Luz Chavez, a junior at Trinity Washington University, became her family’s only source of income after her mother lost her service job last month because of the coronavirus. A triple major in education, sociology and political science, Chavez works as a youth leader at United We Dream, an organization that advocates for immigrant rights. She’s also a part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, an Obama-era policy that protects immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. It’s what allows students like Chavez to work in the country.
“It’s been very overwhelming to say the least how much this pandemic has affected my mental health, how much it’s affected my personal family,” she said. “And struggling with all that knowing the Supreme Court can rule on DACA, it’s really nerve-wracking.”
DACA students like Chavez have been in limbo for months, as the U.S. Supreme Court continues to deliberate on whether to uphold the Trump administration’s 2017 decision to end the DACA program. Now, amidst the coronavirus crisis, both DACA and undocumented students face even more questions about their future.
In many ways, the coronavirus is “exacerbating societal disparities and inequities and creating a new level of vulnerability for marginalized communities,” said co-director for the Institute for Immigration, Globalization and Education at the University of California, Los Angeles, Dr. Robert Teranishi, in an email to Diverse. “For undocumented students – a population with high levels of stress and anxiety – there is an even greater level of uncertainty about themselves and their families.”
That uncertainty is only heightened by the fact that DACA and undocumented students’ households have less access to government aid, Teranishi added. Many of their families can’t take full advantage of the key supports offered in the CARES Act, the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill passed by Congress in March. The stimulus bill promises up to $1,200 in cash to taxpayers, but immigrant workers without social security numbers aren’t eligible. So, mixed-status families that file together can’t benefit, including U.S.-born citizens with undocumented parents, Teranishi said.
Meanwhile, some states, like California, allow DACA recipients to file for unemployment. But others do not, a challenge at a time when many are losing their jobs. In general, the coronavirus has disproportionately shuttered the kinds of employment students rely on to pay their way through school, like service and on-campus jobs.
A 2017 Migration Policy Institute study found that almost a quarter of DACA recipients work in food services, accommodations, recreation, and the arts and entertainment, and another 14% work in retail — all industries suffering during the current crisis.
