This article draws from five focus groups with 35 undocumented students who enrolled in the University of California-Central (UC Central), a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) located in a Latino-majority, working-class community in the heart of the Central Valley, after the passage of the California Dream Act. We develop a framework of nested contexts of reception to argue that students encounter distinct contexts at the local, state, and federal levels that shape their educational incorporation. By considering nested contexts, we reveal how local, state, and federal policies and societal reception combine to help or hinder undocumented students' success in higher education.
This article examines segmented assimilation among foreign-born and U.S.-born Mexicans. Using the 2000 census, this article investigates how immigrants' length of residence in the United States and nativity affect the earnings and self-employment outcomes of low-and highskilled Mexican men and women in the Southwest. Findings reveal that the earnings of lowskilled, foreign-born Mexicans decrease as immigrants reside in the United States longer and are generally lower among the U.S. born than the foreign born. In contrast, the earnings of highskilled, foreign-born Mexicans increase as immigrants reside in the United States longer and are generally higher among U.S.-born Mexicans than foreign-born Mexicans. Moreover, selfemployment participation decreases as immigrants reside in the United States longer and is lower among the U.S. born than the foreign born, regardless of skill. Since self-employment results in lower earnings, a decline in self-employment indicates economic progress. Furthermore, men are generally better off than women. Drawing from segmented assimilation theory, findings support the "downward assimilation" hypothesis among low-skilled Mexicans and the "Anglo-conformity" hypothesis among high-skilled Mexicans. Overall, this research provides evidence of intragroup differences in segmented assimilation among foreign-born and U.S.-born Mexicans in the Southwest.Socioeconomic assimilation refers to the gradual process of incorporation, as immigrants and their descendants integrate into the United States economy (Myrdal
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