Current Projects

Dr. Enriquez’s current research projects focus on how immigration policy and institutional resources impact the educational and wellbeing outcomes of undocumented college students.

 

 

Undocumented Student Equity Project (USEP) The Undocumented Student Equity Project is dedicated to conducting rigorous empirical research to inform institutional policies and practices that will advance equity and inclusion for undocumented students. Dr. Enriquez co-founded the project in 2015 in collaboration with undocumented and allied undergraduate and graduate students at UC Irvine. It has supported a series of projects on the academic experiences and wellbeing of undocumented college students.

Our report can be found here.

UC Collaborative to Promote Immigrant and Student Equity (UC PromISE)

The UC Collaborative to Promote Immigrant and Student Equity is a multi-campus collaboration dedicated to fostering cutting-edge research on immigrant “illegality.” It focuses on how current immigration policies have exacerbated vulnerabilities among undocumented students and expanded collateral consequences to citizen students with undocumented parents. Dr. Enriquez led a survey UC undergraduate students focusing on how immigration policies have affected the educational experiences and wellbeing of undocumented students, U.S. citizen students who have undocumented parents, and U.S. citizen students who have legal immigrant parents. It aims to identify ways to better support and promote the educational success and wellbeing of undocumented college students and students from mixed-status and immigrant families. In addition, the project is dedicated to developing a cohort of scholars conducting policy-relevant research in this field through a series of fellowships and conferences. This work is supported by a UC Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives grant.

For additional information about the ongoing research, please click here.

Immigration Policy and the Making of Unequal Educations

This book project focuses attention on the immigration policy context to demonstrate how unequal outcomes emerge for undocumented young adults and the citizen children of undocumented parents and what educational institutions can do to intervene. It draws on ten years of interview and original survey data spanning six projects with Californian undergraduate students. The book will examine undocumented college students’ experiences: 1) over time to assess how educational experiences and outcomes have shifted due to the changing federal and state immigration policy context, and 2) contextualize them within their institutional context to assess if, how, and the extent to which educational institutions can moderate the effects of the current immigration policy context on academic performance, educational engagement, and post-graduate preparation. Further, it examines how and the extent to which current immigration policy context disrupts the educational experiences and outcomes of U.S. citizen students with undocumented parents. Findings will guide educational institutions and practitioners in how to advance educational equity among this marginalized student population. This work is supported by a National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship.