Undocumented students without DACA are here. Our goal is to collaborate with schools, universities, and organizations to inspire and inform- away from fear and deficit - the long term graduation plans and current educational trajectories of undocumented students beyond any language barrier or immigration status.
Ariadne Pacheco graduated from Harvard (Ed.M. 2023) as part of the new generation of dreamers without DACA in the U.S.
Who are undocumented students without DACA?
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), grants work permits to undocumented minors residing in the U.S. prior to 2007 (USCIS, 2022). But children who enter the country after this policy cap, are denied the right to work and have restricted access to higher education.
For educational and legal spaces to assume that all undocumented children are protected by DACA fails to understand the difference between having a work authorization and increasing immigrant youth deemed to enter limited working conditions.
There is a plethora of data on the educational trajectories for undocumented students as DACA beneficiaries (Garcini et al., 2016; Gonzales, 2014; Terriquez, 2014; Kasinitz et al., 2009; Portes & Rumbaut, 2001). Yet a gap in school leadership remains on adolescents and young adults who transition college in the U.S. without a work permit. This unrecognized category of 100,000 students graduating high school every year in the U.S. without the protection of DACA stands understudied (Fwd.us, May 2022).
What we do
Newcomers, Emergent Bilinguals, and First generation students
- Keynote Speaker: My journey as a former newcomer to Harvard, in-person classroom visits and student empowerment about postsecondary opportunities and higher education.
- Professional Development and career workshops: How to navigate high school as a newcomer? Tips and advice on preparing for college and building your resume.
- Individual college consulting: Revising your college applications, editing essays, financial resources available, and personalized advice to succeed in your educational journey.
Parent and family empowerment
- Bilingual parent engagement workshops: How can parents support their kids in school and on their post graduation plans? How can schools develop cohesive relationships with parents via robust newcomer programs?
- Higher education empowerment and guidance on long-term educational opportunities
- Know-Your-Rights informational as immigrant families in Spanish and English
- Counseling on the power of being bilingual, school extracurriculars, AP and honors programs, access to summer opportunities or community resources.
Bilingual Curriculum Development and Research
- Partnering with school districts and multilingual departments to advance the curriculum and instruction of Language Arts classrooms and newcomer programs.
- Critical Awareness and incorporation of culturally relevant materials on the value of biculturalism and the power of family and community.
- Multimodal biliteracies: Use of flexible tools that facilitate language teaching and learning other than but not exclusive of English-only verbal communication. Audiovisual, digital, textual modes and artifacts such as culturally relevant books, podcasts, films that enrich bilingual classroom discourse analyses and student leadership.
- Translanguaging bridging Spanish and English to enhance lexical and grammatical bilingual writing and English proficiency.
- Engaging secondary-level curriculum that resonates to student experiences and classroom activities that foment strong teacher-student relationships and parent engagement.
- Graduate-level research
Colleges and Universities
- Professional trainings and presentations to comprehensively support undocumented students in higher education
Admission and enrollment challenges
Financial aid and Non-Employment Based Opportunities
Housing options
Job market and post graduation possibilities after college
In-campus experience and navigating college
Individual mentoring to students