Undocumented youth in the United States face a unique set of challenges as they navigate their educational and socioeconomic trajectories. In “Lives in Limbo”, Roberto Gonzales explains his extensive research on this population, categorizing them into two distinct groups: early-exiters and college-goers. Gonzales defines early-exiters as undocumented youth who leave high school prematurely, often compelled by financial constraints, limited educational opportunities, or familial responsibilities. Without pursuing higher education, they enter the workforce or informal labor sectors, facing uncertain prospects and limited upward mobility. In contrast, college-goers are undocumented youth who persevere in their pursuit of higher education despite …show more content…
Furthermore, college-goers are more likely to become advocates for immigrant rights, leveraging their education to effect positive change in their communities. The disparities in outcomes between early-exiters and college-goers illustrate the impact of undocumented status on the lives of young individuals. Undocumented status severely constrains access to educational and economic opportunities, perpetuating cycles of poverty and marginalization for these individuals. Their experiences underscore the transformative power of education in mitigating the adverse effects of undocumented status. While early-exiters face daunting obstacles and limited opportunities, those who pursue college education demonstrate that with perseverance and access to resources, it is possible to break through systemic barriers. Yet, the stark differences in outcomes between these two groups also point to broader structural inequalities within the immigration system. The experiences of early exiters highlight the urgent need for comprehensive immigration reforms to address these systemic
Part Three of the book “Just Like Us” written by Helen Thorpe is comprised of illegal undocumented individuals residing in Denver Colorado. The individuals consist of a group of four Mexican young adults all with the dream of one day attending college and finally obtaining a legal status within the United States. In this portion of the readings, Yadira, Marisela, Clara, and Elissa are entering their senior year at their University and have defined the odds of successfully completing college while maintaining an illegal status. Helen Thorpe clearly demonstrates a passion in tracking individuals that are determined to become legal citizens within society; however, lack the proper advocacy and documentation to do so. Part Three of the book envelops the complexity of maintaining a legal status among society members through the lives of these four influential young ladies striving to achieve higher education in the
In Subtractive Schooling: US-Mexican Youth and the Politics of Caring, Angela Valenzuela investigates immigrant and Mexican American experiences in education. Valenzuela mentions differences in high schools between U.S born youth and immigrants such as how immigrants she interviewed seemed to achieve in school as they feel privileged to achieve secondary education. However, she found that her study provided evidence of student failure due to schools subtracting resources from these youths. Both are plagued by stereotypes of lacking intellectual and linguistic traits along with the fear of losing their culture. As a Mexican American with many family members who immigrated to the U.S to pursue a higher education, I have experience with Valenzuela’s
There are a great number of students who face obstacles when crossing the border into college. Unfortunately Donna Beegle was one of them. Beegle faced barriers such as poverty, lack of middle class knowledge, and multiple responsibilities. Donna Beegle was facing immense difficulties due to her poverty even after receiving welfare resources. She was not able to take good care of her children and family. As a single parent, Beegle had hard time paying rent, utilities, transportation, basic needs, and providing nutritious food for her children. Due to non-payment her lights was cut and was also evicted (Beegle 139). In acquiring knowledge, she also had her welfare
Part Three of the book “Just Like Us” written by Helen Thorpe is comprised of illegal undocumented individuals residing in Denver Colorado. The individuals consist of a group of four Mexican young adults all with the dream of one day attending college and finally obtaining a legal status within the United States. In this portion of the readings, Yadira, Marisela, Clara, and Elissa are entering their senior year at their University and have defined the odds of successfully completing college while maintaining an illegal status. Helen Thorpe clearly demonstrates a passion in tracking individuals that are determined to become legal citizens within society; however, lack the proper advocacy and documentation to do so. Part Three of the book envelops
In Marcelo M. Suarez- Orozco and Carola Suarez- Orozco’s article “How Immigrants became “other” Marcelo and Carola reference the hardships and struggles of undocumented immigrants while at the same time argue that no human being should be discriminated as an immigrant. There are millions of undocumented people that risk their lives by coming to the United States all to try and make a better life for themselves. These immigrants are categorized and thought upon as terrorist, rapists, and overall a threat to Americans. When in reality they are just as hard working as American citizens. This article presents different cases in which immigrants have struggled to try and improve their life in America. It overall reflects on the things that immigrants go through. Immigrants come to the United States with a purpose and that is to escape poverty. It’s not simply crossing the border and suddenly having a great life. These people lose their families and go years without seeing them all to try and provide for them. They risk getting caught and not surviving trying to make it to the other side. Those that make it often don’t know where to go as they are unfamiliar. They all struggle and every story is different, but to them it’s worth the risk. To work the miserable jobs that Americans won’t. “I did not come to steal from anyone. I put my all in the jobs I take. And I don’t see any of the Americans wanting to do this work” (668). These
The authors mention Miguel Fernandez, a fresh graduate from a small high school who has had struggles that have affected his opportunities to go off to college. These struggles include financial hardships and also that Miguel “was undocumented and in the country illegally” (Noguera and Kundu par.8). Though Miguel
In Lives in Limbo, Roberto G. Gonzales dissects the disastrous effects of US immigration policy on young Latina/os struggling in the often untouched, unnoticed, uncared for, American underbelly. Through a striking ethnography, Gonzalez examines 150 illuminating case-studies of young undocumented Latina/os, shedding light on their shared experience in the struggle for legitimacy in the United States - their lives, effectively, in limbo. He develops two major groups with which to classify the struggling youth: the college-goers, like Cesar, who received strong marks in high school and was able to land himself a spot within the UC system, and the early-exiters, like Silvia, who was unable to attend college, resigned to a paranoid life plagued
Even if these students have achieved the highest honors and have the brains of an engineer, they aren’t able to reach their greatest potential because they simply do not have documents. Those who are undocumented are doomed to working backbreaking jobs that pay substantially below minimum wage. Spare Parts has challenged and shown me that it takes an immigrant double, or even triple the amount of toil to achieve anything in life. These boys endeavoured through adversities that many of us will never encounter. Luis luckily had a green card, but Lorenzo, Oscar, and Cristian were all living under the fear of deportation. They all wanted more after graduating from Carl Hayden but their dreams quickly vanished because the reality was that they’re illegal immigrants. When we hear the word “immigration”, we automatically think “illegal”, but what we don’t see is that these illegal immigrants are trying to reach their own American Dreams by coming to America. As the author includes Patrick J. Buchanan’s perspective on immigrants, “...families came to the United States to leech off government services.” (35), it shows us how immigrants are perceived.
In addition, the lack of experience in the labor market was a major disadvantage. Likewise, they struggled to negotiate precarious situations because of their undocumented status and were not prepared for it. On the other hand, college-goers who had more favorable situations including sufficient money to pay for school, family permission to delay or minimize work, reliable transportation, and external guidance and assistance were able to prevent the negative effects of unauthorized status. Several college-goers had enough support and focus to succeed in post-secondary schooling, however, many others found it to be a discontinuous experience, with frequent stalls and detours. Many took leaves of absences, others enrolled in one school term per year, needed to work, had few scholarships, or long commutes was a factor. Eventually, respondents learned and understood their legal status after prolonged experiences of illegality. By this time, most young adults in the United States had finished school, left the parental home, and were working full-time. But even so, Gonzalez finds college-goers’ and early-exiters’ employment options as uniform. He discovered that despite advanced degrees and higher learning, they still worked in jobs that uneducated individuals worked in. As a result, aspirations of college-goers were
There are over twelve million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. Many came to America to work, go to school, or be reunited with family members who are already residing here. Most migrants want to work and pursue the “American dream”. There are many barriers for residents to achieving success at the work and life balance. The immigrants fall back on public assistance to support them.
If we talk about undocumented immigrants in United States, we usually focus on the benefits and jobs they take from our country, but have we ever stood in their shoes and imagine what life is like for an illegal immigrant? To live as an undocumented immigrant is a bad situation, but I believe to be a child of an undocumented immigrant is even worse, because their choices are limited and they are unaware of their rights to attend colleges. In this research, I will focus on undocumented immigrant students, who are unable to afford for higher education, and the fear of their unknown future which is mainly cause by their undocumented status. The largest invisible group in America, to explore “what are the struggles and unsolved problems of undocumented students?”
The adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of the a College access and the K-16 pipeline: Connecting policy and practice for Latino student success. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 3(2), 117-124. Saunders, M., & Serna, I. a. The adage of the adage of the adage of the adage of the a Making college happen: The college experiences of first-generation Latino students. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 3(2), 146-163.
Secondary education is a highly debated subject. Many critics of secondary education say that inner-city high schools and students are not receiving the same attention as students from non inner-city high schools. Two of the biggest concerns are the lack of school funding that inner-city high schools are receive and the low success rate in sending inner-city high schools graduates to college. Critics say that while inner-city high schools struggle to pay its teachers and educate its student’s non inner-city high schools don’t have to deal with the lack of school funding. Also students from non inner-city high school are not being given the opportunity to attend colleges once the students graduate. But opponents of these critics blame an entirely different issue; and that is illegal immigrant students over crowding and attending high school at the expense of taxpayers. It cost millions of dollars a year for illegal immigrant students to attend high school and this is the main reason why schools are experiencing budget problems. Teaching illegal immigrant students creates a difficult learning environment and that is why students in inner-city high schools are not moving on to a higher education. This paper will explore the controversy and issues of secondary education; it will expose the hidden truths and prove that illegal immigrants are taking a toll on the education system.
However, others may disagree, but in addition to lacking nce their arguments are also insignificant. Although there is a controversy on this matter, America should welcome immigrants that are already here. Immigrants may earn legal status as well as cost just as much or less than deportation. But, so what? Why is this notable? Well, here’s why, the future is on the line and we have to take charge. If leading undocumented immigrants to a path to citizenship, includes all of the previously mentioned advantages, there is no point to do otherwise. If we don’t go through with this, imagine the troublesome possibilities, imagine the costs, imagine the risks. It is necessary to lead undocumented immigrants to a path to citizenship, and your help is needed. Share this essay, spread the outlook, get involved, and do what you can to make sure, we are where we need to be in our
The term “undocumented students” is given to the children of foreign nationals who entered the United States legally with their families, but remained without an authorization. In some cases they have crossed the border illegally as children with their parents at a very young age, some as young as infants. These children have lived more years in the U.S. than their birth countries, and have attended K-12, and earning high school diplomas.