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Educational Hopes, Documented Dreams: Guatemalan and Salvadoran Immigrants' Legality and Educational Prospects

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  • Cecilia Menjívar

    (School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University)

Abstract

This article focuses on the effects of an ambivalent legal status on Salvadoran and Guatemalan immigrants' experiences with the U.S. educational system, focusing on how liminal legality shapes access to educational opportunities and immigrants' perceptions of these opportunities. Drawing on the segmented assimilation framework and on thirty-four in-depth interviews conducted with Guatemalan and Salvadoran immigrants in Phoenix, Arizona, the author argues that an ambiguous legal status molds views and perceptions of educational prospects and, as such, is central in determining immigrants' place in the educational system. While waiting for their statuses to become regular, they dream of higher education—dreams that are for the most part unattainable. Their legality, while not the only determining factor, does exacerbate and facilitate other conditioning circumstances, such as financial difficulties, family separations, and so on, that also impinge on their educational prospects. This case highlights the importance of immigration policies in shaping assimilation in critical ways.

Suggested Citation

  • Cecilia Menjívar, 2008. "Educational Hopes, Documented Dreams: Guatemalan and Salvadoran Immigrants' Legality and Educational Prospects," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 620(1), pages 177-193, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:620:y:2008:i:1:p:177-193
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716208323020
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jennifer Glick & Michael White, 2003. "academic trajectories of immigrant youths: Analysis within and across cohorts," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 40(4), pages 759-783, November.
    2. Gonzalez, Arturo, 2003. "The education and wages of immigrant children: the impact of age at arrival," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 203-212, April.
    3. Charles Hirschman, 2001. "The educational enrollment of immigrant youth: A test of the segmented-assimilation hypothesis," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 38(3), pages 317-336, August.
    4. Nan Astone & Sara McLanahan, 1994. "Family structure, residential mobility, and school dropout: A research note," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 31(4), pages 575-584, November.
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    1. Jeehye Kang & Ingrid P. Whitaker, 2022. "Mexican-Origin Children's Educational Expectations and Academic Performance: Disparities Across Maternal Legal Status and Children’s Immigrant Generation," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(3), pages 1191-1216, June.

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