Migrant Integration Policies, Cultural Diversity, and Student Outcomes in the United States

• In Event: 34.023 - International Perspectives on Migrant Integration Policies, Cultural Diversity, and Student Outcomes: Separating the Rhetoric From the Reality

Abstract

(a) Purpose:
According to the Migrant Integration Policy Index (2015) the United States is ranked among the top set of countries along the education indicator for addressing the needs of immigrant students. Moreover, immigrant populations in the United States have long been touted for their high educational outcomes (Crosnoe & López Turley, 2011). However, little is understood of the K-20 educational outcomes of undocumented and DACAmented youth in the United States (Covarrubias & Lara, 2014). While true, it is widely documented that undocu/DACAmented youth educational experiences are marred with challenges they encounter in K-12 (Covarrubias & Lara, 2014; Nienhusser, Vega, & Saavedra Carquin, 2016; Perez-Huber & Cueva, 2012) and higher education (Muñoz & Maldonado, 2012; Muñoz & Vigil, 2018; Teranishi, Suárez-Orozco, & Suárez-Orozco, 2015), which likely impact their educational outcomes (Greenman & Hall, 2013). More recently, evidence has surfaced that the awakened xenophobic sentiments sparked by the rise of the President Donald J. Trump regime (Nienhusser & Oshio, in press) have shaped the educational experiences of undocu/DACAmented youth (Nienhusser & Oshio, 2017).

(b) Conceptual Framework:
This research is guided by the concepts of liminal legality (Menjívar, 2006) and “The Trump Effect” (Costello, 2016; Southern Poverty Law Center, 2016). More recently, scholars have begun to question the binary immigration status of “documented” and “undocumented” (Chacón, 2016; Gonzales, 2011; Menjívar, 2006; Menjívar & Kanstroom, 2014). Instead, a “new” category of “in-between” and “gray area” (Menjívar, 2006) immigration status has been conceptualized to describe the blurring of boundaries that exist between “legality” and “illegality.” This fluid categorization allows the examination of the ever-evolving role that social systems (e.g., public policies, educational systems) have in shaping the classification of immigration status in our societies (Gonzales, 2011). “The Trump Effect” can be summarized as the impact that the presence of Trump and his anti-immigrant and discriminatory rhetoric during the 2016 presidential election and now as president has had on immigrant communities, including those who are undocumented (Costello, 2016; Southern Poverty Law Center, 2016). According to the Southern Poverty Law Center data, “The Trump Effect” has resulted in intensified verbal harassment of immigrant students (including the use of slurs and derogatory language), increased anxiety on the part of immigrant students, and heightened fears related to possible deportation and separation of immigrant students’ family members. It has also emboldened others to new expressions of politicized bullying and has increased fear and anxiety about the future for immigrant students. The Southern Poverty Law Center (2016) has pronounced “The Trump Effect” as “nothing short of a crisis and should be treated as such” (p. 5).

(c) Techniques:
This research used qualitative data to analyze the educational public policy landscape for undocumented and DACAmented students in the United States and examine the educational experiences of undocumented and DACAmented youth in the State of Michigan.

(d) Data Sources:
There are two sources of data: document data (to understand the educational policy landscape for undocumented and DACAmented students, primarily in relation to their higher education opportunities) and interview data (to examine the K-12 and higher education educational experiences of 12 mixed-status immigrant families—16 youth and 16 parents/guardians—in the State of Michigan).

(e) Results, Conclusions and Interpretations:
Free public K-12 education is guaranteed for all undocu/DACAmented students in the United States. And while undocu/DACAmented youth have high college aspirations, their educational opportunities are significantly thwarted once it comes to higher education. First, undocumented and DACAmented students are ineligible for any higher education federal financial assistance. Furthermore, currently, only seven (out of 50) states have accessible higher education policy environments, which provide a discounted tuition and financial assistance. The remaining 43 states have either a restrictionist, ambivalent, or incongruous higher education policy environment that shape the educational opportunities for undocumented and DACAmented students. This discriminatory policy landscape has been exacerbated with the rise of the Trump regime and its multiple attacks on the undocumented immigrant community. These xenophobic sentiments have awakened a hatred toward mixed-status immigrant families, which has spilled into the educational experiences of these youth into areas such as: microaggressions experienced in K-12 schools, exclusionary educational policies and practices, and shattered advancements and dreams.

(f) Scholarly Significance of the Study:
This work highlights the juxtaposition that exists in the United States – its classification as “slightly favorable” in an international indicator for immigrant student education (Migrant Integration Policy Index, 2015) yet millions of its immigrant youth are facing significant hardships as they face unwelcoming and inequitable educational contexts. With the Trump regime and its xenophobic rhetoric firmly entrenched in the educational policy and public discourse landscapes, sadly, the educational outcomes of undocumented and DACAmented youth are likely to suffer.

Author

• H. Kenny Nienhusser, University of Connecticut