Toward a Nuanced and Contextualized Understanding of Undocumented College Students: Lessons from a California Survey

Abstract

Prior research has established that undocumented immigrant experiences are dynamic, reflecting the complex web of immigration-related policies that create legal vulnerability. As such, undocumented college students' experiences must be situated in their current policy context. Drawing on descriptive analyses of a survey of 1,277 undocumented 4-year college students in California, we examine how undocumented students are faring in a relatively inclusive policy context. Results demonstrate the heterogeneity of undocumented student experiences and unpack the challenges they confront while also demonstrating the ways they thrive. We document how respondents are performing across a variety of academic, well-being, and civic and political engagement outcomes. We also show that undocumented students' perceptions of legal vulnerability are complex and varied, taking into account family-level legal vulnerability and individual protections. Further, students perceive campuses as fairly welcoming spaces, with some differences arising across the two university systems. Ultimately, we argue that undocumented college students' experiences merit more nuanced and contextualized analysis.

Mental health help-seeking among Latina/o/x undocumented college students.

“…These results may reflect the importance of having a positive attitude toward seeking formal support in general, as has been found in other studies of mental health service use among young people (Gulliver et al, 2010). It is also possible that students who access general student services on campus may have a greater capacity to seek help for their concerns overall, more extensive social networks, and/or more awareness of university services that could benefit them (e.g., Sarabia et al, 2021). Further, undocumented student services foster feelings of belonging and safety among undocumented students (Cisneros & Valdivia, 2020;Enriquez et al, 2019), possibly facilitating their comfort with accessing on-campus mental health services and/or supporting their attempts to acquire services.…”

“…In recent years, due in large part to the advocacy of undocumented students, many college campuses have seen growing numbers of student organizations and centers as well as undocumented student services aimed at enhancing these students’ academic and professional success (Cisneros et al, 2022). Research in turn shows that, where undocumented student services are available, undocumented students report that they utilize them at high rates (Enriquez et al, 2021). However, while it is clear from a socio-ecological perspective that welcoming, “undocufriendly” campus climates and access to support services on campus can serve to alleviate undocumented students’ status-related concerns (Cadenas et al, 2022; Suárez-Orozco et al, 2015), it remains unclear how undocumented students’ use of campus-based services relate to decisions to seek professional mental health services.…”

COVID on Campus: Assessing the Impact of the Pandemic on Undocumented College Students

“…Differences may emerge because UC campuses host a much larger number of on-campus residential students and offer more support services, thus inflicting a greater burden on UC undocumented students who were forced to relocate to their permanent homes and cut off from campus support. Indeed, UC undocumented students report using more campus resources than their CSU peers (Enriquez et al, 2020). Additional research is needed to further examine what campus factors are driving such variation.…”

The Educational Trajectories of Latinx Undocumented Students: Illegality and Threats to Emotional Well-Being

“…Namely, undocumented college students in California qualify for in-state tuition via AB 540, which also allows undocumented students to receive need-based financial aid packages (Cebulko 2014; Cisneros and Valdivia 2020; Peña 2021). The California Dream Act provides undocumented students with access to institutional, private and state funded financial aid at public and private universities, and the California Dream Loan program allows students to receive up to $20,000 in loans (Enriquez et al 2021b). Notably, the implementation of DACA did encourage some states such as Massachusetts to offer in-state tuition to DACA-benefited undocumented students, albeit without offering the same provisions to undocumented students who did not qualify for DACA (Cebulko 2014).…”