“The War Still Continues”: The Importance of Positive Validation for Undocumented Community College Students After Trump’s Presidential Victory

Abstract

Using the conceptual frameworks of validation theory and socioemotional development, this study investigated undocumented/DACAmented community college students' emotional reactions to Trump's presidential victory and whether educators and/or administrators offered positive validation after the election. The study sheds light on current practices that may exacerbate students' stress or push students to stop out and provides recommendations for educators and administrators to address the needs of undocumented community college students during difficult political times. Resumen Este estudio investigó las reacciones emocionales de estudiantes preparatorianos indocumentados (DACAmentados) a la victoria presidencial de Trump y si los educadores y, o administradores ofrecieron validación después de las elecciones. El estudio iluminó prácticas actuales que pueden exacerbar la tensión en estudiantes o empujar estudiantes a darse de baja, y provee recomendaciones para educadores y administradores que pueden satisfacer las necesidades de estudiantes preparatorianos indocumentados durante tiempos políticos difíciles.

“The War Still Continues,” Part II: The Importance of Positive Validation for Undocumented Students One Year After Trump’s Presidential Victory

“…President Trump's combined anti-immigration policies, including the continued efforts to build a wall between the United States and México, the ban on immigration from different Muslim countries, and the elimination of the TPS, seemed like a perpetual attack on immigrants, including students. As previous researchers noted, undocumented students' fear, stress, and depression increase during politically difficult times (Andrade, 2017;Potochnick & Perreira, 2010). Hence, in the present study, I drew from socioemotional development and validation theories to understand undocumented/DACAmented students' emotional states and to further assess whether administrators and educators provided important validation or services to help the students in light of President Trump's recent anti-immigration policies, including his elimination of Obama's 2012 DACA policy, a year later.…”

“…Some educators may prefer not to talk about politics or immigration because they are afraid of students' backlash, though students view instructors' attempts to be neutral in the classroom as (un)conscious efforts to brush away or ignore students' lived experiences. These attempts to be neutral make educators appear as aloof or unconcerned about students' lives (Andrade, 2017). Yet again, students remind us that educators miss the opportunity to humanize undocumented persons in curriculum and class discussions (Andrade, 2017).…”

“…Upon receiving institutional review board (IRB) approval, I recruited undocumented/ DACAmented students who previously participated in my earlier study (Andrade, 2017). In "The War Still Continues," I interviewed 18 students (Andrade, 2017), but only seven of the original sample group participated in the present study.…”

“…Upon receiving institutional review board (IRB) approval, I recruited undocumented/ DACAmented students who previously participated in my earlier study (Andrade, 2017). In "The War Still Continues," I interviewed 18 students (Andrade, 2017), but only seven of the original sample group participated in the present study. A sample size of seven students is sufficient to identify patterns across experiences and deepen understanding about marginalized populations if there is in-depth, rich data (Anguiano & Nájera, 2015).…”

“…I conducted one-time, face-to-face and phone interviews, which are appropriate given the busy schedules of undocumented students (Andrade, 2017(Andrade, , 2018. On average, the interviews lasted between 45 and 60 min.…”