Dismissed, Dormant, and Deep-rooted Immigration Distractions and Undocumented College Students’ Academic Experiences

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam

Immigration laws and policies influence undocumented students’ college experiences by creating shifting legal vulnerability that can be dismissed, dormant, or deep-rooted. Drawing on 30 interviews with California college students, the article links these legal conditions to distractions that reduce focus, motivation, study time, classroom participation, and overall academic performance. It highlights mechanisms such as inclusive policy environments, post-2016 racist xenophobia, and persistent uncertainty about futures and family.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Legal vulnerability and undocumented students’ experiences

Mechanisms producing distraction and academic impact

Distinct dimensions: dismissed, dormant, deep-rooted

AERA Open January-December 2024, Vol. XX, No. X, pp. 1–17 DOI: 10. 1177/23328584241297158 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2024. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero) Dismissed, Dormant, and Deep-rooted Immigration Distractions and Undocumented College Students’Academic Experiences Daniel Millán Independent Researcher Evolving or stagnant immigration laws and policies may distinctly shape the experiences of undocumented students by shifting access to rights or opportunities. I draw upon 30 interviews with college students in California to analyze how they encountered legal vulnerability. I argue that legal vulnerability can be dismissed, dormant, or deep-rooted, producing contrasting experiences. Inclusive state and institutional policies set the stage for some students to dismiss legal vulnerability and decouple vulnerability from their academic experiences. However, most encountered dormant legal vulnerability through awakened racist xenophobia following the 2016 presidential election and deep-rooted legal vulnerability via persistent uncertainty about their futures or worries over family. Distracted students lost focus, motivation, and study time, which impacted their classroom participation and overall academic performance. Yet, they attempted to improve their academic engagement with limited effectiveness. Altogether, I theorize the relationship between different types of legal vulnerability and undocumented students’college experiences. Keywords: Immigration/Immigrants, in-depth interviewing, law/legal, postsecondary education, undocumented students “See, and it’s stuff like this that kind of stresses me out. ‘Urgent, new threat to Dreamers. Yesterday, ten states threatened to file a lawsuit if the federal government does not immediately repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.’ So, it’s stuff like that that constantly has me preoccupied. What if this ends up happening in California or what’s going to happen to me?” –Alecx, an undocumented college student “There was a reten (immigration raid) in [the city where I’m from] . And I was calling my mom because I know that she goes in that street to buy stuff for her tamales that she sells. And she wasn’t answering so I was really worried. I was like,‘Oh my god, what if she got detained!’ It turned out that she was just asleep. But I remember I had bio after that, so I wasn’t paying attention in class. That’s all I was thinking, my mom, my mom, my mom.” – Cassandra, an undocumented college student Immigration laws and policies curtail undocumented students’ college access and retention across the United States (Burciaga & Martinez, 2017; Cebulko & Silver, 2016) . For Alecx and Cassandra, California’s policies paved access (Enriquez, Morales Hernandez, et al., 2019): they applied to college, received financial aid, and attended a University of California campus. However, Alecx worried about the turbulence of the DACA program (Burciaga & Malone, 2021), which provides deportation protection alongside a work permit, and researched immigration news while he studied or during class. Immigration policies permitting the surveillance of undocumented immigrants in public space (Armenta, 2017; McDowell & Wonders, 2009-2010; Rosales, 2020) intensified Cassandra’s worries about her mother and affected her focus. These are examples of how undocumented students encounter legal vulnerability, defined as the connection between immigration laws or policies and marginalization, and become distracted (Chavarria et al., 2021; Enriquez, Morales Hernandez, et al., 2019)—despite attending a supportive university (Golash-Boza & Valdez, 2018) in a relatively inclusive state for immigrants (Colbern & Ramakrishnan, 2020) . Alecx’s and Cassandra’s narratives suggest a nuanced relationship between how legal vulnera

FAQs

How does the article define legal vulnerability in relation to undocumented students?

Legal vulnerability is defined as the connection between immigration laws or policies and marginalization, shaping how students experience risk and constraints in daily life and college.

What types of legal vulnerability does the article argue undocumented students may face?

The article argues legal vulnerability can be dismissed, dormant, or deep-rooted, producing contrasting experiences across students.

How do immigration-related distractions affect students’ academic outcomes?

Distracted students can lose focus, motivation, and study time, which negatively impacts classroom participation and overall academic performance, even though they try to improve engagement with limited effectiveness.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam