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.”