Legal Status
Immigrants may be naturalized citizens, reside legally in the receiving country or not have legal residence documentation. In the United States there are a number of services immigrant parents and children have access to. If the parents are undocumented, US-born children still have the right to many services and programs. Check for local state and county services.
Booklet developed by Families for Freedom: Deportation 101
http://familiesforfreedom.org/sites/default/files/resources/Deportation101Manual-FINAL%2020100712-small.pdf
Services for Undocumented Immigrants in New York City
http://www.childrensaidsociety.org/files/upload-docs/11-Benefits_for_Immigrants-1.pdf
Health Care Access in California
http://healthconsumer.org/index.php?id=497
Youth are facing many problems associated to becoming undocumented and coping with illegal status (Gonzales, 2011). The primary school system in the United States disregards immigration status by focusing on merit; however, upon high school graduation legal status becomes crucial for taking advantage of higher education and labor market opportunities (Gleeson and Gonzales, 2012).
Youth may prefer to know they are undocumented early on, however early knowledge of undocumented status may lead to decreased academic performance, dropping out of school and lower aspirations (Abrego, 2006; Gonzales, 2011).
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative may be a good opportunity for youth since it aims to defer the deportation of young undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children and confer them authorization to work for a period of two years.
DACA United States Government Site
http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-process
National Immigration Law Center
http://www.nilc.org/dreamdeferred.html
Finding a significant other, a person youth can trust, a “positive family educational and professional role model” may help get undocumented adolescents successfully through high school and college and improve their management of expectations (Abrego, 2006; Gonzales, 2011).
References
Abrego, Janet Leisy. (2006). I Can’t Go To College Because I don’t Have Papers. Latino Studies, 4:212-231.
http://www.njdac.org/files/'I%20Cant%20Go%20to%20College%20Because%20I%20Don't%20Have%20Papers'.pdf
Gonzales, Roberto G. .(2011). Learning to be Illegal: Undocumented Youth and Shifting Legal Contexts in the Transition to Adulthood. American Sociological Review, 76(4):602-619. http://www.asanet.org/images/journals/docs/pdf/asr/Aug11ASRFeature.pdf
Gleeson, Shannon and Gonzales, G.R. (2012). When Do Papers Matter? An Institutional Analysis of Undocumented Life in the United States. International Migration, 50(4)1-19. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2435.2011.00726.x/abstract
Booklet developed by Families for Freedom: Deportation 101
http://familiesforfreedom.org/sites/default/files/resources/Deportation101Manual-FINAL%2020100712-small.pdf
Services for Undocumented Immigrants in New York City
http://www.childrensaidsociety.org/files/upload-docs/11-Benefits_for_Immigrants-1.pdf
Health Care Access in California
http://healthconsumer.org/index.php?id=497
Youth are facing many problems associated to becoming undocumented and coping with illegal status (Gonzales, 2011). The primary school system in the United States disregards immigration status by focusing on merit; however, upon high school graduation legal status becomes crucial for taking advantage of higher education and labor market opportunities (Gleeson and Gonzales, 2012).
Youth may prefer to know they are undocumented early on, however early knowledge of undocumented status may lead to decreased academic performance, dropping out of school and lower aspirations (Abrego, 2006; Gonzales, 2011).
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative may be a good opportunity for youth since it aims to defer the deportation of young undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children and confer them authorization to work for a period of two years.
DACA United States Government Site
http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/consideration-deferred-action-childhood-arrivals-process
National Immigration Law Center
http://www.nilc.org/dreamdeferred.html
Finding a significant other, a person youth can trust, a “positive family educational and professional role model” may help get undocumented adolescents successfully through high school and college and improve their management of expectations (Abrego, 2006; Gonzales, 2011).
References
Abrego, Janet Leisy. (2006). I Can’t Go To College Because I don’t Have Papers. Latino Studies, 4:212-231.
http://www.njdac.org/files/'I%20Cant%20Go%20to%20College%20Because%20I%20Don't%20Have%20Papers'.pdf
Gonzales, Roberto G. .(2011). Learning to be Illegal: Undocumented Youth and Shifting Legal Contexts in the Transition to Adulthood. American Sociological Review, 76(4):602-619. http://www.asanet.org/images/journals/docs/pdf/asr/Aug11ASRFeature.pdf
Gleeson, Shannon and Gonzales, G.R. (2012). When Do Papers Matter? An Institutional Analysis of Undocumented Life in the United States. International Migration, 50(4)1-19. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2435.2011.00726.x/abstract