Racialized Experiences of UndocuAsian College Students in California Postsecondary Education

• In Event: Navigating Access and Opportunity: Examining Challenges, Resistance, and Possibilities of Undocumented Students' Success in California

Abstract

Objectives, Theoretical Framework, & SignificanceDespite extensive research on undocumented college students, the experiences of undocumented Asian (undocuAsian) students remain underexplored. UndocuAsians are the fastest-growing undocumented population in the U.S., with nearly half a million residing in California alone. They constitute 27% of the undocumented student population in U.S. higher education. However, fewer than 5% of undocuAsians benefit from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that provides temporary protection from deportation and work authorization for those brought to the U.S. as children (Center for Migration Studies, 2019). This disparity highlights a significant service gap and underscores the need to understand the structural barriers facing undocuAsian students, particularly those who are ineligible for DACA and are pushed to the margins of society. The continuing invisibility of undocuAsian students may be a product of racialized illegality, which immigrant illegality has been intertwined with race through law, media, and organizational practices (Cho, 2017; Enriquez, 2019; Menjivar, 2021). Racialized illegality acts as a double-edged sword that places undocumented Latina/o/x students at risk of presumed undocumentedness while at the same time making it easier for them to access resources and social support (Enriquez et al., 2019a, p. 38). In contrast, undocumented Asian students—often perceived as model minority/good immigrants— grapple with ambivalent sociocultural positions and complexities of belonging in higher education. By focusing on these students, this study critically examines how institutions construct dominant ideologies around race, immigration, and citizenship. This research contributes significantly to the fields of immigrant students, equity in education, and educational policy, by shedding light on nuanced undocumented student experiences while providing insights for equity-oriented policy and practice.

Method & Data SourcesThis paper draws on 76 interviews with 50 undocumented Asian college students from diverse geographic locations and types of institutions across the Los Angeles and San Francisco metropolitan areas. Through a series of three 90-minute interviews, research collaborators discussed their educational experiences, perceptions of being undocumented and Asian, and the strategies in their college navigation. In addition to these in-depth, semi-structured interviews, I also conducted fieldwork at one community college and one University of California campus in the Los Angeles area from April 2024 to October 2024. This field observation and participation enable me to explore how the meaning of “being undocumented and Asian” is continuously shaped and to analyze how race and immigration status are normalized through racial logic and practices within higher education institutions. This fall, I will be conducting two rounds of coding and drafting narrative profiles for each participant. Two preliminary themes are 1) dual marginalization at undocumented-serving space and Asian American spaces; 2) self-reliance strategy to access higher education. For instance, most participants who visited the undocumented student program on their campus collectively remarked, “I was always the only non-Latinx student present.” This marginalization is mirrored in AAPI-serving spaces and programs. As one undocumented Korean college student lamented, “They (Asian American peers with citizenship) do not know what it feels like to be poor and undocumented.”

Author

• Siyue Lena Wang, University of California - Los Angeles