Using resilience theory to examine undocumented students’ “know your rights” family communication.

Abstract

Objectives: Prior research has found that to keep their family safe, some undocumented immigrants in the United States engage in "Know Your Rights" family communication-talking to family about their rights, should they be approached by the police or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Although "Know Your Rights" family communication plays a functional role, this study used resilience theory to examine when such communication can be a promotive factor and a risk factor. Method: To test the hypotheses, we utilized three waves of survey data, with 1-month intervals, from 366 U.S. undocumented college students primarily from Latin America (76% cisgender women; M age = 22 years, SD = 4.26). Path analysis was employed. Results: We found that "Know Your Rights" family communication at Wave 1 was positively associated with: (a) greater knowledge of how to respond if approached by police or ICE and (b) greater knowledge of how to help their family if detained 1 month later (Wave 2). Through both types of knowledge taken together, "Know Your Rights" family communication was indirectly associated with higher levels of felt safety 2 months later (Wave 3). Nevertheless, through knowledge of how to help family, "Know Your Rights" family communication was also indirectly associated with higher levels of anxiety 2 months later (Wave 3). Conclusion: Given the distribution of "Know Your Rights" information on college campuses, our findings can provide evidence for the utility of such messages, while also potentially identifying when it is associated with higher levels of anxiety. Public Significance StatementMany U.S. college campuses, community organizations, and social media users have offered "Know Your Rights" workshops or distributed "Know Your Rights" red cards to inform undocumented immigrants of their rights, should they be approached by the police or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The study results revealed that family discussions about such rights are related to greater undocumented students' knowledge of how to keep themselves and their family safe, and over time, such communication can be associated with greater feelings of safety. Nevertheless, family discussions of their rights, should they be approached by the police or ICE, can also be associated with higher levels of anxiety over time.