Saturday, November 9, 2013

DACA or MD DREAM Act, which to choose?

CASA De Maryland, Electronic Flier Event
When we began our outreach to the local community and connected with Casa De Maryland, we could not quite understand why students would rather choose using DACA as opposed to the Maryland DREAM Act (In-State Tuition) policy in order to gain the benefit of the lowest tuition rate in community college.  As a team we attended another event at Casa, the "Coming Out of the Shadows & Cultural Night,” in which the community organizers took the time to provide specific information about
CYC 10.30.13, Poster on Table "Our Stories"
the Maryland DREAM Act and the DACA program, as well as provide a platform in which a current community member could “come out of the shadows” by stating his immigration story and his undocumented status as “undocumented, unafraid, and unapologetic.” The meeting-event was enlightening because as we spoke to currently undocumented students, who are either recent high school graduates or community college students, we were able to gain more clarity in these two policies. Most importantly, these community discussions illustrated for us how students use the formal policies to their advantage, and use the language in college/university admissions policies to gain in-state tuition.

Why do students use DACA as opposed to the MD DREAM Act? Answer…drum roll, please!  Some students do not qualify for the MD Dream Act; therefore they use the documentation they get from the DACA policy (Driver’s License, Social Security, Work Permit) as an example of being a resident of the State of Maryland and as evident of “documentation” that colleges and universities require of students if they want to be considered in-state residents.

CYC 10.30.13, Stand Up Poster "Access to Higher Education"
Next in our research process is an analysis of these two policies, as well as the community colleges and universities in our study to see how students are interpreting the policies to fit their needs.  Further research and analysis could also be done on the documents and primary sources we have collected from this and other community based organizations.  Included are some of those documents.


CYC 10.30.13, Stand Up Poster "DACA" 



                                                                                                                                                 

A breakthrough in contextual understandings, like policy interpretation of our participants, is always rewarding. Thank you to those students who were willing to share their experience in navigating the legal and policy arenas of community colleges and universities.  

Illegality Conference Aligns to Study Concepts

Harvard University Campus
The Illegality, Youth, and Belonging Conference that happened in Harvard Graduate School of Education, October 25-26, 2013, in which over 100 scholars, community advocates, and college students attended, addressed many of the concepts we are addressing in our study.  Concepts like young adults’ sense of belonging, psychosocial needs, and the impact of immigration policies on the family structure were discussed.  The most exciting aspect of the conference was meeting some of the leading authors of the field of immigration history, illegality, and community activism that have and will continue to move the comprehensive immigration reform forward. Some of the research that was presented claimed that Mexican-origin young adults (ages 20-25) identified as their primary sense of belonging in his/her legal status, and not necessarily feeling a sense of belonging through educational, economic, social, or political participation in community.  These secondary was of feeling a sense of belonging are then used to claim legal citizenship (Enriquez).

Additionally, leading scholar Abrego and researchers Del Real, claimed that immigrant youth are experiencing psychological stressors, like guilt, anxiety, and constant fear, due to their lack of citizenship status or because they belong to a mixed-status family.  Abrego further stated that U.S. citizens in mixed families feel the effect of the unintended consequences of family members who are undocumented as well, and as a result illegality affects the entire family structure. Del Real, found that college students’ perpetuation and accumulation of acute and chronic stigma create stressful experiences. In her study she did find that students exhibited resilient coping mechanisms, and institutional agents, like college educators and staff, were able to provide information about scholarships and other resources.

Harvard University Campus
Well-known scholars, like Leo Chavez and Robert Smith, were able to frame the discussion of the current rhetoric of immigration reform, as well as discuss the influence of this policy on the motivation of young adults from aspiring to attend higher education. Smith’s longitudinal study of now full adults, over 30 years old, found that these individuals were not interested in pursuing college even though they may be able to because of the current DACA program. These adults feel defeated, and some cannot afford college due to other life circumstances that were related to their previous undocumented status.

We look forward to the publication of all of these scholars’ research in the coming year, and hope that this research will inform and add to our study.

Presentations sources at the Illegality, Youth, and Belonging Harvard University Conference, October 25-26, 2013.

Abrego, Leisy J., University of California-Los Angeles. “Out of Place and Disengaged: Illegality's Consequences on Citizens in El Salvador and the United States.”

Chavez, Leo R., University of California-Irvine. “The Legacy of Illegality: Living Outside/Inside the Law and the Children of Immigrants in the Greater Los Angeles Area.”


Del Real, Deisy, University of California-Los Angeles. “They See Us Like Trash” The Impact of Anti-immigrant Stigma Stress on the Psychological Well-being of Unauthorized Mexican Young Adults.”

Enriquez, Laura E. University of California-Los Angeles.  “I Fit In [But] I Don’t Know If I Belong”: Undocumented Mexican-Origin Young Adults Navigating Belonging and Citizenship in the U.S."


Smith, Robert C. Baruch College and the Graduate Center-City University of New York, “Natural Experiments in American Immigration: Undocumented and Documented Children of Immigrants Long Term Mobility.”