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Abstract
This study illustrates how national immigration policy relegates undocumented immigrant children to spaces of liminal citizenship, which shape their aspirations for higher education. Recognizing the power of migrant narratives, and the importance of privileging youths’ voices through children's geographies, we present the narratives of undocumented high school students from several rural North Carolina communities. Despite various barriers facing undocumented students, most have high academic aspirations. Students construct new forms of citizenship, legitimating their claims to higher education access through their achievement. Their liminal status, however, contributes to the formation of conflicted, “in-between” identities.
本研究描绘国家的移民政策如何将无证移民孩童贬低至阀限公民身分 (liminal citizenship) 的空间, 并形塑了他们对高等教育的热切渴望。我们认识到移民叙事的力量和透过孩童地理学让青少年发声的重要性, 呈现数个北卡罗莱纳乡村社区中无身分高中学生的叙事。尽管无身分的学生面临各类阻碍, 他们大多数仍渴望高等教育。学生们建构了新的公民身分形式, 透过他们的成就, 合理化要求获得高等教育的主张。他们的阀限身分, 却导致具有内在冲突的”中介”身分认同形构。
El presente estudio ilustra la manera como las políticas nacionales de inmigración relegan a los niños inmigrantes indocumentados a espacios de ciudadanía liminal, lo cual incide sobre sus aspiraciones de educación superior. Tomando en cuenta el poder de las narrativas de los migrantes y la importancia de las voces de jóvenes privilegiados a través de las geografías de los niños, presentamos las narrativas de estudiantes indocumentados de la escuela secundaria en varias comunidades rurales de Carolina del Norte. A pesar de los diferentes obstáculos que tienen que enfrentar los estudiantes indocumentados, la mayoría de ellos se distinguen por sus aspiraciones académicas altas. Los estudiantes construyen nuevas formas de ciudadanía, legitimando sus reclamos de acceso a la educación superior con base en el rendimiento. Su estatus liminal, sin embargo, contribuye a la formación de identidades en conflicto, o “de lo intermedio.”
Notes
We are grateful to the students and parents who shared their stories with us, as well as the school system that provided access to study participants. Special thanks are due to the ALIGNED principal investigators, Patricia Solís and Ines Miyares, for organizing this Focus section. This research was made possible due to generous support from the National Science Foundation Geography and Spatial Sciences Program (Award #0547725 and #1005927) and The University of Texas at Austin Harrington Faculty Fellows Program and the College of Liberal Arts (COLA). The Department of Geography at East Carolina University provided much-appreciated graduate student support. We wish to thank Marina Islas for her assistance with producing our map and Lindsey Carte and Joy Adams for providing insightful suggestions on an earlier version of this article. Any errors or omissions remain our sole responsibility.
In 1982, undocumented children were secured the right to a K–12 free public education through the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Plyer v. Doe, which struck down the state of Texas's ability to deny funding to schools educating undocumented students.
The Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies (2012) defines eastern North Carolina as thirty-one counties, which according to the U.S. Census Bureau are all “rural” with the exception of one.
These states include California, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Since this article went to press, in 2012 under President Obama, the federal government implemented a new initiative called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). This program is meant to prevent the deportation of certain undocumented youths. Currently youths aged 15 to 31 who arrived as children and are in school, have graduated from a U.S. high school, or served in the military with an honorable discharge are eligible to apply. The program allows them to obtain a social security number, effectively opening up the opportunity to work and obtain a driver's license. This initiative offers a step in the right direction to decriminalizing undocumented youth, however, it does not provide them with permanent legal status and is limited to two years at which time they must reapply. Thus, youth are left in a perpetual state of limbo (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 2012).