Mestizx Undocuscholars in Academia: Centering Cuentos of Cyberspace Aliens from the Diaspora of Twitter

“Si tu supieras lo dificil que es caminar por este sendero…no me persiguerías, me abrazarías y en mi llanto me acompañarias.” (Junior)

This exploratory qualitative research study centered on the cuentos of six Mestizx (a gender neutral term referring to a person of Indigenous Mexican and European ancestry) undocumented scholars (“undocuscholar”), aka DREAMers (referring to young people impacted by the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM Act), from the diaspora of Twitter. It examined how these six undocumented students achieved academically at four-year universities across the United States. Participant setting and semi-structured interviews took place through the direct messaging feature on Twitter. This study used a narrative inquiry approach for data collection followed by a grounded analysis of data for synthesis. During the coding process, three major themes were identified: (a) La Lucha, (b) Resistance, and (c) Logros. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for educators and educational institutional leaders. This research also recognized the need for an Undocumented Critical Theory and developed a theoretical framework particular to the Mestizx undocuscholar experience. The analysis then focused on their ontology to answer the research question: What are the experiences and life journeys of Mestizx undocuscholars, aka DREAMers, who successfully navigate or complete a degree at a four-year university in the United States? This led to the discovery of a healing transactional process between Mestizx undocuscholars and their families, allies, and communities. This research constructs a theory by analogy by comparing the healing qualities of Vivaporú to Mestizx undocuscholars.