DACA

Government & Politics abbreviation · Public Program

DACA
Stands forDeferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
CategoriesGovernment & Politics

DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a public program abbreviation.

Policy begun in June 2012 that temporarily protects from deportation certain undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children and grants them renewable two-year work permits. It does not provide a path to permanent residence or citizenship.

Example: She renewed her DACA status months early to avoid a gap in her work permit.

Usage notes

To qualify, applicants had to have arrived before age 16 and lived continuously in the US since June 15, 2007. An attempt to end it in 2017 was blocked by the Supreme Court in 2020 on procedural grounds. Court rulings have since largely stopped new applications, and litigation over its legality has continued. Recipients are often called Dreamers.

More public program abbreviations

  • CDBG – Community Development Block Grant
  • CHIP – Children's Health Insurance Program
  • COLA – Cost-of-living adjustment
  • CPS – Child Protective Services
  • CSR – Cost-sharing reductions
  • CTC – Child Tax Credit
  • DV – Diversity Immigrant Visa
  • EAD – Employment Authorization Document
  • EB-5 – EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
  • EBT – Electronic Benefit Transfer
  • EIDL – Economic Injury Disaster Loan
  • EITC – Earned Income Tax Credit

See all 65 public program abbreviations →