Lives in Limbo author to speak at Scholars’ Convocation

Roberto Gonzales, author of Lives in Limbo and assistant professor of education at Harvard University, will give the Scholars' Convocation presentation at 11 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 8. The event, which is free and open to the public, is part of Grinnell College’s Global Politics of Migration and Refuge symposium.

Gonzales’s presentation, “From Undocumented to DACAmented: Understanding Legal Status in a New Policy Context” examines the success and shortcomings of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which President Obama introduced on June 15, 2012. Drawing from 474 in-depth interviews, Gonzales and his team found that while many of the program’s beneficiaries have increased access to school and work opportunities, many still remain in legal limbo.

Before his position at Harvard University, Gonzales held faculty positions at the University of Chicago and the University of Washington. His research focuses on the factors that promote and impede the education of immigrant and Latino students. He has been engaged for a decade and a half in the question of what happens to undocumented children as they transition to adolescence and young adult life.

Lives in Limbo, Gonzales’s new book, explores why highly educated undocumented youth share similar work and life outcomes with their less-educated peers, despite the fact that higher education is touted as the path to integration and success in America. Free copies of his book will be available at the talk, which will be held in room 101 of the Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center. 1115 Eighth Ave., Grinnell.

Grinnell College welcomes the participation of people with disabilities. Room 101 in the Rosenfield Center is equipped with an induction hearing loop system, which enables individuals with hearing aids set to T-Coil to hear the program. Individuals with a disability who need accommodations should contact Laureen Van Wyk at 641-269-4720.