Educating the "Illegal": Undocumented Community College Students, Low-Wage Work, and the Price of Learning

• In Event: Institutional Navigations: Undocumented Students Traverse Terrains of Family, Work, and Geographies of Place

Abstract

Despite increased attention to the plight of undocumented students seeking post-secondary education, the majority of this research focuses on undocumented students in the 4-year-college system. However, 44% of undergraduate students in the United States are enrolled in the community college system (Aspen Institute, 2015) and particularly because undocumented students cannot access federal education funding, it is believed that a significant amount of undocumented students pursuing higher education are enrolled in community college (Biswas, 2005). Little is known about this population – marginalized by institutional type and immigration status – and their unique educational experiences.

Drawing on ongoing qualitative research in the Central Valley of California, this paper examines the ways that work shapes the lives of undocumented Latino community college students. By virtue of their location in the agricultural belt of California, these young people work in a variety of demanding, insecure, low-wage sectors – fast food, construction, and fieldwork. Thus, they occupy the dual identities of “undocumented student” and “low-wage illegal worker.” This paper attempts to contribute to this growing body of knowledge about undocumented community college students through an examination of the ways in which their lives as low-wage undocumented laborers shapes educational access, experiences, and outcomes.

Drawing on literature focused on educational outcomes for low-income community college students (Bailey, Jenkins & Leinbach, 2005), literature on the youth and work (Tannock, 2001; Hodkinson, Hodkinson & Sparkes, 2013), and literature on the social context and political lives of undocumented students (Abrego, 2006; Gonzales, 2011), this study aims to connect these divergent fields of inquiry by examining the ways in which life in a racialized, segmented labor market shapes the educational experiences of young people who simultaneously navigate “illegality”, low-wage work, and higher education.

Preliminary findings suggest that work is an institution that profoundly shapes the educational experiences of undocumented community college students; this paper examines three emergent findings. First, the identity of “worker” is a salient one for these students, which serves to connect them to their families by allowing them to simultaneously prioritize financially contributing to their families as well as self-improvement through education. Second, undocumented students navigate a “split identity” as both undocumented students and undocumented workers which frequently serves to distance them from the “DREAMer” student movement. Third, students’ educational aspirations are tempered by experiences of subjugation and racism in the workplace, at times resulting in students lowering their aspirations, impacting plans to transfer to a 4-year university, and treating the A.A. as a terminal degree.

These findings are significant not only because they shed light on a students population we do not know a great deal about but because they also craft a more nuanced understanding to the relationship between young people and work, young people and school, and the debates around illegality and education.

Author

• Genevieve Negron-Gonzales, University of San Francisco