(Un)authorized Transitions: Illegality, DACA, and the Life Course

A Political Action against the Good Immigrant Narrative

“…The DREAMer movement, however, unequivocally, was an efficacious organizing strategy in the undocumented student movement that led to the program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) as well as state-based educational, financial aid policies across the U.S (Terenzini et al 1996). DACA has been one of the most successful pro-immigrant policies because it has provided physical and psychological safety to many of its recipients, including positive educational and economical outcomes, the DREAMer stereotype has been embedded within the eligibility requirements of DACA (Gonzales et al 2018;Durbin 2019). A number of DACA beneficiearies may identify as DREAMers while others may not.…”

“…Current studies about DACA have focused on analyzing the positive benefits of DACA, suggesting that the program has led to their formal economic integration into U.S. society as well as increased the beneficiaries' participation society (Cadenas et al 2018, p. 564). Studies that examine the negative impact of terminating DACA argue that ending DACA would not only put thousands of beneficiaries at risk for deportation, including 24,100 students, but terminating the program would jeopardize their employment, financial security, access to higher education, and overall psychological wellness (Enriquez et al 2018;Cadenas et al 2018;Gonzales et al 2018).…”

“…The DREAMers have been unequivocally been used as political pawn by politicians during the Trump administration to increase border militarization and rationale for detention centers. Studies that examine the negative impact of terminating DACA argue that ending DACA would not only put thousands of beneficiaries at risk for deportation, including 24,100 students, but terminating the program would jeopardize their employment, financial security, access to higher education, and overall psychological wellness (Enriquez et al 2018;Cadenas et al 2018;Gonzales et al 2018). The DREAMer and the good narrative are purposefully constructed terms and identities that better absorbed by those who are privileged by systemic oppression because this language is non-threatening to the dominant group in the U.S.…”

The Power of Inclusion: Theorizing “Abjectivity” and Agency Under DACA

“…Notably, nearly two thirds are women. The NURP interview protocols were designed to explore how DACA-eligible youth were experiencing their new status and how they perceived its impact on their lives (see Gonzales, Ellis, Rendón-García, & Brant, 2018 for further details). The current study focused on identifying central themes in the subjective experiences of respondents and the ways these were related to their new contexts of reception.…”

Atado al sueño de ser adoptado por un país que no es el tuyo: La definición de Dreamer desde la perspectiva de los jóvenes migrantes

“…La visualización de los jóvenes migrantes indocumentados se refleja en la creciente literatura que busca explicar las diferentes maneras en que el estatus migratorio ha afectado su inserción en los Estados Unidos. Durante todo el siglo XXI varios autores han destacado los efectos de una situación migratoria indocumentada, su permanente temporalidad -o liminalidad legal-como una forma de violencia jurídica que afecta la vida cotidiana de niños y jóvenes en su transición hacia una vida adulta (Gonzales R. G., 2012;Menjívar, 2006;Gonzales, Ellis, Rendon-Garcia, & Brant, 2018). Muestra también cómo las decisiones de política impactan en la transición de los jóvenes de la infancia a la adolescencia y del proceso de aprendizaje que implica para ellos transitar a la ilegalidad (Gonzales R. G., 2016).…”