New Analysis Finds DACA-Eligible Individuals Fill Key Roles in Industries Across U.S. Economy, Including Healthcare, Food Service, Education, Construction, and Technology

NEW YORK, NY – As Congress and the White House continue to hash out the specifics of a deal for Dreamers, New American Economy (NAE) is highlighting the stories and contributions of the DACA-eligible population.

New analysis from NAE shows the important role immigrants eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program play in industries across the economy, in accordance with their education and skill levels. Top industries for all employed DACA-eligible individuals include: Restaurants and Other Food Services (155,525 total workers); Construction (84,323); Grocery Stores (24,027); Hospitals (17,611); Landscaping Services (16,758); and Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (16,133). Drilling down to specific roles, NAE’s analysis finds that the top occupations for all employed DACA-eligible individuals include: cashiers (54,038 total workers), waiters and waitresses (40,477), retail salespersons (31,391), construction laborers (27,022), and other critical labor roles.

College-educated DACA-eligible individuals play a particularly important role in many high-needs occupations in the U.S., including: accountants and auditors (4,129 total workers), registered nurses (3,404), postsecondary teachers (3,022), software developers (2,817), computer scientists and systems analysts (2,174), and other key occupations in education, technology, and design fields.

“DACA brings young talent out of the shadows and into the economic mainstream,” said John Feinblatt, President of New American Economy. “The proof is in the pudding – when we look at the data, we see hard-working Dreamers with a wide range of skills help power American businesses big and small.”

Full analysis of top industries and occupations of the DACA-eligible available here.

In addition to economic research on the DACA-eligible population, New American Economy has collected immigration stories from every single congressional district through iMarch.us. Today’s story comes from Julian, a DACA recipient and teacher living in Washington.

Today’s release is the tenth in our series on DACA-eligible immigrants’ contributions to the economy. Learn more about their income levels, tax contributions, payments into Social Security and Medicare, employment, entrepreneurship, voting potential, military contributions, and spending power. Check out all of our DACA-related research here, and find an immigration story from your congressional district by visiting www.MapTheImpact.org.