DACA AND THE DIFFERENTIATED LANDSCAPE FOR COLLEGE ACCESS: EXPERIENCES FROM A NEW DESTINATION STATE

Abstract

The differentiated legal landscape that undocumented students face varies considerably across the United States. This study articulates the multiscalar and socio-legal contexts that frame the limitations and opportunities for undocumented youth accessing higher education in a new destination state. The Virginia experience as a southern and new immigrant destination is instructive. Virginia is the only southern state that offers in-state tuition for DACA holders, and then expanded tuition equity to all undocumented youth who graduate from high school in the state. Through surveys, a focus group, and coordination with a not-for-profit organization, we were able to survey 117 students, the majority of whom have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). We conclude that local and state-wide actors, institutions, and networks exist in Virginia that are critical to understanding the necessary pathways for undocumented youth to obtain higher education. Yet the ability of these students to remain in the US as skilled workers and/or college students is currently threatened at the federal level, especially with efforts to eliminate DACA.