A Recap of the 20th Annual Marjorie Pay Hinckley Lecture with Roberto Gonzales
During the 20th Annual Marjorie Pay Hinckley Lecture, Roberto G. Gonzales shed light on the ambiguous terrain where the aspirations of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients, sometimes called Dreamers, intersect with the realities of limited rights and uncertain futures. He has found that many recipients are stuck in a see-saw pattern of upward mobility combined with vulnerability.
Gonzales is the Richard Perry University Professor, the 25th Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and he fulfills appointments in the Department of Sociology and the Graduate School of Education.
Since 1992 — years before the DACA program began — Gonzales has been involved in the study of undocumented immigrants. His book Lives in Limbo: Undocumented and Coming of Age in America explores the experiences of young undocumented immigrants and their assimilation into American culture.
“Where I land in Lives in Limbo,” Gonzales said, “is that the immigration status is a ‘master status.’” He explained, “this is a sociological term that refers to a particular trait or identity that overwhelms or dominates all the others. We typically think of gender and race, for example, as master statuses.”
When President Obama announced DACA in 2012, Gonzales knew it was an opportunity to study the effects of a policy change in a way that had never been done before.
Over the last 10 years, Gonzales’ National UnDACAmented Research Project has involved 65 researchers interviewing over 2,000 DACA participants. The study has shown the many positive effects of DACA because of the status its recipients gain. The final interviews of Gonzalez’s study will conclude this Spring, so watch for his follow-up book to Lives in Limbo tosee how he is making an impact
“We have seen young people seize opportunities to start building careers with a much clearer pathway,” said Gonzales. “Additionally, stress levels decreased and individuals reported feeling higher levels of membership in their communities.”
“One could argue from a public policy standpoint that this is probably one of the most successful policies of immigrant integration in the last three or four decades just looking at this factually,” said Gonzales.
On the other hand, DACA beneficiaries suffer from the impermanence of the program and become more vulnerable to its limitations for citizenship as time goes on. For example, recipients must renew their status every two years and there are often delays with paperwork that put people “out of status.” When an individual is out of status they must leave their job until the process is completed and they are approved for another two years in the program. This pause can be a major setback for careers and education.
Gonzales also found that the stress and fear of being deported does not disappear even when the status is active and up to date because DACA fails to provide an avenue to citizenship. Many participants reported feeling stuck under a new glass ceiling.
Many theories of immigrant assimilation show some type of linear trajectory. However, Gonzales’ research has led him to conceptualize the experience of DACA recipients as more of a seesaw.
“The constant up and down of feeling hope then falling back into semi-citizenship is incredibly challenging,” Gonzales said. “However, for many of these young people the barriers that I’ve described did not have an overall leveling effect because many of these DACA beneficiaries all along have been moving up in terms of their occupational mobility. . . but at the same time feeling this vulnerability”
Gonzales concluded, “In the short term, this program gives its beneficiaries a giant boost. [This policy and others like it] also have powerfully shaped personhood and agency and addressed questions of belonging — but their temporary and partial nature leaves many issues unaddressed.”
Student Q&A following the lecture
Emma Lindberg, a senior in Global Supply Chain Management from San Antonio, Texas, asked a question that was representative of questions from a handful of students, “What is the best way to spread awareness and help regular people understand that this is an issue they should care about?”
Gonzales replied that he has chosen to make a difference by studying the challenges immigrants face and writing about it to raise awareness. He then invited students to consider what opportunities are within their sphere.
“Where is that space where you want to have an impact? What do you care for and care enough about to want to devote your time to it,” asked Gonzales. “Having an education gives you a platform to choose to make an impact. That’s not a formula at all and I’m putting the question back to you so you can decide how to make that change.”The event ended with Gonzales encouraging students to find individual ways they can learn more about the challenges faced by those around them and discover ways they can facilitate change — both great and small.
Watch the full lecture and learn more about the Marjorie Pay Hinckley Endowed Chair in Social Work and the Social Sciences here.
