What Happens to a Dream Deferred? Identity Formation and DACA

Abstract

This article reports on a qualitative research study that explored the lived experience of seven Latinx DACA recipients. Using narrative inquiry, the study tests the Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model (Robles, 2015), a five-stage identity development model of undocumented Latinx youth. The study gives voice to the hopes, dreams, and challenges these young adults face. Findings revealed that participants demonstrated a high degree of resiliency. Ultimately, participants were able to fashion their struggles into a transformative experience that gave them hope and a positive vison for their future. Success in school and in their career was a means of protesting against the limitations placed upon them. Meaning and purpose was achieved through creating community and by taking ownership of their immigration status, through fighting for their rights and for the rights of other immigrants.

Keywords

DACA Latinx immigration identity development

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, brought to the United States as infants and children, transition to adulthood in legal limbo. They can work but are barred from citizenship. They have access to a social security number but cannot vote. They can attend college but are prohibited from receiving federal aid. They must renew their documents every 2 years. There is no guarantee they will be allowed to remain in the United States (National Immigration Forum, 2016).

In September 2017, the Trump administration announced the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. DACA and the legal status of the “dreamers” will be decided by the Supreme Court in a ruling expected by June 2020 (Haberman & Kanno-Youngs, 2020).

Growing up “DACAlimited,” a term used to describe the legal restrictions inherent in their immigration status (Benuto et al., 2018), DACA recipients navigate unique challenges negotiating the major tasks associated with emerging adulthood and identity formation, such as education, vocation, and interpersonal relationships. For DACA recipients, the normal developmental challenges associated with identity formation are complicated by their growing awareness of the narrowing of life’s opportunities, the sense of quasi belonging, and an uncertain future.

This complicated identity development trajectory requires a cohesive model so that the varied clinical presentations can be contextualized within the unique political, legal, and social circumstances that surround an undocumented youth’s coming of age. Drawing on Cross’ original model of identity development for African Americans (Cross, 1971, 1991), which placed the experience of exclusion and historical oppression as central to understanding marginalized youth’s identity development, Robles (2015) proposed the Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model. Robles’ heuristic conceptual model, based on clinical observation and a synthesis of the literature, shares with Cross the emphasis on “encountering” racism or societal rejection as the event which ushers in the identity development crisis that seeks to be resolved. The Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model delineates the non-linear stages of identity development that undocumented youth go through as they reconcile their marginalized membership in the country, they consider home.

This article reports on a qualitative research study that explored the lived experience of seven Latinx DACA recipients. Using narrative inquiry, the study tests if the Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model (Robles, 2015), a five-stage identity development model of undocumented Latinx youth, applies to DACA young adults and tests if the model serves as a useful lens to provide clinicians a better understanding about the DACA experience. The study gives voice to the hopes, dreams, and challenges these young adults face. It investigates the impact that President Donald Trump’s administration has on macro-level processes, such as immigration policies, as well as micro-level processes impacting DACA recipients’ life aspirations.

DACA: An Overview

Legislative efforts to address the legal status of undocumented immigrant children date back to August 1, 2001 when Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) proposed the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. The proposed bill was intended to provide undocumented students who met certain requirements a pathway toward citizenship. However, it failed to garner sufficient support to be passed into legislation. Although this attempt failed to provide legal status to undocumented students, it raised public awareness about some of their struggles. As a result, undocumented students became known as “Dreamers,” and their stories were brought to the forefront of the immigration debate. Several iterations of the DREAM Act were introduced in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2017; however, they all failed to pass (American Immigration Council, 2019).

President Barack Obama established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) on June 15, 2012 by executive order. DACA provided legal protections for certain youth who arrived in the United States as children. It deferred deportation for renewable two-year time periods and permitted access to legal employment. In some states, DACA recipients can obtain drivers licenses, in-state college tuition rates, in-state college tuition financial assistance, and professional licensing credentials.

However, U.S. citizenship continued to be denied to DACA recipients along with several key benefits: Travel outside of the United States is restricted; they are ineligible for most forms of government health care assistance including the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicaid, and tax credits under the Affordable Care Act (Define American, n.d.). Professional licensure eligibility varies by state and this heavily influences DACA recipients’ career aspirations, thereby reinforcing the “DACAlimited” paradigm (Benuto et al., 2018).

DACA Demographics

There are approximately 690,000 DACA recipients in the United States. The vast majority of them (87%) were born in Latin America. Approximately 80% of them were born in Mexico, with the remainder born in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Peru. The age range of DACA recipients is approximately 15 to 32 years old. DACA recipients are almost as likely as U.S. adults in the same age group (15–32) to be enrolled in college, at about 18% compared to 20% (Zong et al., 2017). However, they are less likely to have completed college at 4% compared to 18% of U.S. adults. Finally, 44% of DACA beneficiaries have completed secondary education, but have not enrolled in college, and an additional 20% remain in secondary school (Zong et al., 2017).

Literature Review

Undocumented Youth: Identity Development

Undocumented Latinx immigrants in the United States have a marginalized social status. Their ability to live and work in the United States is tenuous and subject to shifting political policy. DACA was intended to be an interim solution to address the social ailments prevalently experienced by undocumented youth. For many years, DREAMERS anticipated a more permanent act from Congress; however, there have been no further advances in securing a comprehensive legal solution for DACA recipients. Moreover, as we have seen, DACA recipients are vulnerable to shifting political positions. The Trump administration has demonstrated the fragility of DACA protections through attempts to curtail and eliminate DACA altogether.

Researchers have identified social activism and higher educational attainment as the main instrumental, interpersonal, and psychological strategies used by undocumented youth to accomplish the main goals of identity work, that is, maintain self-esteem, successfully interact with the mainstream and heritage cultures, and manage the risk of internalizing racist narratives (Cross et al., 2017; Chang et al., 2017; Ellis & Chen, 2013; Nicholls, 2013).

Becoming Undocumented

The legal status of being undocumented is a hidden or invisible identity as compared with marginalized identities that are defined by a visible physical characteristic, such as skin color or age. Villazor (2013) draws comparisons between persons who are undocumented and members of the LGBTQ+ community, suggesting that “coming out” for persons with a hidden sexual identity parallels process of undocumented persons who “out” themselves to their social circle. Outing one’s immigration status is similar to “outing” one’s sexual orientation. Villazor (2013) notes that when persons who are undocumented disclose their immigration status, they are publicly “outing” themselves despite stigma, shame, and risk of deportation. As such, their act is contextualized as an act of resistance against legal subordination.

Mallet et al. (2017) conducted a qualitative study of challenges faced by undocumented children who transition to adulthood. Findings suggest that as this population grows older, they lose many of the social protections they had as minors, such as access to educational institutions. As they age, they shift to a more legally vulnerable status. The study suggests that young undocumented immigrants struggle with establishing a foundational sense of belonging to American society.

Several studies have examined educational access and barriers among Latinx undocumented college students (Abrego, 2006, 2008, 2011; Dougherty et al., 2010; Flores & Horn, 2009; Roth, 2017). These studies focus on obstacles that undocumented college students face and highlight their resilience and persistence.

The terms “DACAlimited” (Benuto et al., 2018) and “legal liminality” (Menjívar, 2006) are used to describe the uncertain status of DACA recipients. These terms encompass both the psychologically, destabilizing sense of being in limbo and of non-belonging, as well as the legal limitations placed on DACA recipients, such as the restrictions on travel or obtaining federal aid for higher education. Liminal legality is an “in-between” status in which immigrants possess social security numbers and work permits but have no guarantee of eventual citizenship (Robles & Gromberg-Munoz, 2016).

Chang et al. (2017) identify activism as central to the identity formation and successful coping of undocumented students. They posit that activism imparts “critical hope” and allowed for identities to be developed in a strategic and organic way, thus establishing “a foundation for continuing to move forward and push back against the seemingly devastating options before them” (Chang et al., 2017, p. 209). Paradoxically, the primary vehicle of “critical hope” is investment in the “American dream,” as academic persistence and success—along with activism—become crucial to the identity work of undocumented students navigating a hostile sociopolitical environment. Ellis, Gonzales, & Rendón García (2019) similarly call for a “critical psychology” perspective that examines how dominant social systems organize to oppress groups and how undocumented youth, a legally excluded and physically included oppressed group, can mobilize a sense of “agency and resistance” in the face of partial objectivity.

Early Ethnic and Racial Identity Formation Models

Developmental theorists operationalized racial and ethnic identity into stages that paralleled the lifespan. Cross (1971, 1991) developed a five-stage model for African American identity that served as a template for subsequent ethnic and racial identity models and that has been subject to extensive quantitative and theoretical analysis. The five-stage model is comprised of (1) Pre-Encounter; (2) Encounter; (3) Immersion/Emersion; (4) Internalization; and (5) Internalization/Commitment.

The Cross Model emphasizes the psychological de-stabilizing impact of a young adult encountering racism for the first time. He suggests that the “Encounter” with racism (stage two) develops into an immersion with Black culture (stage three), a sense of security with one’s own racial identity (stage four), and ultimately, to an overall commitment to support the well-being of Black Americans and an openness to relationships with whites (stage five).

Expanding the Lens of the Original Racial and Ethnic Identity Multi-Stage Models

Cross’ original model—with its emphasis on sequential steps—was expanded by subsequent research and theory using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Sellers et al. (1998) developed the Multidimensional African American Identity Development Model, a tool to measure black identity development. The creation and testing of the instrument provided empirical support for how personal ideology around race and the importance of racial identity influences identity development. Sellers et al. (1998) also identified two variables—salience and centrality—which measure the importance of race in a person’s daily life. Salience is the tendency of a person to define themselves in terms of race at a point in time. Salience will vary according to the situational context people find themselves in. Centrality, on the other hand, will impact salience and is a more stable trait that reflects the extent to which race is a core part of a person’s identity, regardless of the situational context. Lastly, Sellers et al. (1998) identified and measured the variable regard: the extent to which a person feels positively or negatively toward being a member of the African American community and the valence of their feelings toward African Americans.

In 2014, Umaña-Taylor et al. expanded the theory of ethnic and racial identity (ERI) development to include the importance of context. Umaña-Taylor et al. (2014) emphasize that contextual factors are particularly important for those in the numerical minority in a country; this is especially true if the group experiences marginalization and discrimination vis a vis the majority group in the country. As an example, they cite a study where Latinx youths’ ERI increased significantly for those who went from a predominantly Latinx school to a predominantly White school in early adolescence. Those who remained in predominantly Latinx schools saw no change in their ERI.

The Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model

The Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model (Robles, 2015) provides the theoretical framework for this study’s qualitative analysis. This model was selected because it provides a framework to understand the unique challenges that DACA recipients face in navigating the tasks associated with identity formation. Robles (2015) adapted the Cross Model (1971, 1991) to understand identity development among young adult undocumented Latinx college students. The five-stage Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model is:

(1) Pre-Encounter—unaware of undocumented status (and/or of its consequences).

(2) Encounter—a situation brings awareness of undocumented status and its consequences

(3) Identity Disintegration and Alienation—despair at not being heir to the American Dream

(4) Mourning—the loss of identification with American Dream.

(5) Adaptation—the process of rebuilding identity and planning for the future begins.

Robles (2015) emphasizes that the stages are neither linear nor static. That is, a youth who is in the Adaptation phase, may also feel alienated or lapse into a significant phase of Mourning. Similarly, increasingly virulent rhetoric against undocumented youth may precipitate a renewed Encounter phase in a youth who was engaging in productive adaptive actions.

DACAlimited is a term that many youth with DACA use to describe their increasingly marginalized status. The current study examined the themes that emerged from the oral histories of seven Latinx youth with DACA status. The oral histories were analyzed for themes around their immigration story, their acculturation experience, and finally, their coming of age experience during an anti-immigrant administration.

Methods

Narrative inquiry was selected as the qualitative research approach used in this study. Narrative inquiry, originating in the social sciences and subsequently expanded in multiple disciplines, holds as a central tenet that human beings develop an identity through a process of creating a narrative or a story about their life. These narratives serve as a way for human beings to create a coherent sense of identity (Butina, 2015; Frost, 2011). In a seminal article that provides a framework for a scientific approach to understanding personality, McAdams and Pals (2006) suggest that an ongoing process of an internalized and evolving constructed narrative is central to identity development. They argue that human beings create stories of a reconstructed past and an imagined future in order to make meaning, coherence, and purpose of their life.

Narrative inquiry was selected for this study in order to understand how DACA recipients conceptualize identity development, with particular regard to their immigration status. Narrative inquiry was particularly well-suited to this study because it enabled participants to share their lived experiences and their reality through their stories.

Procedure

DACA recipients are a “hidden population.” Hidden populations are those in which public acknowledgment of membership in the population is potentially risky (Heckathorn, 1997). Finding DACA recipients for the study was difficult because of fear among undocumented students that “outing” themselves may bring legal repercussions for themselves and their families (Sahay et al., 2016). Further, under the current political climate, which includes retrenchment by the government to end DACA, even those under DACA protection may experience ambivalence in disclosing their immigration status. Given the tenuousness of their immigration status, the stigma and discrimination that they have experienced as a marginalized and oppressed group, and the fact that they have relatives living in the United States (parents and other loved ones) who are undocumented, it was necessary to establish trust to recruit participants.

Sampling

Snowball sampling was employed to reach the study population. This technique is frequently used when trying to gain access to “hard-to-reach” or hidden populations (Heckathorn, 1997). Participants were recruited through word of mouth and through utilizing personal contacts. Qualitative data was obtained through the semi-structured phone interviews. Once a participant was identified, the lead researcher contacted the participant and emailed them an informed consent to sign. Subsequent to agreement to participate in the study, a mutually convenient time for a phone call was established. All study subjects that participated were compensated $25 dollars for the interview. Participants described their maturation from childhood to young adulthood, their memories of their country of origin, and their journey to the United States. They shared the feelings they had upon learning they were undocumented as well as how they perceived their immigration status to have shaped their sense of self, affected their interpersonal functioning, informed their future aspirations, and determined life choices. Participants were asked about their experience with discrimination and how they felt their lives were affected by the Trump. The interview took approximately 1 hour. The researcher took care to establish rapport with the interviewee, and to explain the purpose of the interview. The interview was structured around 10 set questions with open-ended, follow-up questions. This format was selected because it provides structure while offering participants control over what they choose to share, and it allows for developing in depth responses. While the sample population was small, themes were consistent across interviews, suggesting that sample saturation was achieved.

Coding

Coding occurred in two stages and employed a deductive method. For this study, a codebook was developed a priori, based on the theoretical framework of the Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model. In stage one, the narrative transcripts were analyzed by the lead researcher for the presence or absence of conceptual themes that were derived from the theoretical framework provided by the Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model (Robles, 2015). Only the lead researcher analyzed the transcripts in stage one of the coding for confidentiality. Qualitative research often begins with a set of preliminary or foundational themes as a means of integrating concepts from the existing literature. This deductive method starts with an organizing framework for coding (Bradley et al., 2007). Through careful reading and re-reading of the data, the narratives were culled for quotes that fit with the thematic categories established by the Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model (Robles, 2015).

In stage two of the coding, the lead researcher provided a random set of de-identified transcripts and the preliminary codebook to a team of two coders who independently reviewed the transcripts and the finalized code structure. The coders reported an 80% agreement with the coding, thus confirming coding reliability.

Demographics

The study sample is comprised of seven DACA recipients from Latin America who are currently living in the state of New York. All individuals self-identified as Latinx or Hispanic and as DACA recipients. Five identified as women and two identified as men. Their ages ranged between 19 and 29, with the average age of 23.

Six participants were born and migrated from Mexico, and one participant was born and migrated from Colombia. Study participants’ country of origin mirror the demographics of the DACA population, which, as noted previously, is primarily Mexico.

The age participants arrived at the United States ranged from 1.5 to 7 years old. At the time of the study, six participants were enrolled in higher education: two in community college, three in a 4-year college, and one in graduate school. One participant completed an associate degree and works full-time. All other participants were employed part-time. One participant self-identified as being a parent. Table 1 displays the demographic information.

Table 1.

Participant Demographics.

Participant	Sex	Age	Age of arrival to the US	Country of origin	Level of education	Employment
P1	Male	29	6	Mexico	Graduate School	Part-Time
P2	Female	23	6.5	Mexico	College	Part-Time
P3	Female	22	6	Columbia	Community College	Part-Time
P4	Female	25	4	Mexico	College	Part-Time
P5	Female	24	1.5	Mexico	Completed AA Degree	Full-Time
P6	Female	20	7	Mexico	College	Part-Time
P7	Male	19	2	Mexico	Community College	Part-Time

Stage One: Pre-Encounter

In the Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model, similar to the Cross Model (1971, 1991), the Pre-Encounter stage is a period of relative innocence. Robles (2015) notes that “the immigrant youth may not be aware of their undocumented status and/or may not realize that it limits their opportunity to engage in many young adult rites of passage such as driving or getting a job.” During this stage, there may be a period of identification with the American dream that has historically propelled many immigrants: hard work and education are the keys to success and economic prosperity.

Consistent with the Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model (Robles, 2015), findings reveal that study participants who entered the United States as very young children had limited understanding of why they were being brought to the United States. They expressed minimal trauma or loss about their journey to the United States, and they had correspondingly limited knowledge of their undocumented status until they were older. These study participants reported unremarkable and stable childhoods. As such, consistent with the Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model, study participants who came to the United States under the age of 3 reported being unaware of their immigrant status until they reached middle school. These participants described their childhood as “happy” and “ignorant about politics.”

In contrast, participants who were developmentally old enough to recall the journey to the United States described the separation from the country of origin as scary, confusing, and sad. These participants recalled their journey to the United States with significant distress. Themes of separation, from parents and grandparents, infused a profound sense of loss.

One participant, who journeyed to the United States from Mexico when he was 6 years old said:

My parents crossed the border by walking the desert. They decided the journey was too dangerous for me, so we split up. I went with a group of children in a car. I was given a fake name and identity. They changed my appearance. I was crying. I was confused, scared, and sad. My family reunited in San Diego. I was very frightened. It was an intense experience.

One young woman who came to the United States at age 7 recalled her journey:

I wanted to come to the US because my father was already here. I tried three times to cross the border but got turned back. It was not easy. The third time, I was able to walk on my own, and I held my little sister. I was able to help my mother. I was incredibly sad about leaving my grandparents.

A third participant, who was born in Mexico, and who came to the United States at 7 years old, related that her parents came to the United States first, leaving her in the care of an aunt and uncle. She described a profound sense of loss for her parents and related traumatic memories of her life in Mexico without them:

It was very traumatizing living with my aunt and uncle. They were very strict. They punished me, and they were violent. I never felt safe. I had to clean the house and make the beds for my male cousins and do all the chores. I was unsure when my mother would come back for me and I was very sad. At age 7, my aunt and uncle brought me to the U.S. I had to walk across the desert. I slept in a bed filled with bugs, but I didn’t care because I knew I was returning to my mom and dad.

Study participants who were old enough to have developed cognitive abilities to reason, to think abstractly, and to form memories expressed being traumatized by their journey to the United States, which they recalled as arduous and frightening, and by the separation from their parents and loss from their country of origin. For these children, while they had yet to learn the extent to which their life choices were shaped and restricted by their undocumented status, they understood from a young age that they were hiding or in danger in the United States.

For example, one participant who came to the United States at age 6 related that his parents raised him to keep their immigration “story” a secret; he must not tell friends, classmates, or teachers, about their journey to the United States. As a child, he knew that his family was different from other families and that he needed to keep family secrets in order to protect them.

Stage Two: Encounter

Robles (2015) hypothesizes that the “encounter” for undocumented youth often occurs as high school ends, typically when they find out that their immigration status excludes them from working, driving, accessing financial aid for college, and/or traveling abroad. Realizing that their peers have freedoms and opportunities that they are prohibited from is profoundly unsettling and can lead to extreme anxiety and despair.

Consistent with the Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model, one participant describes the first time he became aware of the limitations imposed upon him because of his immigration status:

I remember the moment I realized how much my immigration status impacted me. There was a big push in high school for everyone to apply for financial aid, and I told my teacher I didn’t have a social security number. My teacher looked upset, and it made me feel hopeless and embarrassed. She couldn’t do anything to help me. It made me feel dumb.

This participant related that he dropped out of high school and obtained a GED. He described feeling frustrated and resentful when his friends graduated from high school, saying, “that should have been me.” Ultimately, he enrolled in a community college, which he credits his father for pushing him to do.

One young woman recalls her “Encounter” when she learned about her undocumented status. She explained:

My parents never told me I was undocumented until I was 15 years old. My friends, who were turning 16, were getting learners’ permits. I wanted to get a permit too. My parents sat me down and explained to me that I couldn’t get one because I was undocumented. A lot of things that didn’t add up before now made sense, like why I was never allowed to travel. I was very angry because I could not do the same things as my friends. My best friend invited me on a family trip to Europe, and I couldn’t go. I was initially very angry at my parents. I asked them, “Why did you bring me here?” My mom told me she was sorry.

Participants in the “Encounter Stage” described the shock of racism and its impact on their self-concept. One young woman said:

I hated walking down the hallway during high school because the girls made fun of my long black hair. I hated myself for not looking like them. I had low self-esteem.

The experience of being discriminated against in high school and feeling stigmatized was expressed by another young woman. She recalled:

I was bullied by my classmates. The white girls taunted me about being Mexican. I saw a person of color push my mother down a flight of stairs. He cursed at her and I was scared. I didn’t realize the impact of not having U.S. citizenship until high school. It’s hard to be the one person who can’t go abroad when all your friends travel. I felt social stigma. I didn’t want to stand out. No one wanted to speak about it – the guidance counselors didn’t understand. I couldn’t get the same college resources. I got accepted to good universities, but I could not afford it.

For these participants, the ongoing experience of racist taunts, gendered aggression, and assault toward themselves and/or their families, intersected with their feelings of frustration and anger over the structural limitations in inherent in their immigration status. Their experiences of discrimination and marginalization, microaggressions, physical attacks, and structural limitations are located at the intersection of several discriminated against identities.

Stage Three: Identity Disintegration and Alienation

The awareness that life possibilities are being narrowed ushers in the next stage, Identity Disintegration and Alienation (Robles, 2015). During this stage, undocumented youth may isolate themselves from peers as they fear trusting the wrong person and/or the stigma of their undocumented status. In addition, undocumented youth may compare themselves unfavorably to peers who are not hindered by an “illegal” immigration status. Furthermore, the lack of citizenship in the country that they thought was their home instills anxiety, fear, uncertainty as well as identity incoherence. This shame and stigma emerging in this stage was described by one participant, who explained:

I felt frustrated and upset. I could not do things others could do. I made up excuses to my friends. I never shared my status. I did not want my friends to look at me differently. I had a secret. I wasn’t popular and I didn’t want anyone to know about me.

One young man spoke about his resentment and bitterness over finding out his life choices were being circumscribed in relation to his peers. He described his feelings:

I was angry and frustrated that my friends were able to go to school. I worked as a line cook. I was angry that I had to clean gunky sewage pipes while my friends were out experiencing different things. I said to myself, ‘This is the pinnacle of what I’m going to reach.’

Stage Four: Mourning

In this phase, undocumented youth are mourning the loss of the idealized dreams of a future which is not circumscribed by uncertainty (Robles, 2015). The realization that life aspirations may not be attainable ushers in a period of mourning. Consistent with the Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model, following the “encounter” and its concomitant confrontation with the limitations inherent in their immigration status, which leads to the subsequent period of identity disintegration, participants in the mourning phase become disillusioned, detached from their friends, and isolated. They express feelings of resentment and frustration over their situation. This period is marked by a decline in school performance as many abandoned dreams of higher education, grades began to slip, and some dropped out of high school. One participant said:

I applied for a pre-law program but then I thought, “If you are undocumented, how are you going to pay for law school?” So, because of that, I am not going to law school. It is demoralizing and traumatizing. I clearly remember the day they rescinded DACA. I felt disillusioned that even if you are living the “Dreamer” narrative and doing everything right, you are still not good enough. I live in a two-year limit. It is very scary; the laws are racist.

One participant shared his reaction to finding out that he was undocumented and described his experiences with discrimination.

I had a lot of resentment toward the world. I would not stand for the Pledge of Allegiance in high school. My teacher called me a racial slur. . . I was in BJs supermarket with my family. I was helping my sister, and my niece was telling a story in Spanish. A lady comes up to us and said, “teach your daughter to speak English.”

One young man described how he felt after graduating from high school and his sense of despair and his lack of self-confidence as a result of his immigration status:

After high school. I had all these ideas but limited options that I could not explore. I wanted to be an art student. I wanted to study interior design. But with my status and no money or help, trying to go to school was a waste of time. My father pushed me to go to school, but I had no faith in myself. I felt very overwhelmed. Every decision revolves around my immigration status. I prepare for the worst-case scenario.

Stage Five: Adaptation

Robles (2015) describes the final stage of the Undocumented Adult Development Identity Model as adaptation. In this stage, the process of mourning is largely accomplished. The emerging adult has, for the most part, accepted their immigration status as well as the limitations and restrictions associated with it. Findings reveal that adaptation for the study sample to be complex because of the political reality unfolding at the time of the study.

The study was conducted during a period in which DACA was eliminated by President Trump. Moreover, the Dreamers were frequently used by the Trump administration as a bargaining chip to further the administration’s goals, such as building a wall along the southern border between the United States and Mexico. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and the increased detention of undocumented immigrants was being reported by media, alongside images of children and cages being locked up at the border.

The political reality made it difficult for study participants to adapt to their immigration status due to fear, uncertainty, and anxiety. One participant said:

The day Trump got elected, I could not sleep. I was so afraid because of the way he runs America and I was afraid of the people who voted for him. I can feel it walking down the street. People do not respect me. I live in fear that one day I will get pulled over by the police or someone who doesn’t like Hispanics will harm me.

The unsettling impact of the current political reality was confirmed by another participant who explained the destabilizing effect of the political environment, but also suggested that activism was an option for her and acted as a counterbalance, enabling her to feel energized and positive.

Since Trump got elected, I feel like everything is overwhelming. It feels like too heavy a burden. I feel less hopeful. Things are scary, things are escalating. I want to avoid it and block it out. But later I reflect on advocacy and rallies. I went to a May Day rally. I want to be part of a movement, to be an activist.

Similarly, another participant recounted his feelings when President Trump was elected, and he described the galvanizing effect it had on him:

When Trump was announced President-Elect, I sat down in shock. I lost faith in the U.S. I thought we were screwed. My sister is DACA too. I felt scared about what would happen. In a positive way, his presidency got me so involved in politics. I feel like I have to become active.

Another participant spoke about the vilification of undocumented immigrants in politics and its effect on him. He explained how the negative portrayal of immigrants in the media and by politicians instilled the desire in him to achieve:

It is made to look like immigrants are why everything is bad. I want to prove them wrong. It makes me want to excel. I want to prove to people in power that Mexicans are more than what how we are portrayed.

Findings

Findings confirm the five-stage Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model, with some nuances identified. The fit of the “Pre-encounter” and “Encounter” stage varies depending on the age that the child was brought to the United States. Findings suggest that the older the child was when arriving in the United States, the greater the trauma associated with the journey. Loss from one’s country of origin, relatives and friends, and fearful experiences during the journey itself, are seared into memories. Thus, there is no period of “blissful ignorance” for these children. To the contrary, it is likely that their transition from their country of origin to the United States constituted a traumatic event. Conversely, children who came to the United States under the age of 3 did not have traumatic memories of separation from the homeland or of the journey itself. These participants also reported a sense of security as Americans, safe in the nation they considered “home.” For these children, the “encounter” stage was a terrible shock. They were psychologically unprepared for the limitations they faced as undocumented immigrants. In comparison, children who came to the United States at an older age had already some idea that their status in the United States was “questionable,” even though they lacked clarity about what that meant.

Participant narratives support the third stage: Identity Disintegration and Alienation. Participants uniformly described a sense of alienation from their peers who, they increasingly realized, were able to engage in pivotal young adult rites of passage that were denied to them e.g., obtain a learner’s permit to drive a car, access federal aid and travel abroad. The participants described feelings of shame and stigma about their undocumented status. They kept their immigration status a secret and became isolated from peers. Their school performance deteriorated.

Stage Four, Mourning, was also supported by the narratives. Participants revised their image of their future selves from one in which they aspired to be successful professionals, such as a lawyer or interior designer, to a negative self-concept in which they described their future in uncertain terms, one in which they now lacked confidence. They began to describe their future selves as socially marginal and unsuccessful.

Remarkably, despite these challenges during their adolescence, all participants ultimately adapted to their immigration status and were able to achieve identity integration.

Even though the participants uniformly acknowledged that they lived with uncertainty about their future and were anxious about the current political climate, they all demonstrated the ability to cope with their feelings of chronic anxiety and uncertainty

Several central tendencies emerged as protective factors for these emerging adults, mitigating feelings of apathy and defeat. First, participants uniformly described being motivated by social justice activism. One participant said, “I want to volunteer to help people learn English. I want to be part of a movement, to be politically active.” Another participant described her desire to help undocumented immigrants as a source of motivation and inspiration, stating, “I see myself as a lawyer, working on social justice campaigns to help undocumented immigrants.”

Another participant expressed a similar sentiment about helping undocumented immigrants. She explained:

I am very forward looking. I want to work with undocumented high school students. I want to give back. I want to be part of a community of people with similar narratives to my own and to help them.

Thus, the narratives confirmed previous research (Abrego, 2011; Chang et al., 2017; Muñoz, 2015) that identification with social activism as a means to build agency and purpose. The desire to fight against the injustice they experience shaped their self-perceptions, instilling pride in their identity and positive identification with their cultural heritage. As one participant expressed it, “Yo soy Mexicano and estoy orgulloso” (I am Mexican, and I am proud).

The desire to help others who shared similar problems and to be part of community of undocumented immigrants serve as strong protective factors that facilitate a sense of purpose and belonging. As such, the inherent stress resulting from an adverse political climate was, on the one hand, anxiety producing and frightening. On the other hand, the perceived unfairness of their immigration status elicited the desire to fight back, and thus, was an energizing force that stimulated agency and purpose. Interview data confirms the work of prior research that undocumented Latinx students create meaning, hope, and purpose through the actions of political organizing and fighting for immigration reform and by pursuing career paths that can help other immigrants, such as law and social work. Through proudly and publicly owning their immigration status, by pursuing the desire to help other immigrants, study participants created a positive vision of themselves, one that enabled them to image their future selves with strength and ambition.

Religion as a means of finding community and coping also emerged as a powerful theme in the narratives. Participants identified the role of religion and faith as a powerful source of coping and reliance, identifying their belief in God and spirituality as a significant method of managing daily uncertainty and anxiety about their future. Participants reported being deeply connected to faith-based institutions, including the Catholic Church and the Seventh Day Adventist Church, as well as other Protestant Denominations. For participants, faith-based organizations provided a safe and accepting community, one in which they felt safe and which provided a sense of belonging. The desire to belong was a potent force, as participants sought community to offset their multifaceted experiences of rejection from institutions and groups in the United States, from which they felt excluded. Faith-based organizations, in contrast, were identified as an important space that welcomed them into a collective community.

Limitations

Although the narratives in the study yielded thematic saturation, the sample population for the study was small and they all grew up in the same geographic region. As such, the findings may not be generalized to all DACA recipients. In addition, it is possible that the snowball sampling technique, which relies on personal referrals from participants, skewed the sample.

Future Research

There are several recommendations for future research. First, a cross section of DACA recipients could draw from a more geographically diverse pool. Second, employing an intersectional lens in the interview guide that examines nuances in identity development, for example gender and sexual identity differences, and how multiple identities intersect, could be explored more deeply, and make a significant contribution to the field. The theme of religious affiliation and religious belief systems as a support mechanism for undocumented young adults needs to be examined further as it has not been prominently featured in the literature though it was a prominent protective factor in the current study.

Lastly, this study suggests that operationalizing the Undocumented Adult Identity Development Model may be helpful in getting a broader understanding of undocumented youth. A quantitative scale may, for example, identify students in a stage of protracted Mourning and/or Identity Disintegration and treatment recommendations can be more socio-culturally appropriate. A struggling student can be helped, for example, to affiliate with supportive peers who have adapted to their status and are eager to support others. A quantitative scale may also help determine with more precision what factors are associated with adaptation and assist in the broader behavioral health program planning for undocumented youth and young adults.

Theoretical and Policy implications

The act of suppressing one’s identity for fear of rejection, discrimination, or for any other reason can be emotionally damaging. Consistent with the findings of this study, research studies identify secrecy and shame as central to the development of negative self-concept among undocumented college students (Yasuike, 2019). Participants in this study shared the stigma and shame they felt about being DACA, and the pressure they felt to hide it from their peers in order to be socially accepted. Shame and secrecy contributed to their experience of identity disintegration, alienation, and loss following their “encounter” with discovering their immigration status. In school settings and among their friends, the participants described their shame and embarrassment and the feeling of being “dumb,” suggesting that the shame surrounding their secret immigration status contributed to academic deterioration. Further, for DACA participants, keeping their immigration status secret has practical, as well as, emotional consequences, because by not sharing their status, for example, with a guidance counselor, DACA recipients may restrict their ability to take advantage of available resources.

Secondary schools can create welcoming and supportive environments for DACA recipients in multiple ways, thereby counteracting feelings of stigma and shame. For example, banners that proudly welcome DACA recipients can be hung prominently in central areas of the school. Educating the school personnel, including mental health professionals, about DACA, so that the school staff are attuned to the psychological and practical needs of undocumented emerging adults can help to mitigate the feelings of alienation and marginalization expressed by DACA recipients. It may be that many high school students do not self-identify as undocumented to guidance counselors and so the students cannot receive accurate information. Accurate information for undocumented students regarding their academic and work alternatives should be visibly available as reading material and as online resources for students who will not self-identify. Ideally, these resources will be integrated into resources given to all students so that the stigma is attenuated.

Conclusion

All participants described a period of destabilization during the formative years of high school, consistent with stage three, Identity Disintegration and Alienation, and stage four, Mourning. However, unlike the Undocumented Adult Development Identity Model, this destabilization was not necessarily ushered in by a young adult’s initial realization of their undocumented status or by their realization that they were part of a marginalized community. For some participants, a traumatic immigration journey in childhood or an early childhood exposure to virulent racism meant there was no time of naive blissful unawareness of their status and/or social marginality. For these young adults, late high school highlighted the discrepancy between their opportunities and the opportunities of their legal status peers, and this realization was painful. It did not however, pierce a pre-existing sense of safety and belonging.

The narratives confirmed the uniform experience of a period of social isolation and a deterioration in school performance as all the participants fully grasped the limitations inherent in their immigration status in late high school. Stages three and four were accompanied by shame, stigma, and negative self-concept which eventually gave way to a positive adaptation. However, all participants demonstrated a high degree of resiliency, and several forces facilitated their resiliency. Ultimately, participants were able to fashion their struggles into a transformative experience that gave them hope and a positive vision for their future. Several factors fostered that resiliency and they often involved a conscious decision to dis-identify with negative societal narratives about undocumented adults.

In that, their sense of belonging and attachment to American was fraught and uncertain, and as a reaction to their quasi-legal status and the stigma that they experienced growing up, participants pushed themselves to create safe, positive, and welcoming communities for themselves and for other undocumented immigrants. Success in school and in their career was a means of protesting against the limitations placed upon them. Meaning and purpose was achieved through creating community and by taking ownership of their immigration status, through fighting for their rights and for the rights of other immigrants. Additionally, religious beliefs and religious affiliations provided a foundational sense of hope that motivated them despite having a legal status that may have been a source of despair.

This study supports a process-oriented perspective of the identity development of undocumented youth and suggests the need for increased mental health support for undocumented youth in their later high school years. It is during these years that the pain of limited options has the potential to be processed and adaptively transformed into educational and civic engagement. In addition, the study suggests that naturally occurring supports in the community—whether through religious affiliation or student dreamer groups—provide a needed safe haven from less welcoming or understanding milieus.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author Biographies

Jessica Rosenberg, LCSW, PhD, is Professor and Co-Chairperson of Social Work at LIU-Brooklyn. Dr. Rosenberg is a licensed clinical social worker who is bilingual Spanish speaking, and the majority of her clinical work has been in service provision to Latin American immigrants diagnosed with serious mental illness. Dr. Rosenberg is past president of the Long Island University Faculty Federation, the union serving all full and part-time faculty at Long Island University. Dr. Rosenberg has published books and articles on the topic of mental health, social work practice with immigrants, asylum seekers, and labor unions. She is the author of Working in social work: The real-world guide to practice settings and the co-editor of Community Mental Health: Challenges for the 21^st Century, now in its 3rd edition. Dr. Rosenberg would like to acknowledge the Immigration and Global Social Work Commitee of the National Association of Social Workers, NYC Chapter, for providing a field placement which enabled students to develop core competencies in human rights and social justice on behalf of immigrant communities.

Sally Robles, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Brooklyn College as well as the Director of Outreach in the Personal Counseling Program. She has held progressively responsible positions in academia including direct service clinician, a founding faculty member of the M.A. program in Mental Health Counseling, and Director of Clinical Training. She has additional expertise in Psychological First Aid for campus critical incidents (including student protests), campus-wide health and wellness initiatives, curriculum development and disparities in college counseling center utilization and outcome. She has presented in numerous regional and national conferences. She is a member of the American Psychological Association’s Minority Fellowship Program Training Advisory Commitee.

Marlon O. Agustín-Méndez, MSSW, was born in Oaxaca, Mexico. Led by a desire to provide their son a promising future, Marlon’s parents immigrated with him to the U.S. However, as a DACA recipient, Marlon has encountered many challenges in completing a college education. Due to these experiences, he is passionate about advocating for educational equity among immigrant communities. His other areas of experience include the provision of social work services to court involved communities. He currently serves as a Forensic Social Worker at The Legal Aid Society. Marlon earned his BSW from CUNY - Lehman College and a MSSW in Social Enterprise Administration and International Social Welfare from Columbia University.

Marlon’s Acknowledgments: I would like to acknowledge my ancestors, both past and present. Through their own struggles, they have paved the way for me to attain what they could not. Their legacy will continue to echo for many generations to come. A most sincere thank you to Oliva and Eusebio, they taught me to work hard and remain humble. Thank you, Elohim.

Emma Cathell, MSW, is a Senior Administrative Analyst with the NYC Department of Social Services. She graduated from Columbia University School of Social Work (CSSW) in 2019 with a Master of Social Work degree and concentrations in policy practice and international social welfare. Emma has experience working with local government and nonprofit organizations and with populations of migrant farmworkers, immigrant families, and persons with lived homelessness experience. During her graduate education, she interned with the Immigration and Global Social Work Committee of the National Association of Social Workers – NYC Chapter, and she worked as a research assistant with the previous dean of CSSW. After graduating from North Carolina State University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Social Work and a B.A. in Spanish Language & Literature, she spent two years in Hidalgo, Mexico as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant at a technological university.

Astrid Casasola, MSW is a Behavior Support Specialist with the Children and Family Treatment Support Services program of Children’s Aid. She earned her BSW from the University of South Carolina and is a MSW recipient from Columbia University where she concentrated on Social Enterprise Administration and International Social Welfare. Her previous experiences with at-risk youth, adults living with HIV/AIDS, and as an intern with the Immigration and Global Social Work Committee of NASW-NYC elevated her journey as a social work professional. Astrid is the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants and as a first-generation college student, has been given a unique insight into the world of immigrants which continues to ignite her passion for the field.

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