Abstract
Immigration is a prominent issue in the United States (U.S.), and multiple ideas and programs have been presented or established to address the issue of immigration, specifically for undocumented individuals. However, despite the numerous attempts and proposals, the U.S. has not established any permanent and comprehensive solutions. This impacts and magnifies the challenges of individuals, such as undocumented students pursuing higher education, who encounter unique challenges that go beyond legal restrictions. These challenges stem from their experiences at the micro and macro levels which include, but are not limited to, interactions with their peers/colleagues/professors, higher education, the criminal justice system, the influence of recent presidential administrations, and the overall political environment in the U.S. As a result, the objective of this study is to better understand the impact of today’s civil and political unrest on undocumented students enrolled in a California State University (CSU), and to remind participants that they are not alone, to persevere, and to have faith in themselves and the future.This thesis provides valuable insights and aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of these students’ lives – personal, educational, political, professional and legal – and how they navigate their experiences with and/or in our criminal justice system while living in the U.S. To achieve this, three participants were asked upwards of forty questions during an interview, with topics covering their background, education, career experiences, and political climate. Each interview was in-depth, semi-structured, in English, approximately one hour, and conducted and recorded virtually via Zoom.
Through a thematic analysis of the collected data, a total of 13 themes emerged, highlighting several challenges and limitations these students have experienced in the U.S. which were narrowed down to three main themes. It is important to acknowledge the limitations of the sample size, which means the findings are not generalizable to a larger population. Thus, future research should expand the scope of research within the CSU system and nationwide to identify consistency with themes found here. Perhaps policy change and advocacy for the undocumented community can be developed through an analysis of this type, especially for those individuals who already have legal protection.