The business accomplishments of DACA recipients are overlooked.
This is both a mistake and a missed opportunity. After all, DACA recipients offer compelling evidence that the American Dream is alive and well in 2024.
More importantly, DACA entrepreneurs are proof that when immigrants are given the chance to succeed in the United States, they rise to the occasion.
Today, we’re looking beyond the political echo chambers to see what DACA recipients and immigrant professionals have accomplished in recent years.
Then, after showcasing the rise of DACA-owned businesses, we will explore the ongoing challenges DACA recipients encounter.
Let’s get started.
Who are DACA Recipients?
No one asks to be born in a particular country. People are born in the United States every day; sometimes to parents who do not have legal residence here.
This raised a contentious question: should the children of undocumented immigrants be allowed to stay in America?
For decades, politicians proposed solutions to this ethical quandary. And yet, as remains all-too-common on Capitol Hill, only some agreements were ever made.
Then, in 2012, the question was finally answered by President Obama’s executive order,
the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
This landmark policy provided over 800,000 immigrant youths with three fundamental rights:
- Protection from immediate deportation.
- Access to education.
- The ability to work lawfully in the U.S.
While DACA recipients receive a Social Security Number (SSN) and a driver’s license, they are not given legal permanent residence or a pathway to citizenship.
Nevertheless, DACA recipients can renew their status every two years to continue enjoying the benefits of the 2012 initiative. Per ongoing legal disputes, new DACA applications are not being processed at this time.
The Rise of DACA Recipient-Owned Businesses
In the American myth, “class” is considered a relic of the past.
Therefore, hard work became the solution to change one’s station in life and reach the next rung on the economic ladder.
Indeed, the Protestant work ethic is deeply embedded in the American ethos, and it can be clearly seen in the DACA policy, too.
After all, DACA recipients are given a Social Security Number (SSN) for one overarching reason:
to work, to create economic growth, and yes, to pay taxes.
While work is great, creating work is even better—and that’s exactly what DACA recipients have embraced. In fact, according to the Center for American Progress, they have founded over 12,000 businesses of their own.
In total, nearly 10% of all DACA recipients have become entrepreneurs in the U.S. economy.
Impact of DACA Recipient Businesses
DACA recipients don’t have it easy.
For one thing, they are still not given a clear pathway to citizenship. Furthermore, they are expected to renew their status (and pay exorbitant fees) every two years to stay in America.
Despite these limitations, DACA recipients have become a true engine of the U.S. economy.
In fact, they currently own over 68,000 homes across the U.S. and pay over $6 billion in federal taxes every year.
Thanks to President Obama, DACA recipients were granted a lifeline, and they have not squandered their opportunity in the slightest.
Downstream of their growing financial power, DACA immigrant professionals are enriching America in many essential ways, including:
- Cultural diversity: they come from 195 different countries around the world. This unique family of immigrants enhances the multicultural tapestry of America, with travelers arriving from nations like Mexico, Ivory Coast, and South Korea.
- Artistic acclaim: as DACA recipients mature in their careers, they increasingly attract headlines for their success. This includes Hollywood actor Bambadjan Bamba, Princeton University classicist Dan-el Padilla Peralta, and writer Karla Cornejo Villavicencio.
- Community engagement: DACA recipient entrepreneurs display their diligence before fellow immigrants and citizens alike. DACA recipient Alejandro Flores-Muñoz embodies this mission, as his food truck and small business side hustles generate over $46,000 a year.
For people like Flores-Muñoz, however, it’s not just about the money: “I’ve always considered DACA an opportunity, but I also have realized that we can make our own pathways.” he says. By opening his own company, “I can not only make a living for myself, but continue to contribute to my community and showcase that we are here to stay and that we are contributing to the economy of this country.”
As you can see, DACA recipients are far more than their moniker suggests. More than “recipients,” they are innovators, trailblazers, and tenacious entrepreneurs.
As a collective, DACA recipients have eschewed the limits of being “strangers in a strange land.”
In the span of just a few short years, they have established businesses, built notable careers, and united communities across the USA.
Key Challenges Facing DACA Entrepreneurs
Despite their accomplishments, DACA immigrant professionals face many obstacles.
Chief among these challenges is the perpetual uncertainty of their legal status in the U.S.
Because DACA is not recognized as federal law, it could be rescinded at any time and lead to mass deportations practically overnight.
Some individuals are hastening this reality.
After a federal judge in the Southern District of Texas determined that DACA was “illegal,” new DACA applications are no longer being processed.
This bass note of anxiety sounds in the lives of all DACA recipients, no matter how many jobs they have created or how many times they have had their status renewed.
In addition to this, DACA entrepreneurs must overcome other barriers, including:
1. A Steep Learning Curve
Opening a small business is no small feat, as roughly 25% of new companies fail within their first year of operations.
Beyond access to their Social Security Number (SSN), DACA recipients are given very little support to launch their businesses.
They have no dedicated educational infrastructure, limited community groups, and reduced access to credit products. After all, many lenders won’t even consider working with DACA recipients because they’re not U.S. citizens.
At the same time, DACA entrepreneurs are expected to learn the ins and outs of U.S. tax law—a challenge unto itself.
According to Tobore Oweh, a design professional who came to the U.S. from Nigeria at age 7,
“There are all kinds of taxes I have to contribute to, being that I sell a product and buy wholesale. There are state taxes, federal taxes, sales taxes.”
While Oweh must honor these taxes (and contribute to Social Security and Medicare), she will not be able to to enjoy either benefit unless she becomes a citizen.
This reality is patently unfair.
Free resource: looking for better ways to finance your small business? Consider opening a business line of credit or accessing a merchant cash advance—two great options for immigrant professionals.
2. College Debt Burdens
The rising cost of college can be a dream-ender for entrepreneurs.
Indeed, the average DACA recipient graduates college with roughly $30,000 in debt—a sum that can take decades to repay.
This debt burden makes it especially difficult for DACA recipients to launch a small business, especially in the first few years after graduation.
If you’re currently in college and need additional loans at reasonable rates, you can check out Ascent Funding and MPOWER Financing, both of which offer custom, no-cosigner loan options for DACA recipients and immigrant professionals.
3. Stigmas and Biases
While protected from deportation, DACA recipients are not immune to discrimination.
At every level of business operations, DACA recipients must endure the doubts of their vendors, customers, strategic partners, and employees.
Indeed, the abusive rhetoric surrounding “undocumented” and “illegal” workers can easily pollute the lives of those who belong here as much as anyone else.
Nevertheless, DACA recipients must embrace the challenge of remaining dedicated to their small businesses without being distracted by the cultural discourse.
Free resource: if you encounter any discrimination as a DACA recipient, we encourage you to visit United We Dream.
This youth-led network is fully dedicated to protecting immigrants and offers the latest information on DACA both inside (and outside) the court system.
uLink: Your Bridge Back Home
Some days, it might seem like you’re stuck between two worlds.
Though you’re here in the U.S., you might feel like you’re strangely not fully here either.
This kind of cognitive dissonance is normal among DACA recipients.
We admire your ability to tolerate the uncertainty. More importantly, we hope that the legal system will give you a clear pathway to citizenship in the near future.
You deserve it.
Until then, uLink is dedicated to serving as your financial bridge to your loved ones in your home country.
With great exchange rates and fees starting as low as $0, you can send money to your loved ones with just a few taps on the uLink SuperApp.
You can send money for cash pickup at a location near your loved ones, to their e-wallet, or to their bank accounts. We even offer home delivery in certain countries. All in all, you’ll be rest assured that there are no hidden fees and state-of-the-art security.
Lear more about how you can support your loved ones back home with uLink.
