‘I’ll be risking myself just to get an education’: how local-level immigration enforcement impacts undocumented students’ pathways to college

ABSTRACT

This article examines how local-level immigration enforcement practices shape undocumented students’ educational experiences and trajectories. Drawing on 71 in-depth interviews with immigrant young adults who grew up undocumented and attended a public high school in San Diego County, this article illustrates the increasing number of places that have become associated with immigration enforcement and subsequently deemed unsafe for undocumented students and their families. We find that this hostile landscape of enforcement powerfully shapes students’ trajectories, including the range of colleges that they apply to. More specifically, young adults often limited their college applications to only include schools located within San Diego County to avoid crossing federal immigration checkpoints and to be close to their parents’ home in the event of an arrest/deportation.

KEYWORDS:

• Immigrant young adults
• undocumented students
• U.S. immigration enforcement
• immigration federalism
• college application process

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank those who participated in these projects for their time, trust, and support. We are also grateful to those who played a critical role in the development of both projects, including the UndocuResearch Project team and Students Without Limits.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 For a summary of the border patrol stations located along the U.S.-Mexico border, see: ‘Border Stations’ (https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/along-us-borders/border-patrol-sectors).

2 Notably, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, community members reported that immigration officers were operating the fixed immigration checkpoint near Temecula more frequently. In a video recording shared by the Southern Border Communities Coalition, an immigration officer describes taking advantage of the reduced traffic in the area due to the pandemic to stop and question individuals more regularly. The full report and video can be viewed at: https://www.southernborder.org/wall_construction_troops_and_checkpoints_show_complete_disregard_for_public_health?fbclid=IwAR3HNTuvWiEp3DUfzq_fwkwE3CDI0jjtOiJOudS5xK7J2YIi-C47UNc4zls.

3 In this article, we distinguish between participants who were entirely undocumented at the time of the interview and those who had access to the Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA provides eligible undocumented youth with access to a temporary work permit and relief from deportation. Moreover, although the focus of our analysis in this paper is on those who grew up undocumented, we found similar patterns among U.S.-born citizens whose parents are undocumented.

4 Driver’s licenses under AB 60 are marked with red writing that states: ‘FEDERAL LIMITS APPLY’ in the top right-hand corner. Some participants and their families were concerned that this marking could prompt a police officer to ask questions about their immigration status.

5 The official name of this Sub Station is Theodore L. Newton, Jr. and George F. Azrak Border Patrol Station in Murrieta, CA. Participants referred to this location as the ‘Temecula checkpoint’ because of its proximity to the city of Temecula, CA.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Ford Foundation; North County Higher Education Alliance; American College Testing Corporate Awards Giving Program; Latino Center for Leadership Development; UndocuScholars project at UCLA; Society for the Study of Social Problems; Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University; Center for U.S. Mexican Studies University of California San Diego; Sociological Initiatives Foundation.