ABSTRACT
Although immigrants and their American-born descendants have been integral to the forging of America as a nation, immigration status is a significant source of social inequality in contemporary America, most specifically for undocumented immigrants (Ewing, 2012a). As of 2013, there were an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the Unites States, most of them from Mexico and Central America (Krogstad & Passel, 2014). The many social inequalities experienced by these immigrants derive almost entirely from the currently unresolved and increasingly contentious policy debate in Congress regarding a pathway to citizenship for them. This unresolved policy debate has left undocumented immigrants, a large number of whom research indicates have American-born children and have resided in the country for years, in a legal limbo (Passel & Cohn, 2011). In this limbo, undocumented immigrants have few of the legal rights, protections, or access to needed services afforded to documented immigrants or citizens (Passel & Cohn, 2011). Despite their importance to the workforce and the fact that their fiscal contributions to the economy exceed the cost of the services they use, they are among the most vulnerable and oppressed populations in the nation (Congressional Budget Office, 2007).
