This poster will provide an analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (here and on, Affordable Care Act) and its impact on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)-eligible immigrants.  This topic fits within the conference theme of “Power of the Past- Force for the Future” due to the historical and current numbers and contributions of immigrants (Kaushal & Fix, 2006), and the legislative discussions on providing services and access to this population (Cohn 2012).  In addition, the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act will soon roll out in its entirety (Healthcare.gov), thus providing access to healthcare to millions of Americans..

According to a recent article by the Kaiser Family Foundation, “Due to limited access to employer sponsored coverage and eligibility restrictions for Medicaid and CHIP, non-citizens are three times as likely to be uninsured compared with U.S.-born citizens and are less likely to obtain needed care or preventive services” (2013).  Therefore, this poster will examine programs that are filling the service gap created by the absence of health coverage for undocumented immigrants Such programs includethe Collective of Immigrant Resilience through Community Led Empowerment (CIRCLE) Project located in Los Angeles, California, which “creates spaces for immigrant youth to address and cope with the unique experiences of growing up undocumented and continuing to be undocumented” (CIRCLE Project website).

Lastly, this poster will highlight the discrepancy that exists for DACA-eligible immigrant youth, of being eligible to work, remain in the country, and attend school, but not being able to access affordable and preventative healthcare.  This poster will end by looking at potential detrimental implications of the exclusion of this population from the Affordable Care Act.