Purpose: In this study, we examine the policy discourse in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) case before the US Supreme Court, a case with implications for education. The case drew a wide range of interested groups who weighed in on the policy as amici curiae, "friends of the court," offering perspectives about the…

ESL teachers play important roles in teaching English and cultural orientation to immigrants coming to the US. They serve a variety of people residing legally within the United States such as permanent residents, refugees, migrant workers, asylees, parolees, and some citizens and international students. They also serve undocumented immigrants.…

This dissertation consists of three papers. In each paper, I use applied econometric methods to study the interaction between immigration policy and the postsecondary policy. The findings offer insights about how immigration policy can influence the education outcomes of undocumented individuals. In my first paper, I explore the effect on…

This analysis of quantitative data from a nationwide sample of k-12 teachers (N=4,600) examines teachers' views on a range of modern immigration issues including DACA, the scope of deportations, levels of immigration, and a pathway to citizenship. Overall, teachers showed more inclusive stances towards immigration overall. However, there appeared…

Background/Context: This article draws from a larger study focused on how recent immigration policies have influenced school districts across the United States and how educators have responded to support their immigrant-origin students. Scholars have found that immigration policy powerfully shapes the lives of many immigrant youth in multiple…

Background: Contemporary dominant discourses surrounding (un)documented migration in the United States are commonly divided into two polarized frames--those immigrants who are hard workers seeking a better life, and others who are border-crossing criminals. For teachers in the Southeast, developing an understanding of immigrants becomes critically…

Immigration has been a longstanding conversation, or debate, in American politics and society throughout history. Whether, or how much, to embrace immigrant populations into U.S. society has been a source of polarization over time, specifically as related to the handling or treatment of undocumented immigrants. A particularly acute dimension of…

The ideas of free markets and less government regulation were associated at the turn of the 20th Century with a more internationalist approach and, at times, even more openness to immigration. Some of these dynamics have shifted particularly with the rise of a more populist economic message with leaders like Donald Trump. This study examines the…

In a prospective cohort study of Latinx adolescents living in an agricultural county in California, we examined perceptions of federal immigration policy and its effects on community and individual wellbeing. From May to December 2017, 565 youth responded to an open-ended item integrated into ongoing surveys. Median age was 14 (range 13-16 years),…

Prior research suggests that hostile immigration policies can motivate undocumented immigrants' political engagement, but may also create unique risks that limit their willingness to participate. We examine how perceptions of the immigration policy context may help or hinder undocumented college students' political engagement. Using data from an…

This queer phenomenological study examined institutional statements released in support of undocumented individuals after the Trump administration's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. We discerned the "template" used when crafting public messages of support for undocumented communities. We suggest…

Because presidents hold unique and important powerful roles that influence the formation of organizational identities and cultures, we used critical discourse analysis of 80 presidents' letters to analyze presidents' messages to their campuses and to uncover their discourses and assumptions surrounding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals…

Policies regarding immigration are complex. One of the unfortunate consequences of the near uniformity of opinion in higher education about legal and illegal immigration issues are that they are almost never debated on campuses. This report describes some of the various dimensions of immigration policy and suggests topics for debate, so that…

The highly publicized imposition and retraction of the "family separation" border policy by the current U.S. Administration was not an anomaly in U.S. history. In this manuscript, we place these troubling recent events in the context of decades of U.S. immigration policies and politics. We then describe the consequences of family…

Undocu/DACAmented youth continue to face exclusionary policies and educational environments that deter their postsecondary education trajectories. This research draws from 32 interviews with parents and undocu/DACAmented youth in Michigan. Of particular interest were participants' experiences with postsecondary education access since this is one…