I was drawn to apply for a faculty position in the School of Educational Studies (SES) because of its vision of social justice and accountability. CGU seemed like the ideal place to establish a research program focusing on immigrant students. The opportunity to contribute to SES’s vision came to me in the fall of 2006.
Through volunteer work I did conducting workshops to inform low-income students about financial aid resources for college, I learned about the plight of the nearly 3.4 million undocumented youths under the age of 24 that face limited prospects due to their legal status. Many of these students attended my workshops and inquired if they were eligible for financial aid, only to learn they were not. Initially, I turned to research literature on the topic, but found virtually none. I saw this as an opportunity to inform immigration and educational policy discussions. With that goal in mind, I invited three of my CGU students – Richard Cortes, Heidi Coronado, and Karina Ramos – to work on a research study examining the educational experiences of these undocumented students.
Brought to the United States as minors – many before they had reached schooling age – undocumented students account for about one-sixth of the total undocumented population in America, now numbering 12 million. Without legal status (through no fault of their own), these 65,000 undocumented high school graduates every year face limited prospects for continuing on to higher education, working legally, or becoming full-fledged members of American society – and yet America is the only country they know and, for many, English is the only language they speak. Among those prevented from pursuing higher education are valedictorians, honor students, award winners, class presidents, and other student leaders.
Although Plyer v. Doe established a national guarantee of basic education to all students regardless of immigration status, there is no guarantee whatsoever for those seeking the next level of educational opportunity. As a result, despite the extensive public investment to make these students “college eligible,” they are unable to pursue higher education due to their lack of legal status, current federal law, and limited financial resources. As a result of the federal government’s inability to implement legislation to address the educational limbo of college-going undocumented students, 11 states, including California, Texas, New York, Illinois, Washington, and New Mexico among others, have taken it upon themselves to enact legislation to facilitate their access to higher education by allowing undocumented students who graduate from state high schools to be eligible to pay in-state tuition to attend state public institutions of higher education. Texas and New Mexico have even gone a step further by allowing undocumented students to be eligible for state grants to pay for college costs. Despite these efforts, however, higher education remains out of reach for many undocumented students who come from low-income families where even saving up $500 for college tuition is an extreme hardship.
To better understand the myriad of challenges undocumented students face, my research team and I spent a year collecting survey and interview data from undocumented students across the United States. Among the most significant findings, we discovered that as a group, college-eligible undocumented students demonstrate academic achievement, leadership participation, and civic engagement patterns that are often above that of their US-citizen counterparts. Over 90 percent reported volunteer and community service participation and 95 percent had participated in extracurricular activities. In those activities, 78 percent held a leadership position such as club president, editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, or captain of a sports team. We also found that undocumented students exhibit various aspects of psychological resilience, perseverance, and optimism. For example, 37 percent had been identified as gifted. In addition, while students had various responsibilities at home – such as taking care of younger siblings – worked an average of 13 hours per week during high school, 30 hours per week during college, participated in extracurricular and volunteer activities at very high levels, they still earned high academic marks in college preparatory courses. Yet, despite public investment in their education, high levels of achievement, community service, leadership experience, and a sense of commitment to American society, they are still not legal citizens, not considered American, and thus are not eligible for any type of assistance to attend college even though over 90 percent of the students we surveyed aspire to attain a master’s degree or higher. If these qualifications do not warrant official recognition of their “Americanness,” then what does?
For the past three years I have used research findings to inform current immigration policy discussions, such as the bill currently in Congress known as the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act, if passed, would provide a path to legalization to undocumented students who have lived in the United States for more than five years and have graduated from an American high school. I recently finished a book, We Are Americans (see sidebar), that provides a summary of the social-science research that documents the economic and social contributions of the undocumented population. It also includes the inspiring stories of 16 students – from high school seniors to graduate students – who despite financial hardship, the unpredictability of living with the daily threat of deportation, numerous restrictions, and often in the face of discrimination by their teachers – are not just persisting in the American educational system, but achieving academically, and moreover, often participating in service to their local communities. The book reveals what drives these young people, and the visions they have for contributing to the country they call home.
Through these stories, the book draws attention to these students’ predicament, to stimulate the debate about putting right a wrong not of their making, and to motivate more people to call for the passage of the stalled DREAM
Act, which would offer undocumented students who participate in the economy and civil life a path to citizenship. This research goes beyond discussing the social and policy dimensions of immigration reform. This research also dispels myths about illegal immigrants’ supposed drain on state and federal resources, providing authoritative evidence to the contrary. I also make the case – on economic, social, constitutional, and moral grounds – for more flexible policies towards undocumented immigrants.
I have presented my research on undocumented immigrants at various national and international research conferences, including the Association for the Study of Higher Education Conference, the American Educational Research Conference, the Society for Research on Child Development, the Thomas Rivera Policy Institute Education Conference, and the Society for Research on Adolescence Conference. I have also been invited to lecture at various institutions of higher education including Harvard University; Stanford University; Brown University; the University of California, Los Angeles; Pomona College; and Pitzer College. I have been quoted as an academic expert on undocumented students in various newspapers and broadcast media outlets.
In an effort to have an immediate impact on educational practices that affect undocumented students, I have also presented this work to various community colleges and universities that serve undocumented students. In the spring of 2008, my research team and I were invited by Cuesta Community College in San Luis Obispo, California to lead a half-day, school-wide symposium entitled, “Opening the Doors to Undocumented Immigrant Students.” We not only presented our research findings, but also provided concrete recommendations on how the school could support their undocumented student population. We organized several small group discussions where individuals developed a plan and made a commitment to implement these various plans to support undocumented students. In addition to school personnel, students, and community members, state-elected local officials were also present. At the conclusion of the symposium, we gave a press conference to both English and Spanish language media outlets.
Based on findings from my research, I argue that the civic and academic dedication of undocumented students warrants at the very least official government recognition. Going a step further, the federal government can even support and encourage this type of civic commitment by rewarding such model behavior with legislation that provides a path to legalization. Over the last decade, citizenship policy and how it relates to the integration of immigrants in host societies has emerged as an increasingly important topic of concern for public-policy makers, scholars, the media, and immigrant communities. Citizenship matters have become a major source of political controversy in debates ranging from welfare rights and naturalization rules to multiculturalism and plural nationality. The increase of scholarly literature on citizenship and immigrant integration that has been emanating from the academy in recent years suggests that a widespread re-evaluation of citizenship questions has already begun.
In the past several decades, the United States, Western European countries, and other nations have gradually extended a growing menu of rights and benefits traditionally associated with formal citizenship and nationality to different groups of non-nationals, in particular to long-term, foreign residents. Given the educational, social, and economic investment American society has placed on undocumented students as a result of the Plyer decision, I argue that ultimately it is in the best interest of the United States to get a return on that investment by legalizing students and providing full citizenship privileges rather than keeping them marginalized, limiting their social and economic contributions. My recommendation echoes the arguments made by the Supreme Court 27 years ago in the case of Plyer v. Doe: it is in the compelling interest of the United States to provide higher education access and formal citizenship to talented undocumented students.
