Reconceptualizing Belonging for Undocumented Latinx Students: A Critique of Integration in Higher Education

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 11:45 am - Gold 3
  In Roundtable Session: Living Liminality: Navigating Belonging, Resistance, and Care in Immigrant Educational Journeys

Abstract

This paper offers a framework for understanding and fostering belonging among undocumented Latinx students in higher education. Utilizing Undocumented Critical Theory (UndocuCrit), the author highlights two interconnected concepts: familismo and liminality, which recognize how an undocumented status is only one facet of an undocumented student's identity. Together, these two elements move beyond an integration framework. Instead, they center on undocumented Latinx students' cultural strengths and lived complexities. This framework calls for institutional practices that are not only inclusive but also intentionally designed to honor the lived experiences of undocumented Latinx students.

Author

• Beatriz Trejo, University of Utah