Doctoral Dissertation Research: Immigration Law and Civic Embeddedness

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

SES-1434669 Cynthia Feliciano Edelina Burciaga University of California Irvine This dissertation research addresses a central topic in American public and intellectual discourse: the immigrant experience. This study specifically examines the integration experiences of the undocumented 1.5-generation. These are immigrants who came to the United States as children and yet remain without legal authorization. Current estimates suggest that approximately 1.8 million undocumented young people live in the United States. Distinct from the 1st generation who immigrated as adults and the 2nd generation who are similarly children of immigrants but are U.S. citizens, the undocumented 1.5-generation have developed values, identities, and aspirations that are influenced by growing up American, but are also impacted by the practical reality of living "illegally" in the United States. This dissertation study seeks to explain how the undocumented 1.5-generation manage and negotiate this legal and social paradox. In the absence of comprehensive immigration reform, state laws and policies have become increasingly salient in shaping the immigrant experience and immigrant integration. Employing a direct comparative research design of Latino undocumented young adults (24-34 years old) in Los Angeles, California (an established immigrant destination) and Atlanta, Georgia (a new immigrant destination), the dissertation examines if and how state policy contexts shape the incorporation pathways of the Latino undocumented 1.5-generation. It specifically asks how the experiences of undocumented young adults in Los Angeles compare to those who grow up in the Atlanta area? In-depth interviews and ethnographic fieldwork will be used to trace and compare four key aspects of social and economic incorporation; (1) educational pathways, (2) participation in the labor market, (3) participation in civics and activism (civic embeddedness), and (4) sense of belonging and identity development. This is a critical question to understand precisely because members of the undocumented 1.5-generation face narrowing opportunities as they transition to adulthood. The research hypothesizes that these opportunities are profoundly shaped by restrictive or expansive state policy climates. To date, Georgia has been one of the most aggressive states to limit the legal rights of undocumented immigrants while California has expanded legal rights. The positive theoretical impact of this project is to explain the mechanisms by which these divergent state law and policy contexts influence the social and economic mobility of the undocumented 1.5-generation, a group who for all intents and purposes are "American" but for their legal status. The results of this study will directly contribute to previous studies about immigrant incorporation in the field of sociology and law and social science studies. By comparing California and Georgia this project will contribute to public and legal understandings about the role and responsibilities of states to enforce and enact immigration law, and the implications of these laws for the social and economic mobility of the undocumented 1.5-generation.