Ever-Present "Illegality": The 2016 Election and Undocumented Latina/o Parents' Engagement in Postsecondary Access and Success

• In Event: 77.049 - Undocumented and DACAmented in the Trump Era

Abstract

This interview-based study explores the impact the United States political climate has on the engagement of undocumented Latina/o parents in their children’s education. Specifically, this paper explores how the 2016 Presidential Election impacted parents’ understanding of their role as parents, their engagement in their children’s post-secondary access and success, and their perceptions of their families’ futures. Parents noted that the election lead to frustration and fear, an ever-present “illegality,” that shaped their everyday actions; parents reported that these were barriers and anxieties that did not appear as significant prior to the election. The findings of this paper are important for educators to consider how to engage with undocumented parents in a period increased political anxiety and visible anti-immigrant sentiment.

Author

• Stephany Cuevas, Vanderbilt University