Life in the Shadows: Texas Latino/a DREAMers

• In Event: Undocumented but Undaunted: The Political and Social Landscape of Latina/o DREAMers

Abstract

Objectives or purposes:
This paper discusses the vivencias or lived experiences of undocumented Latino/a students by describing the barriers that result from the intersections of the students’ Latino/a and undocumented identities as well as their resilience. The authors address the implications of a charged anti-immigrant climate in which Latino/a students are subject to suspicion and persecution because they are seen as criminal illegal aliens. The authors focus on the impacts this climate has on the desires, opportunities, experiences, expectations, and educational outcomes of college-aged undocumented Latino/a youth.

Perspective(s) or theoretical framework:
This research builds on existing scholarship that examines legal status as a structural barrier to the educational aspirations of undocumented students (Abrego, 2006; Gonzáles, 2010) and contributes an analysis of the cultural dimensions of illegality as they impinge upon the educational desires and outcomes of Latino/a undocumented students. The authors use Leo Chavez’s (1998) metaphor of shadowed lives and Sofia Villenas’ (2007) emphasis on diaspora to theorize the lives of Latino/a undocumented college youth. The authors also follow Padilla’s (2007) model to understand the Latino/a educational pipeline.

Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry:
The researchers (a graduate student and college professor) used action and activist interpretations of anthropological and educational research in the design of the study. The research questions were formulated in collaboration with the DREAM Act Coalition of Texas who contacted the researchers to conduct a study to support the grassroots aims of the organization, particularly the dissemination of relevant information to undocumented youth.

Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials:
The data presented is part of an ongoing applied ethnographic study drawing on surveys, interviews, and observations of undocumented Latino/a students. Participants were recruited from peer-networking sites; snowballed from LULAC councils; Latino-Greek-lettered fraternities and sororities; other undocumented students; and faculty and staff at community colleges and universities. Surveys were distributed using Survey Monkey, and interviews were scheduled at the participants’ convenience. Observations were conducted at DREAM Act-related events in Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Washington, DC.

Results and/or substantiated conclusions or warrants for arguments/point of view:
Because policies about immigrant education can restrict or create educational access for undocumented students, Abrego (2006) argues that undocumented youth actually have a “quasi-legal status.” In this contradictory context, undocumented students build community, engage transnational networks, and change the cultural landscape as they are conscripted by (and challenge) dominant narratives of assimilation and legality.

Scientific or scholarly significance of the study or work:
In a context of laws that challenge students’ access to education and legalization, multicultural pedagogies and diversity initiatives tailored toward Latinos/as must also include practices that are aware of the challenges experienced by undocumented students. Our findings and their implications lead to a call for educational researchers to put their research to work by engaging activist forms of scholarship. Collaboration between youth, researchers, educational institutions, community organizations, and policy makers can enable “border crossings” into educational possibilities by providing “oxygen” to undocumented students in the form of cultural bridges, opportunities, and hope (Fine et. al. 2007).

Authors

• Shaun Chapa, University of North Texas

• Mariela Nunez-Janes, University of North Texas