UCLA

This study examines the college aspirations and access of Latino, undocumented students. In a time when college access is limited and a college education is necessary, the issue of academically qualified, undocumented students trying to enter the higher education system under tremendous odds is one that deserves a closer study. This dissertation unearths the methods that undocumented, Latino students utilize to gain access and succeed in U.S. colleges despite the financial constraints and social stigma associated with being an undocumented, Latino student in the U.S. The theoretical lens of Critical Race Theory is used to analyze the stratification of immigration status in the U.S. along with examining the consequences of racialization of the term "undocumented". Utilizing a mixed methods approach that uses qualitative and quantitative methods, this study benefits from 16 in-depth interviews with undocumented Latino students from Arizona and California and 290 complete surveys from undocumented Latino students across the United States. It was found that undocumented Latino students' challenges include dehumanization, denial of material resources like financial aid, and de facto/de jure oppression. By using support networks and a strong sense of hope, undocumented Latino students found ways to navigate their way to college. Last, by exploring the entanglement of racism and nativism, undocumented students provided a unique insight to these two forms of oppression.