Undocumented Community College Students & The Limits of Educational Policy Reform in California

The undocumented student movement has secured important victories on federal and state levels, yet barriers to higher education for undocumented youth persist. This article illuminates the unique challenges faced by... [ view full abstract ]

The undocumented student movement has secured important victories on federal and state levels, yet barriers to higher education for undocumented youth persist. This article illuminates the unique challenges faced by undocumented community college students in California's agricultural Central Valley. The stories of these students have been marginalized in the broader body of literature about undocumented college students, deprioritized both by geography and constructions of prestige. This study finds that citizenship status uniquely shapes the access, persistence and outcomes of undocumented students in what is regarded to be the most accessible arm of higher education in the state, illuminating the possibilities and limits of these policy reforms.
Drawing on more than two years of qualitative fieldwork and more than 30 interviews with undocumented community college students in the Central Valley, Negrón-Gonzales situates the experiences of these students in the context of a state that is regarded as a national model of support for undocumented students, and identifies the disconnect between intended outcomes and actual results of policies aimed at increasing educational opportunities for undocumented students. This paper concludes that though these policy interventions are critical, many of the state’s most marginalized undocumented students are being turned away, pushed out, and left behind.