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<p>The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, initiated by the Obama administration in 2012 as a humanitarian response, has evolved into a site of legal and emotional precarity for its recipients. Using a qualitative document analysis approach complemented by thematic analysis, the paper draws on government memoranda, legal case summaries, and peer-reviewed literature. These sources examine DACA and its legal trajectory, including mental health implications for its recipients, from its inception in 2012 through 2025. Guided by the legal violence framework and the uncertainty stress framework, the overall analysis critically evaluates DACA’s policy design, underlying assumptions, and implications for the mental health of its recipients. The analysis identifies two core domains: the evolution of DACA as a mechanism of legal violence and the policy-induced mental health tolls that its recipients experience. The paper concludes by emphasizing mental health support initiatives as a short-term need and reforming policy to ensure legal stability and safeguard its recipients from future paralysis as a long-term solution. Findings are important guidelines for federal, state, and local-level policymakers, including social workers and psychologists. Clinical trial number: not applicable.</p>

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Living in Limbo: The Impact of DACA’s Uncertainty on Mental Well-Being and Policy Pathways

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月28日

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  • Kazi Abusaleh

摘要

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, initiated by the Obama administration in 2012 as a humanitarian response, has evolved into a site of legal and emotional precarity for its recipients. Using a qualitative document analysis approach complemented by thematic analysis, the paper draws on government memoranda, legal case summaries, and peer-reviewed literature. These sources examine DACA and its legal trajectory, including mental health implications for its recipients, from its inception in 2012 through 2025. Guided by the legal violence framework and the uncertainty stress framework, the overall analysis critically evaluates DACA’s policy design, underlying assumptions, and implications for the mental health of its recipients. The analysis identifies two core domains: the evolution of DACA as a mechanism of legal violence and the policy-induced mental health tolls that its recipients experience. The paper concludes by emphasizing mental health support initiatives as a short-term need and reforming policy to ensure legal stability and safeguard its recipients from future paralysis as a long-term solution. Findings are important guidelines for federal, state, and local-level policymakers, including social workers and psychologists. Clinical trial number: not applicable.