Navigating liminality: Building resources for and with undocumented students

Author

• Yaneyry Delfin Martinez, Humboldt State UniversityFollow

Graduation Date

Spring 2026

Document Type

Project

Program

Master of Arts degree with a major in Public Sociology

Committee Chair Name

Michihiro Sugata

Committee Chair Affiliation

Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff

Second Committee Member Name

Caglar Dolek

Second Committee Member Affiliation

Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff

Keywords

Undocumented, Undocumented student, Undocumented student activism, Community-based participatory research, Rural community action, Dreamer Center, Student resources, Legal liminality, Scholars without Borders, Ambiguous Belonging, Grassroots organizing

Subject Categories

Sociology

Abstract

Rooted in Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Liberation Sociology, this project outlines an institutional blueprint for the resources and support systems needed to address the lived realities of undocumented students at Cal Poly Humboldt (CPH). Conducted during the second Trump Administration amidst escalating hostility towards immigrants and attacks on DEI initiatives, this work documents both the structural conditions shaping undocumented students’ lives and the collective resistance that emerged in response. Furthermore, it examines how immigration policy, access to and restrictions on federal and state aid, geographic conditions, and on-campus barriers reproduce and maintain legal liminality within higher education. Grounded in ten in-depth interviews, participant observations, informal conversations and utilizing thematic coding, critical discourse analysis, and reflexive methodologies, five major institutional gaps were identified: inaccessible legal services and lack of transparent immigration protocol, limited paid professional development opportunities, basic needs such as scholarships and food assistance alternatives, and the absence of culturally responsive mental health support. Rather than treating participants solely as research subjects, undocumented students were positioned as collaborators, co-designers, and knowledge bearers who actively shaped interventions and institutional responses. The development and implementation of multiple student-centered initiatives were documented, including clearer and more accessible legal services and immigration enforcement protocol, a mental health support group, scholarship awards for immigration-related expenses, food assistance program, paid development opportunities and workshops, and undocumented student-centered campus events.

Citation Style

ASA

Recommended Citation

Delfin Martinez, Yaneyry, "Navigating liminality: Building resources for and with undocumented students" (2026). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2558.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2558