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.

KEYWORDS:

• Undocumented students
• higher education
• legal vulnerability
• campus context
• academics
• DACA

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all participants for their time and willingness to participate in the study.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of California Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives [MRI-19-601090]; CSU Channel Islands Vice President for Student Affairs; CSU Fresno Kremen School of Education & Human Development; CSU Los Angeles College of Education; CSU Sacramento Center on Race, Immigration, and Social Justice; and San Francisco State University College of Science and Engineering.