Hall Pass: DACA recipients’ experiences “passing” in higher education

ABSTRACT

Undocumented students face numerous hardships in their pursuit of higher education. Those who are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program experience some improved college access and tuition affordability, but many administrative and financial barriers continue to impede their educational pursuits. This qualitative work explores how DACA recipients attempt to circumvent those limitations by “Hall Passing.” The concept of “Hall Passing” combines the familiar concept to most attendees of U.S. schools of the hall pass (written, conditional, permission granted to students to be out of the locational bounds typically expected) and the concept of the act of “passing.” “Passing” is when some members of marginalized groups modify or conceal characteristics that identify them as the Other. The new concept of “Hall Passing” came out of the results of this study which found that DACAmented students at predominantly white institutions commonly rely on their government-issued documentation and presumptions about their race, speech accent, and background to create opportunities to circumvent restrictions (i.e., Hall Passes). Instances of Hall Passing are understood as acts of resistance to existing inequalities related to post-secondary education.

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the participants in this study for their willingness to share their experiences and knowledge with me. I take great honor in your trust.

Thank you to the anonymous reviewers who provided thoughtful feedback on earlier versions of the manuscript and the editors at Equity & Excellence in Education for their guidance during the review process.

A mi familia: Gracias por siempre creer en mi y brindarme tanto apoyo y paciencia

To Profe Olivas: Thank you for blazing the trails and reminding us to keep them clear for others to follow.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996

2. The Federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996

3. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act of 2001 and 2009, 2010, 2011, 2017

4. The birth countries/areas most represented in the undocumented population are Mexico (4.95 million), Central America (1.9 million), and Asia (1.45 million); Of the approximately 790,000 people enrolled in DACA, 79.4% were born in Mexico, 14.6% in Central or South America, and 3% in Asia (Krogstad, 2017).

5. A common term used by and in reference to DACA recipients

6. As of this work’s submission, the legal outcome of that case is still unknown.

7. This song uses the phrase to describe the conflict and entrapment undocumented Mexican immigrants feel from the limitations imposed by their immigration status.

8. The theory and different practices of Hall Passing will be capitalized while any mention of a physical hall pass or school staff (i.e., auxiliary monitor) will remain in lower case.

9. This work differentiates the passing of non-whites as white from the passing of whites as a minoritized racial group. The latter is cultural appropriation because the legacy of colonialism and imperialism objectifies marginalized communities and operates to benefit individuals, groups, and institutions the colonizer supports (Hall, 1997).

10. This article continues the scholarly tradition of Black Feminist Thought, Critical Race Theory, Chicana Feminist Epistemology, and similar decolonial perspectives that recognize the history and specific social condition of minoritized groups, which require their denotation as a proper noun (Crenshaw, 1988). White as a racial identifier is not capitalized for the same reason.

11. As per the Federalist Papers of 1787, the Dred Scott decision of 1857, the Naturalization Act of 1790 (Saito, 1997).

12. Latinxs, Asian American, and Pacific Islander Americans

13. Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070 required state law enforcement officers to determine a person’s immigration status when “reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States.”

14. Commonly, but not exclusively, the experiences of Chicana/o/x/ and Latina/o/x communities in the U.S.

15. U.S. citizen, U.S. Legal Permanent Resident, Refugee, Political Asylee, or International Student

16. Referring to another Latinx student known to the researcher but who was not part of the study

17. Bilal gesticulates the air quotes.

18. References the Ohio suburb where she was raised

19. Participants insisted on institutional support for all undocumented students, not only DACA recipients.

20. Amara’s statement about strategically omitting any mention of her personal life that would reveal her status

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Luis Fernando Macías

Luis Fernando Macías is an assistant professor in Chicano and Latin American Studies. He has a Ph.D. in Multicultural and Equity Studies. His scholarly work focuses on immigration, racialization, and post-secondary educational access for immigrants and other students of Color. His methodological focus includes longitudinal qualitative research, in-depth interviewing, and policy analysis. Previously, he was a Board of Immigration Appeals Accredited Representative and coordinated educational summer camps for immigrant and refugee youth.