In this article, Carola Suárez-Orozco and colleagues investigate how to improve undocumented undergraduate student experiences across a variety of US campuses. The authors draw on a national survey of diverse undocumented undergraduates attending two- and four-year public and private institutions of higher education. Using an ecological framework that accounts for risk and resilience, Suárez-Orozco and colleagues provide insights into the challenges undocumented undergraduates face and the assets they bring as they navigate their educational contexts. The authors also consider the role of campuses in shaping these experiences and make recommendations, based on quantitative data and the perspectives of students, for creating undocufriendly campuses.

This study examined civic engagement in a sample of 790 undocumented Latinx undergraduates (aged 18-30). The relations between social supports (campus safe spaces and peer support) and civic engagement and whether a strong sense of undocumented identity mediated this relation were examined. Competing statistical models examined the role of participants' status (whether or not they received temporary protection from deportation with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals [DACA]) in this mediational process. Results revealed that having a strong identification with being undocumented mediated the role of social supports on civic engagement in the overall sample, and that this process was specifically important for those with DACA status. The intersection of policies such as DACA and the lived experiences of Latinx undocumented college students are discussed.

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Undocumented college students face several threats to their well-being and mental health. Different social locations, including whether students have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) status, students’ gender, and family factors may shape students’ ability to be well. How these factors work together to shape mental health outcomes among undocumented Latinx college students is not well understood. This study examines several factors (demographic, familial, immigration, and socioeconomic factors) associated with anxiety scores of undocumented Latinx college students who participated in the UndocuScholars Project national online survey in 2014. We observe three notable findings: (1) DACA recipients report heightened levels of anxiety, (2) women with DACA status report higher levels of anxiety compared to non-DACAmented undocumented college students and men with DACA, and (3) students whose families motivate them report lower levels of anxiety. Latinx undocumented college students are not a monolith; demographic, family, and socioeconomic factors matter.