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Under Contract with UNC Press

Conditioned to DREAM: The Broken Promises of Higher  Education for Undocumented Latinx Students.

In Conditioned to DREAM, I argue that the undocumented Latinx students I interviewed—most of whom had DACA—were deeply motivated to pursue higher education by three powerful American myths: the Education Gospel, the DREAM Act, and the American Dream. I explore the consequences of their college aspirations, revealing how they came to understand that the "Dream" they were chasing was more complex and precarious than they had imagined. Even after earning college degrees, these students faced the harsh reality that the dominant narrative surrounding undocumented Latinx people—one that frames them as "undeserving" of citizenship, personhood, and belonging—could be used against them at any time. Ultimately, the only thing distinguishing them from those deemed “undeserving” was their academic ambition and status as DREAMers.

Table of Contents

3/ Preface
10 / Introduction
34 / Migrant Illegality, Legal Liminality, and Legal Violence 
50 /Conditioned to DREAM
70 / Overcoming Barriers to Higher Education  
98 / Navigating the Liminality of DACA
128 /  Waking Up from the Dream  
158 /  Conclusion
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