engaged respondents by communicating with them through
email, Facebook, and physical fliers. 122 people went through the second polling round. During
the interviews conducted following the election, the prospect of DACA being revoked caused
participants to experience a range of negative emotions and mental difficulties. Despite this,
DACA was able to go through with the legal process as the Trump administration worked to have
it repealed. The respondents seemed to have a practical mindset, as seen by their desire to avoid
fixating on the unpredictability and instead focus on the aspects of the situation over which they
had some measure of control. Because the researchers decided to maintain the confidentiality of
the questionnaires, there is no way to determine whether or not any of the respondents from the
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first round took part in the second round of the study. Following the aggregation of the
information from the questionnaires, there had been a total of twenty-eight interviews conducted
in person between December 2018 and December 2019. During the interviews, the participants
were questioned with questions pertaining specifically to the DACA application and renewal
procedure. What they believed were the real and perceived advantages of getting DACA, as well
as how it affected their plans for the coming years.
The examination of the data from the two sets of surveys revealed that participants of
DACA already were aware, and remain to feel aware, that there are constraints and restrictions
associated with the program. First and foremost, the reality is that it prevents deportation
although may not in any way guarantee permanent residency. Individuals each share their own
perspectives on the benefits and drawbacks of DACA, the opportunities it has afforded them, and
the threats they anticipate it may pose in the future. The researchers come to the conclusion that
the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, despite the fact that it does give
certain safeguards and rights, is still vulnerable to future presidential acts because of its
transitory character. DACA beneficiaries are thus placed in a precarious legal position as a result
of this, which does not alleviate their precarious situation. In addition, the fear of being unable
to continue receiving DACA benefits has a significant impact on their psychological and
emotional well-being. Reforming the relevant legislation is the one and only method to remove
DACA beneficiaries from their precarious legal situation. The group ultimately arrived at the
opinion that immigration reform is necessary right now. The study's notes along with any
comments acquired while conducting the interviews will serve as a representation of the
legislation. In spite of the fact that respondents were aware of the restrictions placed on them by
DACA, they were adamant in asserting their feelings of participation and their desire for a long-
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term solution. Danira stated, “I have a dream that one day, DACA will pave the way to
citizenship for all who qualify. Although I was not born in the United States, I came to live here
after I was eight months old. This place is where my life began. My birthplace is in the United
States of America, and I received all of my education here as well. Despite the fact that Mexico
is my home nation and that I am very pleased to be a Mexican, I am not familiar with Mexico.”
The fact that comments about President Trump that are unrelated to immigration and
taken out of context were included in the analysis is one of the study's shortcomings. In addition
to this, the immigrant-hostile reputation that has been attached to the government of Donald
Trump. Even though it has been reported that President Trump believed that the purpose of the
enactment of DACA was to sidestep Congress, this does not change the fact that DACA was put
into effect. However, since they were unable to implement immigration reform legislation that
would safeguard these youngsters, he did not feel indifferent toward the predicament of these
children, who are now young adults. President Trump was absolutely correct in his assessment
that it is the job of Congress to adopt legislation relating to immigration reform. It did not
represent his objective to terminate DACA all at once in a single swift motion. His plan called
for gradually winding down DACA benefits in the expectation that Congress would take some
action during this period of transition.
The possibility that DACA might be revoked without any new law or replacement
program in place is likely to instill a sense of dread and panic in the majority of individuals. In
my view, such sentiments would be generated and possibly intensified if the end of DACA was
presented in the politically biased manner that the majority of the mainstream media portrayed at
the time. This was the case at the time. It should not come as a surprise that the researchers who
are carrying out this study have a particular political bias. The fact that their views incorporate
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the following information, which contains some propaganda and is presented out of context,
demonstrates their bias. “Following the release of COVID-19 (Pierce and Bolter 2020), President
Trump took a number of immigration-related executive orders, including a travel ban for anyone
coming from mostly Muslim countries, restrictions on people seeking refuge, and most recently,
a total stop to immigration. An environment of uncertainty has been created for all illegal
immigrants now residing in the United States as a result of this fact, in addition to the nativist
and racist rhetoric of the administration, its policy of separating families, and workplace raids.
For recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, the
announcement that the program would be terminated brought into sharper focus the significance
of liminal legality, and more specifically undocumented status, as a key component of ongoing
social stratification. This has negative repercussions not only for DACA recipients but also for
the communities that DACA recipients call home.” Given the participants were solely shown this
skewed interpretation of President Trump's comments on DACA, then it is reasonable to
anticipate that their replies will also be skewed in the same direction. Because qualitative
analyses are inherently subjective and depend on the observer's perceptions and sense of
judgment, it is possible that the findings of qualitative research may be tainted if the observer
involved introduced a personal bias into the investigation.
The fact that they opted to carry out the polls in an anonymous manner is a second
mistake. Due to the fact that this information is unavailable, it is difficult to determine whether or
not anybody from the initial phase of questionnaires took part in the subsequent phase.
For qualitative research comparable to this one, I believe that establishing a control group in
order to learn how a person felt after getting granted DACA and how those sentiments changed
when it was stated that there was a possibility that DACA may be rescinded would be of the
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utmost importance at the very least. Despite the fact that the current research potentially had
certain limitations, it does not detract from the fact that the researchers came to the conclusion
that it is far beyond the point in time when the United States Congress should implement
legislation that permanently reforms immigration law in this particular field.
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