In Pursuit of the

Dream: DREAMERS

Coming of Age in

Virginia

Sydney Snyder, Ph.D.

VESA - Feb. 7, 2014

“Let me be the future of this country

because I can do many things.”

Alex

Introduction

• Senior Associate with DSF Consulting

• Over 20 years teaching ESL/EFL

• Six years in Falls Church City Public Schools

• Ph.D. in Multicultural/Multilingual Education, George Mason University

Session Overview

• Background of the Study

• Summary of Study and Key Findings

• Ways to Advocate for Unauthorized Students

• Wrap-Up: Questions and Comments

Notes:

• Volunteers to read participant quotes

• If interested in resources – e-mail me at Sydney@DSFConsulting.net or write your name and e-mail on the sign-up list.

BACKGROUND

Study Purpose and Participants

Purpose: To share the stories of unauthorized Latino young adults living in Virginia as a way of identifying concrete recommendations for educators and allies

Participants: 8 DREAMers and 5 advocates (including one advocate who was also a DREAMer)

The DREAM Act and DACA

• The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act

– First introduced in Senate in 2001

– Would allow many unauthorized youth access to residency, federal financial aid, and ultimately higher education

• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

– June 15, 2012 – Secretary for Homeland Security announced a change in immigration policy for individuals meeting requirements closely aligned with DREAM Act

– Beginning in August 2012 individuals began applying for DACA

What the Research Tells Us

• An estimated 65,000 undocumented youth graduate from high school each year, and a little over 700,000 undocumented young adults aged 18-34 have at least a high school diploma or equivalent (Batalova & McHugh, 2010; Passel, 2010).

• Unauthorized high school graduates have benefited from the 1982 Plyler v. Doe U.S. Supreme Court decision and now find themselves without a clear, legal path to pursue higher education or a career.

• Only an estimated 5–10 % pursue a higher education; the vast majority of others are prevented from doing so due to institutional, legal, and financial barriers (Gonzales, 2007)

• Those who do attend college and manage to graduate still must face the barrier of having no permission to work legally in the U.S. (Perez, 2009)

Facts on Virginia

• There are an estimated 25,086 DREAMers in Virginia (74% from North, Central or South America)

• Virginia is ranked 13th in the country for numbers of DREAMers by state

• Since 2002 VA Congress has been trying to pass a law to allow unauthorized students access to in-state tuition

• Most recent bill (SB249, Jan. 2014) - Failed

SUMMARY OF STUDY AND KEY FINDINGS

Method

• Use of narrative methods (approach, interview style, and analysis)

• In-depth interviews – I met with or spoke with each participant at least three times and they reviewed and commented on my findings.

• Thematic analysis

Key Themes/Findings

• “I am different.”

• “I am limited.”

• “I am uncertain.”

• “I need[ed] support.”

• “It’s made me who I am.”

• “I am a DREAMer.”

“I am different.”

Anna speaking about the fear associated with being undocumented:

It’s always to be afraid, always with pressure. And you don’t know when you’re out of your house if you’re going to come back. One day you’re here, and the next day you’re not. We only rest when we sleep.

”

Emotional and Psychological Toll

• Caused by fear and stigma associated with status and on-going limitations and uncertainty about future

• Factors impacting feelings of fear and stigma: family and community, peer groups, activism (level of secrecy), political climate

• Highlights need for opportunities to connect with other DREAMers, emotional support in working through the process of “learning to be illegal”

“I am limited.”

Alex speaking about on-going limitations:

I’m actually going on a trip to Florida tomorrow, and we can’t go by plane because I’m scared to go on the plane because I’m undocumented. I’m going with my friends. They’re all American citizens; they were born here. They all know I’m undocumented. . . . I can’t get an ID, and I can’t get on a plane to go to Florida to have fun with friends and spend money over there. Yeah, it’s really frustrating.

Even when I go to the movies, they ask me for ID. How dumb is that? I mean I’m 19 years old. I can’t get into an R rated movie. . . . It’s really frustrating. . . .

Limits

• Education - access to higher education and financial aid impacts:

a) pursuit of higher education,

b) choice of college or university,

c) length of time it takes to finish a degree, and

d) hardship of trying to balance work and studies

Limits continued

• Legal employment

• Additional limits - impact participants’ sense of legitimacy and freedom as well as patterns of acculturation (being able to drive, travel, attend bars/clubs)

“I am uncertain.”

Melanie speaking about deferred action:

I don’t want to be disappointed. I have that fear that what if something happens, and I don’t get it [deferred action]; I don’t want my dreams to be crushed again. I’m kind of holding back until I actually see that I am approved, and then I can start planning.

Changing Narratives

• Participant narratives were impacted by a variety of factors including: personal situation, the political climate, the degree of hope they felt at a given time, and their level of activism

• On-going uncertainty of status; DACA is program an example; this highlights need for pathway to citizenship

“It’s made me who I am.”

Rose speaking about her status:

Things happen for a reason. If I was a U.S. citizen, if I had every opportunity, I probably wouldn’t have done as great as I have or worked as hard as I did. You get to appreciate things a lot more. In a way, it’s made me who I am, and it’s made me stronger.

Participant Resiliency and ResistanceParticipants modeled both resiliency and resistance.

• Characteristics of resiliency: social competence, problem-solving, autonomy (including distancing from negative social messages), and a sense of purpose and belief in a bright future (Benard,1991)

• Examples: sought assistance, able to overlook negative social opinions, generally optimistic about future, activism/community involvement

• Examples of resistance: belief in the value of higher education regardless; tool for resistance, status as a motivating factor rather than a deterrent to their goals, optimistic about future despite understanding of the system, ability to critique system – speak about immigration reform as a human rights issue, willingness to be interviewed for this study

“I am a DREAMer.”

Enrique talking about being an activist:

It [activism] helped me develop encouragement, I guess. By that, I mean making me feel that being undocumented is okay. And that it wasn’t my fault, and I’m also not going to blame my parents for trying to give me a better life. Being an activist and involved in organizations such as the . . .[DREAMers group], it helps you empower yourself and others around you to show that it’s okay to be undocumented and to not be ashamed of that. To be unapologetic. Growing up I used to be so ashamed of being undocumented because of the things people hear on the news. I heard it so much that it started becoming true to myself. . . . As I become more active, I become more American—that I am the American that I have been, but I couldn’t feel like it because of media, people, and all these nasty comments that you always hear.

Activism

My findings showed the real benefit that came from students’ activism.

• Empowering – decreasing feelings of fear and shame

• Connections to other DREAMers

• Access to resources

“I needed support.”

Elena speaking about her search for support:

I knew I wanted to go to college. My parents worked in the poultry industry for many years, so they would always tell my siblings and I to value education and become someone in life. And so I went to my guidance counselor, and I told him that I wanted to go to college, but I don’t think that he had every worked with an undocumented student. He didn’t really help me. And I remember going to the counselor’s office and looking at binders with scholarships, and most of them required a social security number. It was really frustrating.

Need for Support

• Academic – access to key information, mentors, positively tracked

• Financial – in-state tuition, student loans, scholarships

• Emotional – coming to terms with being undocumented

Implication – without sufficient levels of support, higher education and even graduation from high school is potentially unattainable

WAYS TO ADVOCATE FOR UNAUTHORIZED STUDENTS

Provide Students with Key Information

• Students need to know options for higher education and scholarship and financial aid information

• Make information easily accessible – they shouldn’t have to reveal their status in order to get the information

• Begin early – in elementary school

• Incorporate discussions about unauthorized student experience as a way of normalizing the experience

• Include parents in discussion

Connect Students with Other DREAMers

• Share information about national and state organizations:

DREAMers of Virginia

https://www.facebook.com/DreamersofVirginia

Dream Project - VA

http://www.dreamproject-va.com

• Bring DREAMers to the school to talk about their experiences

Train counselors, teachers and staff

• You don’t know who will be approached.

• Provide training each year to guarantee all staff are trained (even if it is a brief training)

• Provide staff with updated information

Recommendations for Allies and Advocates

1. Apply pressure to higher education institutions, state and federal government in support of student access to in-state tuition, financial aid, path to citizenship

2. Offer support to advocacy groups working for unauthorized youth – time, money, publicity

3. Help unauthorized youth raise money to fund education

Scholarship Information

• Dream Project –VA Scholarship Fund – Application available February 21, 2014 (Virginia students only)

http://www.dreamproject-va.com

• Dream Project – VA Resource page (list of national scholarships)

http://www.dreamersofvirginia.com/#!resources/cjg9

• The Esperanza Education Fund – April 21, 2014 deadline (D.C., Maryland, and Virginia students)

http://www.esperanzafund.org/scholarship/

• TheDREAM.US Scholarship Fund - March 31, 2014 deadline

http://thedream.us/scholars/

WRAP UP: QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS

Conclusions

• Access to education is a fundamental human right

• As a result of Plyler v. Doe unauthorized youth are treated like ‘normal’ students in K-12 education. However, as they approach graduation, they are not prepared to make the leap to higher education

• Schools and the state of Virginia are not doing enough

• Virginia is losing out on valuable human resources

“Let me be the future of this country

because I can do many things.”

Alex

Contact Information

• Sydney Snyder

– E-mail: Sydney@DSFConsulting.net

– Phone: 703-533-0126

• Company Webpage: www.DSFConsulting.net

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/dsfconsultingfirm