image by: Susan Ruggles

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The Health of DREAMers

In a recent defense of the now rescinded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Barack Obama remarked, “These Dreamers are Americans in their hearts, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper.” In 2009 President Obama used executive power to establish the DACA program, in an effort to protect an especially vulnerable sub-group of the undocumented population. Hundreds of thousands of undocumented children were able to come out of the shadows and work, go to school, and live their lives with a semblance of normalcy and peace.

DACA recipients, often called DREAMers (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors), present as high school valedictorians…

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Featured

 Daca has changed lives – and the country – for the better. It must be preserved

As the supreme court considers Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, our research shows multiple benefits for individuals, families and communities.

 Dreamers Are an Essential Part of our Nation’s Health Care

Immigrant health care workers are considered one of the solutions to address the nation’s current labor shortage in health care, which is most acute in disadvantaged areas, according to the Migration Policy Institute. By 2026, 2.4 million new health care jobs will further increase our nationwide shortage of health care workers.

 Dreamers like me fill critical gaps in mental health care. The Dream and Promise Act will let us keep doing that

Deporting Dreamers makes no sense, especially at a time when the U.S. population is aging and health care workers are needed. Dreamers like me are doers. We work hard and contribute economically.

 Ending DACA would be bad for America’s health

A key tenet of medicine is to do no harm. The rescission of DACA falls well short of this ethical imperative. Today there are approximately 27,000 doctors, nurses, dentists, physician assistants and other health-care workers whose DACA status allows them to work and contribute to patient care. The program also is enabling nearly 200 current medical students and medical residents to pursue careers in medicine.

 The Hidden Stress of Growing Up a Child of Immigrants

Though immigrants come from a variety of backgrounds, there are certain stressors that U.S.-born children of immigrants have in common.

Articles of Interest

DACA helped some immigrants finally get health care. Now they could lose it

Immigrants face some obstacles to health care even if they are legal residents — as the National Women’s Law Center notes, they are barred from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for the first five years of their legal status. DACA recipients are also barred from Medicaid and CHIP, and from buying insurance on the Obamacare exchanges.

How DACA Affects the Health of America’s Children

For many DACA recipients there is more at stake than a college degree or dream job: they are also parents to children born in America. The anxiety surrounding the family’s immigration status can be detrimental to the health and development of the U.S. citizen children.

The Health Of Dreamers

Migration inherently poses risks to the health of the immigrant. Research in migration health has found that when immigrants are forced to migrate back to their country of origin, it can have a negative impact on their health, not to mention the stressors on mental health that are attributed to the fear associated with deportation.