Leon County 5 · Is DACA good for America?

Where to read it

The readings for this task are not on this page. They belong to the people who assembled them, so we link to their packet rather than copy it out.

Open ACE Leon Transitions, Unit 9-A: Evidence-based Writing Practice and find Prompt #8. You are looking for:

Background: how DACA worked from June 2012, who was eligible, and the roughly 690,000 people enrolled when it was rescinded in September 2017
Against: Representatives Bob Goodlatte, Lamar Smith and Steve King; Karl Eschbach, PhD; David Benkoff, MA; Ronald W. Mortensen, PhD
For: the Center for American Progress; Benjamin Harris, MBA, an economist in the Obama administration; President Obama; Thiru Vignarajah, JD

It is a free PDF from Leon County Schools Adult & Community Education, in Tallahassee, Florida. Nothing to pay, no account, no sign-in.

If that link ever fails, search for the document by name: ACE Leon Transitions, Unit 9-A: Evidence-based Writing Practice.

Read the dates. This packet was assembled some years ago, and DACA has been in and out of the courts since. The passages describe the policy as it stood then. For this task that is fine — you are judging how the two sides argue, not reporting the current state of the law — but do not carry the packet’s dates out of the room as today’s facts.

The task, in the packet’s words

Is DACA good for America?

There are arguments on both sides of the debate about “Dreamers” and whether or not to support DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.) Read the background information about “Dreamers,” then read the arguments arguing for and against the claim that DACA is good for America. Analyze both positions to determine which one is best supported. In your response, use specific evidence from the article to support your claim. Take approximately 45 minutes to respond.

You are not being asked which side you agree with, and you will not be scored on which one you choose. You are being asked to judge the arguing.

Before you start the clock

Open the packet, find your prompt, and read the passages once through without stopping. Then start the clock here and write. Read there; write in the box below, which saves under your code as you type, so you can move between the two windows without losing anything.

When you are finished, read your draft against the three traits on How the essay is scored.

Your 45 minutes

45:00 The clock keeps counting past zero, so you can see what it cost you.

☞ This packet was made by adult educators, not by the test maker, so read the prompt carefully — it is close to the GED’s wording but not always identical. The nine that use the test’s exact wording are on More practice; our own five, with the teaching folded in, are on the essay page.