Undocumented youth in the United States
Coming of age, many undocumented youth become negatively distinguished from their former peers because of their inability to work legally, obtain a driver's license, or participate in post-secondary education.
As of June 18, 2020, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Trump Administration cannot legally repeal the program, writing that the "DHS's decision to rescind DACA was arbitrary and capricious".
Detention or deportation in particular can cause toxic stress, which can impair brain development and raise the likelihood of mental health conditions like PTSD, sadness, and anxiety.
According to studies, children impacted by immigration raids show notable behavioral abnormalities, such as heightened anxiety, hostility, and disengagement.
It also affects prenatal health; for instance, the 2008 Iowa raid was linked to increased incidence of underweight and preterm births among Latina moms.
[7] In Cornejo’s book, she highlights instances where undocumented individuals faced terminal illnesses and were turned away by medical institutions due to being uninsured and unable to pay out of pocket, forcing them to rely on alternative forms of medicine as a last resort.
[7] These obstacles show how urgently supportive, inclusive learning environments and policies that address the wider social and health effects on undocumented students as well as access to higher education are needed.
[9] These difficulties are made harder by the lack of transparent information on financial aid and college applications, which leaves many students confused of their options.
As a result of their precarious legal and social situation, undocumented immigrants are hesitant to identify themselves, and the process of estimating statistics and drawing conclusions can be lengthy and cumbersome.
However, one obstacle to obtaining DACA status is the requirement that individuals had to arrive in the U.S. before 2007, which excludes some otherwise eligible students brought after this cutoff date.
[3] The inability to receive federal and state student financial aid, as well as low family incomes, limits access for undocumented youth to attend post secondary schooling.
Graduating college allows youth to improve labor market skills and makes them eligible for jobs where employers might potentially sponsor a temporary legal visa.
Some researchers explain that undocumented children face an economic barrier when pursuing a higher education and find that because of this they are unable to attend a University (Abrogate; Shields and Bergman, 2004; Gonzales, 2011; Crossness and Turkey, 2011).
[22] According to Roberto Gonzalez, Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington, "Given the opportunity to receive additional education and move into better-paying jobs, undocumented students would pay more in taxes and have more money to spend and invest in the U.S.
While 3.2 million of this population were U.S. born, approximately 725,000 or 1.3% were unauthorized students themselves and potentially not receiving the financial resources they need to pursue higher education in the United States.
[26] Programs such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) create open space for undocumented students to qualify for post secondary education benefits discussed in policies such as IIRIRA.
[34] While some states opt to pass their own legislation allowing in-state tuition for undocumented students, it does not fully bridge the gap for financial aid.
An immigrant's "transition from the world of youthful innocence—of school and friends, clubs, sports, and dances—to the tenuous circumstances of clandestine adult life was jarring.
[52] Many undocumented immigrants describe "the mental and emotional distress of verbal abuse, name-calling, and financial stress; and difficulties escaping these conditions.
[55] In a qualitative study, Munoz[56][better source needed] found that undocumented female Mexican college students expressed frustration, helplessness, and fear because of their lack of legal status.
[55] Through an online survey of open-ended questions, Perez, Espinoza, Ramos, Coronado, and Cortes [55] reported that in elementary school, 38% of undocumented students were civically engaged.
Ultimately, Perez, Espinoza, Ramos, Coronado, and Cortes [55] identified feelings of rejection were not correlated with lack of involvement and that most undocumented Latino youth going to college are engaging in U.S. civic life.
Undocumented youth change and acculturate to multiple circumstances that surround them by studying hard, following the codes of conduct, and acting as good citizens of the United States.
[58] Between September and December 2010 pro-immigrant groups generated over 840,000 call, faces, and emails in favor of the DREAM Act, as well as 81,000 petitions delivered to targeted Senate offices.
[59] Youth activists often invoke a feeling of coming out, relating to the same action experienced by the LGBTQ community, to protest for protection of their rights despite threats of arrest, imprisonment, and deportation.
The case simultaneously struck down a municipal school district's attempt to charge such immigrants an annual $1,000 tuition fee to compensate for state funding.
School officials in Tyler, Texas, under the direction of Superintendent James Plyler, began charging $1,000 annual tuition to all undocumented students—about 60 from a student body of 1,600.
The trial court found that the Texas law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution because it amounted to a total deprivation of education without a rational basis.
[75] In 2014 President Obama announced an expansion of DACA; removing the maximum age limit, changing the entry date to 2010, and extending the deferment period to three years.
Neither is true, the deferment only provides the qualified recipients to have a lawful presence, meaning the authorities cannot force them to leave the country although they still lack legal immigration status.
