Papers by Roberto G. Gonzales
Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies
Critical migration scholars argue that undocumented 1.5-generation immigrants occupy distinct for... more Critical migration scholars argue that undocumented 1.5-generation immigrants occupy distinct forms of “abject” statuses, as legally excluded yet physically included members of society. Implemented in June 2012, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program promised to alleviate the situation of many undocumented young persons in the United States by providing them with temporary work authorization, social security numbers, and protection from deportation. Using critical psychological theory, we examine how DACA altered the condition of “abjectivity” characterizing DACA recipients’ lives, revealing how partially inclusive immigration policies can (re)create liminal subjectivities and give rise to new modes of agency and belonging.
Ethnicities
In response to a changing immigration enforcement landscape, a growing number of studies have sou... more In response to a changing immigration enforcement landscape, a growing number of studies have sought to understand the impact of immigration policy and practice on a new and growing population. Recent scholarship has uncovered layers of stratification within undocumented populations, while some scholars have argued that illegality is a “master status.” In this article, we argue that these two ideas are not in tension. That is, certain traits or identities (e.g., race or gender) can be master statuses while also exhibiting layers of stratification. While our understanding of illegality is consistent with the master status framework, we recognize variation within that category. Our point of departure is the recognition that the experiences of undocumented children differ greatly from those of undocumented adults. From this observation, we point to four salient axes of difference and stratification that shape varied and unequal pathways for undocumented youth and young adults: (1) educ...
Research in Human Development
Drawing on in-depth interviews with 408 beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arriva... more Drawing on in-depth interviews with 408 beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA), this article examines how they experienced their new status and improved adult trajectories as they transitioned from an undocumented to a DACAmented status. Authors' analyses suggest that DACA had a nearly immediate and positive impact on adult trajectories, delaying certain aspects of the "transition to illegality." In addition, authors found differences in the experiences of respondents who received DACA at earlier and later stages in their transition to adulthood. Nevertheless, important limitations of the program continued to keep DACA beneficiaries in a developmental limbo.
RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences
Journal of Research on Adolescence, 2016
In the United States, 5.3 million children and adolescents are growing up either with unauthorize... more In the United States, 5.3 million children and adolescents are growing up either with unauthorized status or with at least one parent who has that status. Until recently, little in the way of research has informed federal, state, and local policy debates related to unauthorized status (e.g., border enforcement, deportation, and a pathway to citizenship) although these issues have important implications for youth development. This statement is a brief summary of the research evidence on multiple domains of development that may be affected by the child or parent's unauthorized status. We also describe the contextual and psychological mechanisms that may link this status to developmental outcomes. We summarize a range of policies and practices that could reduce the developmental harm to children, youth, and their families stemming from this status. Finally, we conclude with recommendations for policy, practice, and research that are based on the evidence reviewed.
Northwestern Journal of Law Social Policy, 2008
1 To protect confidentiality, all names of individuals and organizations have been replaced with ... more 1 To protect confidentiality, all names of individuals and organizations have been replaced with pseudonyms.
Society, Jul 7, 2009
Abstract Changes in immigration laws over the last three to four decades have given rise to unpre... more Abstract Changes in immigration laws over the last three to four decades have given rise to unprecedented numbers of undocumented children. However, as others have argued, policies regarding the control of undocumented migration have had deleterious effects on undocumented children and their basic access to social rights. Undocumented youth in the United States can legally attend K-12 education, but cannot legally work, vote, receive financial aid, or drive in most states. Their situation calls for a reexamination of ...
Center For Latino Policy Research, Feb 16, 2011
For 1.5-generation undocumented youth, the transitions from childhood to adolescence and adulthoo... more For 1.5-generation undocumented youth, the transitions from childhood to adolescence and adulthood involve exiting the legally protected status of K-12 students and entering into adult roles that require legal status as a basis for participation. Gonzales' research finds that this collision among contexts makes for a turbulent transition and has profound implications for identity formation, friendship patterns, aspirations and expectations, and social and economic mobility. As undocumented children make important life course transitions, they move from protected to unprotected, from inclusion to exclusion, from de facto legal to illegal. Moreover, as these young people move into early adulthood between shifting legal contexts, they must learn to be "illegal," a process involving an almost complete retooling of daily routines, survival skills, aspirations, and social patterns. These findings have important implications for the studies of immigrant 1.5 vs. 2nd generations, their transitions to adulthood, and the specific and complex ways in which legal status intervenes in their coming of age.
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2015
A growing literature has examined the prevalence of transnational engagement among children of im... more A growing literature has examined the prevalence of transnational engagement among children of immigrants. However, few studies have been equipped to analyse underlying dynamics that serve to impede or perpetuate transnational practices among them in the United States. In this article, we compare transnationalism narratives between 1.5- and second-generation children of immigrants to more fully adjudicate enduring transnational ties over time. Our analysis of 134 interviews from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study suggests that children of immigrants from Southern California conceptualise transnational experiences in diverse but remarkably similar ways. The meanings attached to transnational behaviours and identities employ certain patterns, and are often related to strength of kin-based ties, ethnic language fluency, and levels of structural access to the homeland. Moreover, findings indicate that the second-generation is nearly as transnationally engaged as the 1.5-generation. This provides novel but limited evidence in support of claims that transnational ties are sustained across generations.
Harvard Educational Review, 2015
Advancing Responsible Adolescent Development, 2016
Harvard Educational Review, 2015
In this article, Roberto G. Gonzales, Luisa L. Heredia, and Genevieve Negrón-Gonzales present a n... more In this article, Roberto G. Gonzales, Luisa L. Heredia, and Genevieve Negrón-Gonzales present a nuanced assessment of how undocumented immigrant students in the United States experience the public educational system. Though the landmark 1982 Supreme Court ruling Plyler v. Doe has resulted in hundreds of thousands of undocumented children being educated in US K–12 schools, much of Plyler's promise still eludes them. Drawing data from multiple studies conducted with undocumented youth in California, the authors argue that schools perform three critical social functions—as integrators, as constructors of citizenship, and as facilitators of public and community engagement—that shape the educational experiences and political and civic participation of undocumented immigrant youth. They suggest that while schools hold the potential to engender a sense of belonging and membership for undocumented immigrant students, they often fall short of this promise. The authors argue that constrai...
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2015
Critiques, Experiences, and Responses, 2013
International Migration, 2012
Abstract This article assesses how two key institutions differentially shape immigrants' rel... more Abstract This article assesses how two key institutions differentially shape immigrants' relationship to their rights in American society. We draw on over 200 in-depth interviews to argue that there is a stark difference between how schools encourage undocumented youth to view themselves as equal members of US society and how undocumented workers are marginalized in the workplace. We find that even as schools track and stratify students, they also foster a culture of meritocracy between documented and undocumented youth. ...
Abstract: The current political debate over undocumented immigrants in the United States has larg... more Abstract: The current political debate over undocumented immigrants in the United States has largely ignored the plight of undocumented children. Yet children account for 1.8 million, or 15 percent, of the undocumented immigrants now living in this country. Although not born in the United States, these children have, for the most part, grown up in the United States and received much of their primary and secondary school education here. Without a means to legalize their status, they are seldom able to go on to college and cannot work legally in ...
An Interdisciplinary, Searchable, and Linkable Resource, 2015
Over the past thirty-five years, federal immigration policy has brightened the boundaries of the ... more Over the past thirty-five years, federal immigration policy has brightened the boundaries of the category of undocumented status. For undocumented young people who move into adulthood, the predominance of immigration status to their everyday experiences and social position has been amplified. This process of trying to continue schooling, find work, and participate in public life has become synonymous with a process of learning to be "illegal." This essay argues that despite known variations in undocumented youths by race, place, and educational history, undocumented status has become what Everett Hughes called a "master status." The uniform set of immigration status-based exclusions overwhelms the impact of other statuses to create a socially significant divide. The rise, fall, and survival of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, a policy offering qualified youths a temporary semi-legal status, have underlined how closely access and rights hew to the contours of contemporary immigration policy.
Cultural Studies Critical Methodologies, 2019
Critical migration scholars argue that undocumented 1.5-generation immigrants occupy distinct for... more Critical migration scholars argue that undocumented 1.5-generation immigrants occupy distinct forms of “abject” statuses, as legally excluded yet physically included members of society. Implemented in June 2012, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program promised to alleviate the situation of many undocumented young persons in the United States by providing them with temporary work authorization, social security numbers, and protection from deportation. Using critical psychological theory, we examine how DACA altered the condition of “abjectivity” characterizing DACA recipients’ lives, revealing how partially inclusive immigration policies can (re)create liminal subjectivities and give rise to new modes of agency and belonging.
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Papers by Roberto G. Gonzales