Undocumented Students, Community Colleges, and the Urgent Call for Undocu-Competence

Nicholas Tapia-Fuselier

University of North Texas

Abstract

Undocumented students in the United States continue to face unique barriers to success in higher education. Across the country, undocumented students have to navigate ineligibility for federal financial aid and disparate in-state resident tuition policies. Additionally, the literature on undocumented college students demonstrates that, too often, campuses are ill-equipped to equitably serve this student population. The majority of undocumented students begin their higher education journey at a community college. Therefore, it is important to consider the undocumented student experience in the context of community colleges and how the aforementioned barriers compromise the historical open-access mission of these institutions. In addition to providing an overview of the relevant federal and state policy landscape for undocumented students and its important connection to community colleges, the literature on undocumented students’ lived experiences on college campuses is reviewed. Finally, the literature’s emerging and urgent call for undocu-competence – the capacity to serve, support, and advocate for undocumented students – is presented.

Keywords: undocumented students, student support, community colleges

Community colleges serve as the “primary gateway to higher education for undocumented students” (Valenzuela, Perez, Perez, Montiel, & Chaparro, 2015, p. 87). This is largely because community colleges remain grounded in their historical open-access mission and provide a low-cost pathway to higher education for many of our country’s most marginalized students (Brown, 2012; Harbour, 2015; Oseguera, Flores, & Burciaga, 2010). Yet, incoherent, fluctuating state and federal policies in addition to campus-specific barriers compromise the access mission of community colleges for undocumented students. Additionally, the current political climate creates troubling, sometimes violent, conditions for undocumented immigrants in the United States. Arguably, more than ever before, institutions of higher education, particularly community colleges, must preserve their access mission by committing to undocu-competence. For the purposes of this paper, undocu-competence refers to the capacity to serve, support, and advocate for undocumented students.

Undocumented Students and the Community College Context

More than three million students graduate from high school every year. 65,000 of those graduates are undocumented students who live in the United States without citizenship, valid visas, or valid work permits (National Association of Secondary School Principals, n.d.; Passel & Cohn, 2010). To understand the unique, structural barriers undocumented immigrants face within higher education in the United States, one must be familiar with pertinent federal and state policies in addition to the relevant literature that examines undocumented students’ lived experiences.

 

Federal Policy

There are three pieces of federal legislation that are foundational in understanding undocumented students in the context of education. First, the Higher Education Act of 1965 asserted that applicants of federal financial aid must be United States citizens (Drachman, 2008). This legislation specifically bans all undocumented students from applying for or receiving any form of federal aid. This includes the Pell Grant, a need-based grant program for students from low-income backgrounds (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.). The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) reported that Pell Grants are more important in the context of community colleges than in four-year institutions, because Pell Grants actually cover more expenses for community college students due to low tuition and fee costs; this reduces community college student borrowing to around 17% (Association of Community College Trustees, n.d.). Therefore, banning undocumented students from the opportunity to receive federal aid, such as the Pell Grant, is a major access issue. Second, the Plyer v. Doe (1982) case is a key Supreme Court decision for undocumented students. This case established a mandate that all children in the United States, including undocumented children, must have access to free K-12 education (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2015); however, this mandate did not extend to postsecondary education.

Finally, and most relevant to our current political context, is the uncertainty of the future of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order issued in 2012 by President Obama. DACA gave eligible undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States before the age of 16 a chance to stay in the United States to study or work. Those approved for DACA were protected from deportation for two years; those benefits could be renewed. Nearly 790,000 undocumented immigrants are able to work and/or pursue higher education without fear of deportation, due to DACA (Krogstad, 2017). Currently, the future of DACA is currently being litigated in the courts after the Department of Justice issued a wind down order in September of 2017 (National Immigration Law Center, 2018). If DACA were to end without a legislative replacement, there would be no guaranteed protection from deportation for undocumented students. This would be harmful for undocumented students’ wellbeing as well as for the communities of which they are a part.

State Policy

State legislation granting undocumented students in-state resident tuition (ISRT) is “perhaps the most relevant immigrant college access-related policy of the last three decades” (Oseguera, Flores, & Burciaga, 2010, p. 38). One of the clearest barriers to access for undocumented students is the cost of attendance, particularly considering the ban on federal financial aid. This is an issue for community colleges, despite the fact that they consistently offer the lowest cost of attendance (American Association of Community Colleges, 2016). Currently, only 20 states and the District of Columbia have tuition equity laws or policies that assist with the cost of tuition, primarily granting undocumented students ISRT (National Immigration Law Center, 2018).

At the other end of the spectrum, there are three states who explicitly ban public colleges and universities from offering ISRT to undocumented students or ban undocumented students from attending public institutions, including community colleges (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2014). There are also many states who have no laws or policies related to undocumented students (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2014). The range of policies across the country is complex and ever-evolving. New pieces of legislation that either extend or deny tuition equity for undocumented students are introduced each legislative session in states across the country (Ali, 2017). This unstable policy landscape, which has

no signs of becoming more stable (Nienhusser, 2018), creates confusion and frustration for undocumented students across the country. Further, this creates misunderstandings among policy implementers, such as admissions counselors, financial aid staff, and student affairs professionals (Nienhusser, 2018). Considering this instability of state tuition equity policies, those who work on community college campuses must make an intentional and diligent effort to stay updated on their state’s current policies as well as proposed legislative challenges to those policies.

Undocumented Students’ Lived Experiences on Campus

Fortunately, the recent literature published on undocumented college students is making a shift away from deficit models of research and towards research that affirms the strength and success of undocumented students (Munoz & Maldonado, 2012). After all, “their stories are not those of defeat; they are stories of resilience and resistance” (Negrón-Gonzales, 2017, p. 109). Still, there are unique, structural barriers to account for when examining the lived experiences of this student population. These barriers must be understood in order to transform higher education practices to be more undocu-competent.

A central theme that shows up throughout the literature is the fear of disclosing undocumented status (Contreras, 2009; Nienhusser, 2014). In a study exploring the on-campus experiences of undocumented students, Munoz and Maldonado (2012) found that students had to find ways to strategically navigate institutional structures in ways that would ensure their protection. This strategic navigation is what Yosso (2005) called navigational capital, the skills of being able to successfully move through institutions, such as college campuses, that were not designed to ensure marginalized populations’ success. Explained another way, the undocumented status can lead to undocumented intelligence which Chang (2016) described as the skills and intuition to be a “‘good’ non-citizen citizen” that approaches the educational experience with a savvy caution (p. 1165).

Too often, high school counselors are ill-equipped to assist undocumented students in their exploration for higher education options (Niehnusser, Vega, & Carquin, 2016). In some instances, undocumented students received incorrect or incomplete information about their college options (Niehnusser, Vega, & Carquin, 2016). Similarly, this theme shows up for higher education professionals (Contreras, 2009). Some undocumented students encountered microaggressions from offensive and insensitive staff members (Niehnusser, Vega, & Carquin, 2016; Valenzuela et al., 2015). Munoz and Maldonado (2012) found that undocumented students can have negative classroom experiences. For example, undocumented students described feeling isolated in the classroom, particularly when immigration discussions arose. In this same study, they also found that competent faculty or staff were hugely helpful in undocumented students’ academic and social transition to campus (Munoz & Maldonado, 2012).

Importantly, we must consider intersectionality in research on undocumented students. Undocumented students are not a homogenous group and should not be treated as one in the literature. The dynamics of race, gender identity, socioeconomic status, ability status, and sexual orientation alongside immigration status must be considered in future research (Munoz & Maldonado, 2012). Additionally, “as the dominant anti-immigrant discourse in the U.S. intensifies, there is an increasing need for more counter-narratives recounting the lived experiences” of undocumented students (Castro-Salazar & Bagley, 2010, p. 35). SuárezOrózco and colleagues (2015) worked to center the voices and experiences of a diverse sample of undocumented students in in their study. Using survey methods, their research solicited input from undocumented students on how their undergraduate experiences could have been improved. The findings indicated a need for increased understanding of the unique experiences of undocumented students, increased services and resources for undocumented students, and increased public advocacy for undocumented students (Suárez-Orózco et al., 2015). This study indicates the importance of making space for and listening to the undocumented student voice. Additionally, these findings demonstrate that undocumented students often experience an institutional lack of understanding about their unique experiences, an absence of organized, well-resourced support mechanisms on campus, and insufficient advocacy from college administrators; all of these issues should be explicitly addressed as institutions strive to make efforts towards undocu-competence.

Finally, it must be noted that the majority of extant literature is situated in the four-year institution context (Negrón-Gonzales, 2017). However, it is necessary that we examine undocumented students at the community college level because, although we cannot know the exact number, it is widely surmised that the majority of undocumented students are studying at community colleges (Flores & Oseguera, 2009; Negrón-Gonzales, 2017; Szelényi & Chang, 2002). Castro-Salazar and Bagley (2010) reiterate this, explaining the importance of studying this population of students in the context of community colleges, particularly because of the unique financial barriers to higher education these students face.

Undocu-Competence

There is a growing and urgent call emerging in the literature for undocu-competence – the capacity to serve, support, and advocate for undocumented students – in higher education (Nienhusser & Espino, 2017; Valenzuela et al., 2015). This specific term was introduced by Valenzuela and colleagues in 2015 in their conceptual article that proposed Institutional Undocu-Competency (IUC) – an institutional capacity framework that community colleges can utilize to strengthen their support for undocumented students. Relying on social justice frameworks, IUC challenges institutions to actively reduce barriers and support the success of undocumented students in a variety of ways that include relevant training for faculty and staff, improving college outreach, creatively increasing financial aid opportunities, supporting undocumented student groups, providing adequate health and wellness programs, and publicly advocating for undocumented students in the education policy arena (Valenzuela et al., 2015).

At the individual level, Neinhusser and Espino (2017) examined the knowledge, awareness, and skills of community college institutional agents (e.g. financial aid administrators, admissions counselors, student services professionals, etc.). Their qualitative, exploratory study affirmed previous research and demonstrated that there were differences in the levels of comfort, ease, and understanding respective to serving the undocumented student population (Nienhusser & Espino, 2017). Therefore, the authors proposed the Undocumented/DACAmented Status Competency (UDSC) as a framework to inform higher education professionals’ practice and better support undocumented students. A commitment to UDSC would mean a commitment to expanding one’s existing awareness about issues facing undocumented students and gaining the skills needed to effectively and equitably serve this student population.

In order to increase competency, many institutions have developed trainings for faculty and staff in order to develop undocumented student allies. These trainings should be affirmative and demonstrate the value of undocumented students’ contributions to the campus community (Valenzuela et al., 2015). Using survey data, Cisneros and Cadenas (2017) found that attendees of undocumented student ally training reported increased competency in serving and supporting undocumented students. This is an encouraging finding, as institutional allies to undocumented students can be essential in developing supportive policies and programs as well as forming valuable partnerships with local community organizations (Chen & Rhoads, 2016).

Recommendations for Future Research on Undocu-Competence

It is encouraging that there is a growing body of scholarship focused on undocu-competence. Moreover, it is encouraging that this emerging scholarship has largely been situated at the community college context (Nienhusser & Espino, 2017; Valenzuela et al., 2015). However, there is still room for continued examination on undocu-competence as researchers assert that institutions are not doing enough to institutionalize support for undocumented students (Gildersleeve & Vigil, 2015). Given the ever-changing federal and state policy environment, researchers could explore how community colleges publicly respond to major policy decisions that directly impact undocumented students. Analysis of these types of responses could provide an additional layer to the current scholarship that has been unexplored. Another area of inquiry could be the empirical examination of DREAM Centers – spaces on college campuses organized to deliver information, services, and resources to undocumented students and the campus community. These emerging spaces are one example of how institutions are beginning to embody undocu-competence.

Conclusion

Undocumented students in the United States continue to face unique, structural barriers in higher education. Moreover, the rise in anti-immigrant sentiment and consequential policy enactments, such as the threatened end to DACA, creates harmful conditions for undocumented student success. The call for undocu-competence in higher education, especially at community colleges, must be met. The access mission of community colleges in the United States is critical. Yet, this mission is compromised when undocumented students are banned from federal financial aid or denied ISRT. To be clear, the importance of policies that affirm and protect undocumented students cannot be overstated. However, “the success and failure of the interplay between education and immigration policies is in the hands of not only policymakers but the practitioners most likely to encounter the realities of these students under debate” (Oseguera and colleagues, 2010, p. 42). Policies alone cannot transform higher education practices; this must happen alongside increased undocu-competence.

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