Americans by Heart: Undocumented Latino Students and the Promise of Higher Education by William Perez (review)

"We have to finish the job," said President Obama, two months after being reelected to a second term, about his plans for reforming immigration. This declaration speaks to the type of change most immigration reform advocates have been fighting for. Not since the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 has immigration reform gained such momentum.

Although undocumented children and young adults are typically brought here through no fault of their own, they have faced significant penalties in educational and economic mobility. As a counterpoint to the media rhetoric that frames undocumented Latino immigrants as drains on public resources or as criminals, William Perez's Americans by Heart: Undocumented Latino Students and the Promise of Higher Education explores the potential for undocumented students to contribute to the economic and civic life of the United States.

The book is based on a two-year study in which Perez collected observational, interview, and survey data about 110 undocumented Latino students enrolled in high schools, community colleges, and universities across the United States. The majority (73%) of the sample resided in California, followed by 17% from Texas, 4% from Virginia, and the remaining 6% from Georgia, Missouri, New York, Washington, and Washington, D.C. (pp. 14-15). He used multiple methods of data collection to provide an in-depth understanding of how, in the face of significant barriers, these students not only engage academically and socially in secondary and higher education, but also participate in civic and community activities.

Perez begins by examining the political context influencing immigration reform in the United States. He addresses how economic policies such as the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) caused economic disparities in Mexico that resulted in significant increases in Mexican immigration to the United States. He also discusses undocumented students' limited access to economic and social opportunities and the policies that constrain these opportunities, such as limited access to postsecondary financial aid, lack of access to social services, and minimal chances to find gainful employment. Together, these macro-level factors exacerbate various psychological and social stressors for these youth, including the feeling of being marginalized by the stigma of being undocumented.

In Chapter 2, however, Perez points out how these youth have developed the resiliency to cope with these feelings and economic limitations. Such strategies involve the "immigrant optimism" (Kao & Tienda, 1995). They (a) value educational and economic opportunities in the United States, (b) believe that, in accordance with the concept of the American Dream, individual mobility is possible due to hard work, and (c) minimize and resist perceptions of undocumented immigrants as criminals or as drains on public resources. Perez presents themes from qualitative data indicating that, in addition to these personal protective mechanisms, these students also rely on social support from educators, parents, or peers to contend with their stressors and economic hardships.

Chapters 3 and 4 focus on the academic and civic engagement of undocumented Latino students. In these chapters, Perez presents quantitative survey data indicating the frequency of participation in various academic and civic activities relevant to his respondents' stage of education. Furthermore, he discusses the results of a qualitative analysis to enhance our understanding of students' experiences in these activities, as well as the personal qualities and social supports that fuel their participation.

Findings indicate that many students are engaged in these activities because of their determination to succeed, which is a central part of their identity. Many of these students receive academic awards, hold positions of leadership, participate in extracurricular activities in high school and college, and volunteer. This level of engagement is even more remarkable, considering that many of these students are employed a significant number of hours per week and must deal with transportation difficulties in reaching extracurricular or community sites.

In Chapter 5, Perez addresses how community colleges play a role in undocumented Latino students' pursuit of higher education...