Using narrative inquiry to collect data through interviews and an arts-based approach to present the findings through a narrative film screenplay format, this multimethod qualitative study aimed to expose the reality faced by undocumented students, especially those involved with activism, through tales of resilience and grit. The theories that…

Given that community colleges enroll most of the undocumented and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students across the nation, there is an economic and moral imperative to understand how the sociopolitical environment has shifted educational opportunities for undocumented and DACA students. This paper unveils how institutional agents…

Undocumented children immigrants in the United States experience significant hurdles pursuing higher education due to their illegal status, resulting in lower rates of college attendance for children arriving before the age of 14 than U.S. born children. The 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program aims, in part, to remove these…

The purpose of this revelatory case study is to explore how the DACA Initiative (DI) transformed the School of Medicine (SOM) beyond just changing student demographics. In this research, I specifically explored if, through the DI, SOM organizationally changed enough to be considered transformative change in its efforts to enhance the acceptance…

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program provides legal protection to enhance access for a narrow subcategory of undocumented immigrants. Following the presidential election, a series of actions have pushed many of these recipients into limbo, leading to uncertainty and fear for these young students. This case study examined the…

This article examines the educational experiences of undocumented high school students during the Trump administration--a time marked by the intensification and expansion of immigration enforcement practices. Drawing on 24 in-depth interviews, we find that undocumented high school students experienced increased instances of bullying near the time…

Communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, exposing the influence of decades of policies that have under-resourced and marginalized these communities. The history of segregation and inadequate funding in education has been exacerbated by the pandemic, compounding the educational…

Due to the sensitive nature of identifying undocumented status, it is difficult to examine the impact of immigration status in the context of higher education and factors crucial to postsecondary and career success. What we do know is that prior to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and for students…

The overarching goal of this project is to tell a genuine story of Latino students across the U.S. public school system in order to counter negative narratives about these students, their families, and communities, and to point to systemic solutions that must be considered by school administrators and teachers, school districts and states, federal…