“I Don’t Belong Anymore”: Undocumented Latino Immigrants Encounter Social Services in the United States

Abstract

As undocumented Latino immigrants transition into adulthood, they also transition into illegality. They move from a somewhat protected status under which they had access to education and other social benefits, to the more vulnerable category of undocumented adults without access to social rights. How undocumented immigrants' interactions with social services contribute to the formation of their ethnic identity and feelings of belonging to the United States is the focus of this research. Drawing on qualitative interview data from undocumented adults who grew up in the United States, this article shows that as undocumented children transition into adulthood, they face a new system that forces them to learn how to become an immigrant if they want to remain part of American society.

How Contact Experiences Shape Welcoming: Perspectives from U.S.-Born and Immigrant Groups

“…Recent studies have increasingly shifted attention toward interactions occurring within institutions, emphasizing the importance of feeling welcomed and included in institutional contexts (Gast and Okamoto 2016; Huang and Liu 2017; Mallet, Calvo, and Waters 2017; Williams 2015). Such studies suggest that welcoming attitudes can bolster immigrants’ incorporation outcomes both symbolically and materially.…”

Immigration, Deportation, and Discrimination: Hispanic Political Opinion Since the Election of Donald Trump

“…Based on such research, it is thought that Spanish speakers are less likely to use the health care system than are English speakers (Weinick, Jacobs, Stone, Ortega, & Burstin, 2004) and that higher generational groups are more likely to use the health care system than are groups of first-or second-generation immigrants (Balcazar, Grineski, & Collins, 2015). Research also suggests that the fear of deportation is behind the hesitation that many immigrants have of using social services such as health care (Mallet, Calvo, &Waters, 2017). In addition, it is thought that undocumented immigrants are less likely to report crimes due to previous negative experiences with their homeland's justice system as well as previous negative experiences with U.S. immigration officers (Menjívar & Bejarano, 2004).…”

Welcoming, Trust, and Civic Engagement: Immigrant Integration in Metropolitan America

“…Although local policies and institutional actors can affect immigrants’ access to needed services, emerging research has also focused on the everyday interpersonal interactions that occur within institutions (Castañeda 2018; Gast and Okamoto 2016; Mallet, Calvo, and Waters 2017; Williamson 2018). Relations and interactions between individuals within local institutions and across daily encounters influence the extent to which immigrants feel like they are part of the host society (see Calvo, Jablonska-Bayro, and Waters 2017; Fussell 2014; Gast and Okamoto 2016; Jones-Correa et al 2018; Tropp et al 2018).…”