The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3 - 98

Amanda N. Davidson * Henoc M. Preciado

campus living experience is one where students can make meaningful and rewarding
relationships with their peers. For undocumented students, however, building these relationships can be extremely difficult when their
social identity prevents them from engaging
fully in the community.

Challenges in Funding On-Campus Living
For many students, living in campus and university housing can be truly inaccessible financially. Since many colleges and universities
make living on campus an option, selecting
to live on campus becomes a challenge when
undocumented students already face challenges meeting payment requirements for basic
tuition and fees. Colleges and universities
that require students to live on campus may
be inaccessible for undocumented students
altogether. As undocumented students increasingly enroll in colleges and universities, a
question to consider is why they would want to
live in campus housing when costs are oftentimes more than living at home or with family
or friends who can provide financial support.

Challenges in Engagement Within
Housing and Residence Life
Marginalizing experiences that impact engagement of undocumented students occur when
they attempt to navigate structural processes or
programs that are not created with their status
in mind, such as the application process to
become a resident advisor. For undocumented
students, the hiring process can pose a challenge. There may be requirements that exclude
individuals who are undocumented from entering selection processes, such as situations
when human resources paperwork might
require providing a social security card, birth

certificate, completing live-scan paperwork, or
state-issued identification. If students do not
have DACA, these requirements cannot be
met and have the potential to cause fear, panic,
and anxiety, and legally preclude their participation. The student may ultimately decide not
to pursue the position for these reasons and
may not even approach staff to question the necessity to submit these documents for employment consideration. If they choose to stay, they
may feel a need to confide in professional staff
about their immigration status, which requires
outing themselves to someone out of necessity
rather than through a desire to share.

PROMISING PRACTICES:
PREPARING HOUSING
PROFESSIONALS TO BETTER
SERVE UNDOCUMENTED
STUDENTS
Housing staff must work to better support undocumented students for healthy, inclusive experiences on campus. As previously described,
the challenges faced by undocumented students are numerous. However, housing professionals have the ability to train staff members
and ensure that undocumented students are
receiving equitable opportunities and experiences. In this section, some examples are provided about actions that campuses have taken
already to support this population of students.
This section is also designed to provide strategies, knowledge, and information that can be
implemented in various environments.

Awareness & Training
As more colleges and universities take steps
to make the experiences and opportunities of
living on campus more readily available to all

THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOUSING

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 3