In his book, Yoshikawa writes, “The undocumented parents in our sample lived this paradox: the very same government that could deport them also offered resources to their citizen children, in the form of public supports for families in poverty.”

Oftentimes, he says, parents do not know about opportunities for their children, or might be reluctant to pursue them for fear of being exposed as an illegal citizen.

“[The families] were avoiding situations where they had to show a lot of paperwork and identify their employers,” Yoshikawa says.

Because children are unable to seek out these opportunities themselves, Yoshikawa writes, parental involvement is vital for their early development.

For Joanna Marquina ’10, whose mother was an undocumented immigrant, it was her father’s conditional residency that allowed her to be involved in these opportunities at a young age.

“We found out about different opportunities that I think my dad was able to push us toward, because he had the advantage of residency,” she says.

Marquina says her father had previously been married to an American but later divorced her and overstayed his visa. Despite the complications, she said his status still allowed him to work and provide for his children.

“We were really dependent on him and took our lead from him,” she said. “He was the one who encouraged us to do well in school and take advantage of different resources within the community like libraries or enrolling us in bilingual preschool.”

When Marquina began excelling in her studies, she said her father was able to go to her teachers and inquire about additional resources.

“Just having the comfort of not being found out makes you feel more comfortable looking for other opportunities and asking certain questions,” she says.

However, Marquina said her cousins and other children she knew were afraid to pursue educational opportunities due to their parents’ undocumented status.

“You don’t really know who was in charge of certain things or if they were going to ask questions dealing with your status or if anything was dependent on your status,” she said.

IMPROVING THE SYSTEM

Though Yoshikawa is an expert in child development, he says his research is relevant to the larger immigration debate. In his opinion, Yoshikawa says the lack of assistance to undocumented parents is a “public failure.” He has testified in front of Congress and appeared on NPR about this research, and says the developmental delays of children who grow up with undocumented parents is an argument for immigration reform.

“If you play by the rules and demonstrate commitment and contribute to the United States, you should have an opportunity to get in line and wait for citizenship,” he says.

—Staff writer Michelle M. Hu can be reached at michellehu@college.harvard.edu.