The Immigrant Youth Movement: New Horizons for Dreamers and Higher Education by Briseida Elenes

“I chose to get arrested because of our politicians’ callousness toward a pressing issue that affects not only me but also the thousands of other youth on a daily basis. I had the courage, strength, and opportunity to participate in this civil disobedience action thanks to the dedication, valor, and love of others in this movement. Inaction was just not an action.” –Diana Yael Martinez, extracted from Undocumented and Unafraid

You are likely familiar with the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the some of the various social implications which it influenced—racial desegregation, gender equality, disability rights, and the Gay Liberation movement.  Yet how familiar are you with the Immigrant Youth Movement (IYM)? With the recent passage of the California DREAM Act and Deferred Action, the Immigrant Youth Movement (IYM) merits attention.

 You may be wondering what the IYM has to do with higher education and student affairs. In Understanding Immigrant College Students: Applying a Developmental Ecology Framework to the Practice of Academic Advising (2011), Stebleton illustrates how the ecology perspective lends a comprehensive framework for understanding immigrants’ college experiences (p. 42). Stebleton argues that in order to understand and better serve the immigrant college population, it is necessary to contextualize their experiences by taking into account the varied interactions between students and their environments (pp. 42-43).  Using this framework, immigration policy should be considered an important factor that influences the identity formation of many immigrant students.  The sociopolitical milieu cannot be disaggregated from the socialization and developmental process of young adults. While it is critical to not essentialize immigrant experiences, it is still important to embed our understanding of immigrant youth within the larger political context.

So what is the IYM and what does it mean to students and higher education administrators and practitioners? UCLA’s Dream Resource Center describes the IYM as follows: "No longer living in the shadows, undocumented students are coming out, organizing, advocating for change in immigration policy, and building a new civil rights movement" (http://www.dreamresourcecenter.org/undocumented-and-unafraid.html).  Rejecting the shame and criminalization often associated with the status of undocumented, these youth are reclaiming the term “undocumented” and ascribing to it a new definition with empowering connotations of agency and self-authorship. UCLA’s Center for Labor Research and Education recently published a book titled Undocumented and Unafraid: Tam Tran, Cinthya Felix, and the Immigrant Youth Movement (2012).  The book beautifully offers an insight into the lives and work of two trailblazers within the IYM. Not only were Tam and Cinthya instrumental to the IYM, they were some of the first undocumented students to attend graduate school. After being struck by a drunk driver, their lives tragically came to an end shortly after starting graduate school at Ivy League institutions. Their legacy and inspiration continues to impact the IYM. 

Carlos Amador, a CSUF and UCLA alumnus, recently shared his story at an AB 50 and Undocumented Conference.  Carlos was part of the successful national campaign to pressure President Obama to cease deportations and grant Deferred Action for undocumented immigrant youth.  Deferred action allows eligible immigrant youth to obtain a work permit and protects them from deportation for two years.

The California DREAM Act, Deferred Action, and IYM have evolving implications and new opportunities for higher education institutions and Dreamers alike. For higher education administrators and practitioners, it means listening to Dreamers and implementing new policies and programs that will best support their needs. As Dr. Lisa Cacho, professor of Asian American Studies at the University of Illinois recently stated, “We want to speak with undocumented students, not for them”

(http://www.dailyillini.com/news/campus/article_94712f20-3cda-5fed-b3e9-dfdfc962363e.html). For Dreamers, it means  having the opportunity to openly carve out their own spaces in higher education and in society.  

References:

Dream Resource Center, http://www.dreamresourcecenter.org/undocumented-and-unafraid.html

Musnicki, R. (2012). Group raises money, awareness for undocumented students.  The Daily Illini. Retrieved from http://www.dailyillini.com/news/campus/article_94712f20-3cda-5fed-b3e9-dfdfc962363e.html

Stebleton, M.J. (2011).  Understanding immigrant college students: Applying a developmental ecology framework to the practice of academic advising. NACADA Journal, 31(1), 42-52.

Wong, K., Shadduck-Hernandez, J., Inzunza, F., Monroe, J., Narro V., Valenzuela, A. (2012). Undocumented and unafraid: Tam Tran, Cinthya Felix, and the Immigrant Youth Movement. Los Angeles: UCLA Center for Research and Education.