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Experiences of Undocumented Students in Schools and at University Wisdom in Education Volume 9 Issue 1 Article 4 11-1-2018 Experiences of undocumented students in schools and at university Gloria Cortez California State University San Bernardino, [email protected] John M. Winslade California State University - San Bernardino, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/wie Part of the Accessibility Commons, Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Higher Education Commons, Humane Education Commons, International and Comparative Education Commons, Language and Literacy Education Commons, Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons, Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education Commons, and the Student Counseling and Personnel Services Commons Recommended Citation Cortez, Gloria and Winslade, John M. (2018) "Experiences of undocumented students in schools and at university," Wisdom in Education: Vol. 9 : Iss. 1 , Article 4. Available at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/wie/vol9/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by CSUSB ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Wisdom in Education by an authorized editor of CSUSB ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Experiences of undocumented students in schools and at university Abstract The aim of this article is to document the experiences of undocumented students. Regardless of where a person stands on the immigration issue, he or she still needs to listen to these voices in order to treat people with the dignity they deserve as human beings. This article was inspired by two things. One was a speech given by a former undocumented student at a social justice summit. The other was a literature review by the first author in a paper for her Masters degree in counseling. This literature review formed much of the basis for this article. It captured many of the experiences of undocumented students and these are important for school counselors to learn about. Keywords undocumented students, school experience, university experience Author Statement Gloria Cortez is a student in the Masters program in Guidance and Counseling at CSUSB. Dr John Winslade is an emeritus professor in this program. Cover Page Footnote n/a This article is available in Wisdom in Education: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/wie/vol9/iss1/4 Cortez and Winslade: Undocumented students Experiences of undocumented students in schools and at university The purpose of this article is to document acronym for the Development, Relief, and some of the experiences of undocumented Education for Alien Minors Act. This is a students at in schools and at university. It was piece of congressional legislation that has inspired by a speech given by Estefania taken various forms but has never been Esparza Loera, a former undocumented passed into federal law by Congress. student, at the Social Justice Summit at According to the Pew Center, there are California State University San Bernardino on estimated to be 11.5 million undocumented February 17, 2018. It was stimulated further immigrants in the United States (Jimenez- by comments from a literature review Arista & Koro-Ljungberg, 2017), 40% more completed by a trainee school counselor, than at the millennium, although numbers Gloria Cortez, whose interest lay in how, as have declined since 2007. There are an educational professional, she could be of estimated to be 65,000 immigrant children in use to undocumented students. Her hope was the U.S. each year who graduate from U.S. to understand undocumented Latino students’ high schools and would be DREAM-eligible unique challenges and their coping strategies (Morales, Herrera & Murry, 2011; Jimenez- in order to create awareness and advocacy for Arista & Koro-Ljungberg, 2017). However, this group of students. Gonzalez (2011) Jimenez-Arista & Koro-Ljungberg estimate points out that educators play a critical role in that only 5% to 10% of these students shaping the lives of these individuals and in “matriculate into college” (p. 2) and fewer still helping them to understand their worth as actually graduate. As a result, “25 percent of citizens in society. In the face of adversity undocumented immigrants between the ages these students deserve to be acknowledged of 25 and 64 have either attended college or for persevering and continuing to pursue their received a postsecondary education degree, educational goals. As Gloria Cortez, the compared to 53 percent of documented trainee school counselor, says, immigrants and 62 percent of individuals born “Undocumented students matter and their in the United States” (Nienhusser, Vega, & contributions to our society are many.” For Carquin, 2015, p. 31). such reasons, addressing this topic is essential, The scenario varies in different states of because some undocumented students do not the U.S., however. In California, Governor talk about their experience, nor do they know Jerry Brown signed into law in 2011 two how to cope with their unique struggles. Her pieces of legislation that together are known hope is to build a trusting relationship with as the California Dream Act. This legislation undocumented students so that she can better provides for the payment of state-funded aid serve them. Although it is a mistake to and scholarships at state universities for assume that experiences of all undocumented undocumented students. This provision students are uniform, it is our hope that added to his earlier signing into law a similar understanding some persistent themes in provision for private scholarships. Some these students’ lives helps build compassion other states have pursued a similar pathway to for their situation. But first, it is necessary to California. According to an article in put Gloria Cortez’s literature review in Education Week, “The law requires that context. undocumented students meet the same requirements as other students applying for Legislative context financial aid at state universities but specifies One piece of this context it is necessary to that they only qualify for financial aid after all understand is the so-called “Dream Act”, an other legal residents have applied” (Education Published by CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2019 1 Wisdom in Education, Vol. 9 [2019], Iss. 1, Art. 4 Week, 2011, p. 4). Thangasamy and Horan length with her family before she decides to (2016) list eighteen US states that have go ahead. For another student this fear of allowed undocumented students to pay trusting others with his undocumented status university tuition at the same rate as instate leads him to be cautious because, “the other students instead of requiring them to pay out person now will have incredible power over of state tuition rates. him and possibly his family” (p. 77). The In addition to the Dream Act, there is the same student survived financially by tutoring Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals other students but the fear of being arrested (DACA) initiative, an action established in and having his car impounded is present in August 2012 by presidential decree rather the back of his mind each time he drives than an Act of Congress (Homeland Security, anywhere. Another student cited by 2015). DACA did not offer legal immigration Hernandez et al. also mentions her status, but it did offer temporary work guardedness. She allows other students to permits and relief from the threat of think that she is an international student and deportation. As a result, students who qualify carefully avoids romantic relationships. are sometimes referred to as DACAmented Gonzales and Chavez (2012) also indicate (Nienhusser, Vega, & Carquin, 2015). As that undocumented students’ status of being Jimenez-Arista & Koro-Ljungberg (2017) “illegal” creates internalized fears, note, undocumented students face a series of hopelessness, and immobilization. They obstacles throughout their education but collected survey data from 805 youth Latinos especially after they complete high school. and 396 non-Latino Whites living in Orange They list these obstacles as “difficulties in County. Additionally, they conducted driving, getting forms of identification, interviews with undocumented youth from opening bank accounts, applying for jobs, and the so-called 1.5-generation (referring to interacting with the police” (p. 2). individuals who immigrated to the United Research by Nienhusser, Vega, and States at an early age and therefore most of Carquin (2015) also illustrates the difficulty their schooling, cultural, and social undocumented students face even getting into development occurred in this country). The college. They showed how students received researchers’ in-depth interviews indicated that variable help from school and college adolescence for undocumented students is a counselors. Some were encouraging, period of great stress and anxiety. knowledgeable and helpful, while others were Abrego (2006) conducted an ethnographic actively discouraging, not very knowledgeable study in which he explored the experiences of and unhelpful. 24 documented and undocumented Latino students in Los Angeles. Participants ranged Discursive themes from 15 to 22 years old and were currently Research into the discourse of DREAM- attending or had attended high school. eligible students has shown several consistent Abrego (2006) explains that both documented themes. One understandable common theme and undocumented Latino students are is that of caution and fear. Hernandez, exposed to similar environments during high Hernandez, Gadson, Huftalin, Ortiz,
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