Dr. Edelina Burciaga: Latin American immigrant experience
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Unusually high numbers of immigrants from Latin America have recently arrived in Denver, New York, and other U.S. cities, where they face financial, legal, and personal barriers to becoming part of these communities.
On Wednesday, July 24, 2024, SciLine interviewed: Dr. Edelina Burciaga, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Colorado, Denver. See the footage and transcript from the interview below, or select ‘Contents’ on the left to skip to specific questions.
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Introduction
[0:00:19]
EDELINA BURCIAGA: I’m Dr. Edelina Burciaga, and I am an assistant professor in sociology at the University of Colorado, Denver. And my research really looks at the role of legal status, specifically focusing on undocumented young people—how legal status shapes the transition through adulthood for undocumented immigrant young adults.
Interview with SciLine
What factors affect educational opportunities of recent Latino/a immigrants?
[0:00:49]
EDELINA BURCIAGA: I think when thinking about educational opportunities for Latina and Latino immigrants, it’s important to understand that legal status really plays a role in the opportunities that people who come here as immigrants have. And so, my research looks at undocumented immigrant young people. And in 1984, the Supreme Court held that immigrants—no matter what their legal status is—can access public education through 12th grade. So, when children are coming and joining our schools, I think it’s really important for them to enter schools that have robust English language learner programs, infrastructure to build strong homeschool partnerships, and abilities to communicate with their parents in their own languages. However, once immigrant young people graduate from high school—particularly for undocumented young people—we find that there’s more challenges navigating the road to college. They’re not eligible for federal financial aid. Dependent upon where they live, they may or may not be able to pay in-state tuition at colleges and universities. So, it gets a bit harder after elementary school for immigrant children.
How do federal policies influence the employment trajectories of recent Latino/a immigrants?
[0:02:11]
EDELINA BURCIAGA: This is an area where legal status really plays an important role. You know, how you come to the United States determines whether or not, when you arrive here, if you have access to a work permit or not. And by that I mean, if you come with a refugee status or as an asylee—so, with some kind of legal status—there’s typically a way for you to get a work permit while you’re here. If you come without legal permission, then you’re undocumented, and there’s no way for you to really work with legal permission. So, federal policy really governs how immigrants come. And that shapes their, you know, the ways that they’re able to work, not necessarily whether or not they are working, because I think, I’m sure as we’re all aware, we know many undocumented immigrants are part of our labor force. And I think one point that’s really important for people to understand is that regardless of someone who’s working with or without legal permission, it’s pretty typical for undocumented immigrants to still file taxes using an individual tax identification number. So, they are often still filing and paying taxes on the wages that they earned. So, I think it really makes a big difference how you come, and that impacts your employment trajectory.
How do state and local policies affect the employment trajectories of recent Latino/a immigrants?
[0:03:42]
EDELINA BURCIAGA: State policies do play an important role in the employment trajectories of immigrants. Again, this is an area where legal status matters. And I think one development that has happened in states like California and like here in Colorado—where I do some of my research—is the expansion of accessibility to professional licenses. Now, some might think, “Oh, this is—how important is it to get a professional license?” But there’s several occupations that require that individuals be licensed. And we can think of some of the more common ones, like lawyers or doctors, and I think there’s even some more uncommon ones, like hair stylists or estheticians— people that take care of your skin—child care workers, for example. And so, states like Colorado have expanded the ability for undocumented immigrants to get professional licenses so that they can use their education and training in service of their community. So, I think in that way, state and local policies really play an important role in facilitating entry into the labor market for particularly undocumented immigrants.
What aspects of a U.S. community shape Latino/a immigrants’ sense of belonging there?
[0:05:02]
EDELINA BURCIAGA: Belonging is such an interesting and exciting concept. I think it’s something we can all identify with as a feeling of being a part of, or wanting to be welcome and accepted. And for immigrants, I like to think of it as sort of the emotional aspect of immigrant integration—how are we including immigrants in our community? And so, I do think that because law and policy is such an important aspect of the immigrant experience, laws and policies that are welcoming, I think, really signal, you know, inclusion, which can lead to feelings of belonging amongst immigrants. I was doing interviews in 2017 and 2018. And I was doing interviews with undocumented immigrant young people. And at the time, the Denver State Capitol had put up a sign that said, we heart immigrants, and more than one interviewee—an undocumented young person—mentioned how that sign, although symbolic in a lot of ways, really sent an important message to them about their place in the Denver metro area and in the community in the Colorado community. So, I think that symbolic actions like that—actions that carry a lot of symbolic meaning—and then actionable items like laws and policies, can really signal to immigrants that they’re welcome and that they belong.
Are there policy or other solutions that improve the experiences of Latino/a immigrants, based on research?
[0:06:43]
EDELINA BURCIAGA: In my own research, I’ve looked at the impact of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was introduced in 2012. And that program had significant benefits, I mean, research at the national level, but my own research here in Colorado, showed that undocumented young people felt a greater sense of belonging and, you know, got jobs in the areas for which they were trained to study. High school teachers, who’ve gone on to be lawyers, have gone on to be childcare workers. It gave them a real sense of agency in their futures. And as they transition through adulthood, and so pilot programs like that, I think, really kind of acknowledged the reality of many of the undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States, which is they’ve been here for 10 or more years and have really built lives here. There’s other policy steps that states have taken on a state-by-state basis. And one that has shown my research has shown time and time again, to be really crucial is access to driver’s licenses. So, here in Colorado, undocumented immigrants can get driver’s licenses. And that’s made a huge difference in navigating the city. We live in a place where you need a car. Many places are places where you need a car, and to be able to drive with legal permission has made such a huge difference. I think other ways that, other policies that have been important are, you know, access to different types of health care whether that’s for reproductive health. And though I think those types of policies also can be really important for Latina and Latino immigrants.
Are there policies or other solutions that don’t work to improve the experiences of this group?
[0:08:44]
EDELINA BURCIAGA: I would say that in order to really understand—to answer this question—we need to look to the 1990s and 2000s, when there were various laws passed in states across the United States. The one that got the most attention was Arizona’s SB 1070, or your “Show Me Your Papers” law. And what research has shown is that these types of policies really make it difficult for immigrants— Latina/Latino immigrants, whether they are documented or undocumented—makes it difficult for them to navigate daily life. In the wake of the passage of laws like that, we see school attendance go down significantly for young children. We hear about people not leaving their homes for fear of something happening to them or a family member. And this can also become an important public safety issue in terms of immigrants not wanting or feeling comfortable cooperating with local police. So I think those types of laws that really highlight one’s undocumented status or even kind of lead into racial profiling can be harmful to Latina/Latino immigrants, but also the Latino/Latino community writ large, regardless of immigration status. I think we also have to be mindful of the ways that we’re talking about immigrants, and undocumented immigrants in particular, that can lead to fear and anxiety, which my research shows that heightened rhetoric around this causes significant stress and anxiety for undocumented young people. So, I think that type of rhetoric can—anti-immigrant rhetoric—can have very real consequences for folks.
