Accessing Education as an Experience of Belonging: How Latino Mixed-Status Families Negotiate their Educational Pathways

Disrupting notions of family as comprised of either citizens or immigrants, Latino mixed-status families have been front and center in embroiled debates about the place of undocumented immigrants and their citizen family... [ view full abstract ]

Disrupting notions of family as comprised of either citizens or immigrants, Latino mixed-status families have been front and center in embroiled debates about the place of undocumented immigrants and their citizen family members in this country. These families include members with different immigration statuses and are often characterized by one or two undocumented parents and at least one U.S. citizen child. Despite being a significant population facing a number of challenges, researchers know very little about how mixed-status families navigate education while managing tensions and inequalities brought forth by immigration status. Building from a larger study on how Latino mixed-status families experience belonging, this article asks: how do families negotiate their mixed-status family relationships while working towards their individual and collective educational futures? Using interview data with mixed-status families in Los Angeles, I am finding that education remains central to the experience of belonging among mixed-status families through their narratives of citizenship, as well negotiations of future familial relationships. First, Latinos in mixed-status families articulate forms of belonging and citizenship predicated on their or a family member’s access to education and immigration status. Second, education factors in greatly into how mixed-status families experience belonging in the U.S. vis-à-vis life decisions about familial futures. Therefore, at the nexus of family and differential immigration statuses, education pathways and futures factor in heavily in how Latino mixed-status families experience belonging in the country.