McNair Scholar: Rosio Villanueva’s Experience Fuels Research Into 1996 Immigration Law

McNair Scholars tend to pursue research subjects they've been introduced to in their studies and want to further explore. For Rosio Villanueva, that exploration is personal.

The third-year Stanislaus State student from Hughson High School, majoring in history and Spanish with a minor in Latin American Studies has researched "The Impact of Major 1996 Federal Legislation on Undocumented and Documented Immigrants in Los Angeles County." She has gone through oral histories and is completing her annotated bibliography. During the summer, she presented her research poster at the National McNair Scholars Conference at UCLA.

Her paper is not a first-person account, but Villanueva has a personal connection to the legislation, which was aimed at undocumented immigrants who commit crimes while in the U.S. or overstay beyond certain time periods.

Villanueva's mother was trapped by the latter condition and, in 2018, after living in the United States undocumented for 20 years, was deported back to Mexico. Villanueva was 14 and her older sister, Guadalupe, was 18. They had two younger sisters, then 5 and 2.

Their mom took the 2-year-old to Mexico with her. The 5-year-old finished the school year, but cried constantly, and then went to Mexico to rejoin her mama. Guadalupe, who became a Stan State McNair Scholar and is working toward a doctorate in occupational therapy at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, tried to be a mother to her sisters. Rosio, a high school freshman at the time, has vague memories.

"Freshman year, sophomore year and junior year were the hardest," Rosio said. "I don't remember much of those three years. I blocked them. One way of coping was I joined the soccer team because I didn't want to go home. I didn't want to stay there, because it reminded me of my mom. Before I joined the soccer team, every time I went home, it was empty. When my mom was here, she'd ask, 'How was your day? I fixed your favorite food,'. After that happened, it was just me."

By the time the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Villanueva had already endured years of emotional turmoil. When classes moved online, she became a virtual learner and was in a better emotional place, so she was able to cope while attending school from her home. She was proud when she graduated, but it was bittersweet.

"I was thinking, 'I'm going to graduate high school,' but my mom wasn't there," Villanueva said. "We FaceTimed her when I walked, and my sister recorded it and sent it to my mom."

Then, it was on to Stanislaus State, following in the footsteps of her older sister, her role model. Villanueva chose different majors from her sister's, pursuing history, which piqued her interest when a middle school teacher didn't just share dates of events but explained what led to events and what happened after.

If her educational field was different, her route to a degree was similar, and she found similar resources that supported her sister.

"I want to know more stories of other immigrants and what happened to them. I want to know the impact of that (1996) law on their lives and their families. I was shocked when I started to learn about the act. I said to myself, 'this law was the reason my mom had to go back to Mexico. This is what the United States did to people. What they did to the undocumented and documented community living in the United States was inhumane."

Rosio Villanueva, McNair Scholar and history and Spanish major

Villanueva is a part of the Educational Opportunity Program as her sister was, and she has worked there for two years. She said she loves EOP for how it helps first-generation and underrepresented students with admissions, holds a summer orientation program and provides pre-introductory instruction, academic advising, tutoring, learning skills services and personal, educational and career counseling.

Now, like Guadalupe, Villanueva is a first-generation college student and McNair Scholar.

Waiting to be accepted was difficult as she wondered if she would qualify. When she was notified of her acceptance into the program, she reached out to Guadalupe.

"I texted her and said, 'Look at the email,'" Rosio Villanueva said. "She was so happy for me. She said, 'I knew you were going to be accepted. You're a really smart person.'"

Rosio Villanueva has devoted her studies to history, particularly public history. She added her Spanish major because while she is bilingual, she said a degree might help her in future endeavors where a translator is needed. She's pursuing a minor in Latin American Studies because she found it interesting.

Her McNair research project deals with immigrants affected by the 1996 act that sent her mom back to Mexico after 20 years. Her dad, an immigrant farm laborer, is a resident.

"I'm really excited," Villanueva said. "I want to know more about what occurred after that law passed. I want to know what people went through. I want to know what California's response was to that law, because it's a more liberal state than others."

In explaining her proposed project to Ellen Bell, faculty principal investigator for Stan State's McNair Scholars Program, Villanueva said it struck her for the first time that the 1996 act is what led to her mom's deportation.

She knows firsthand the heartbreak of family separations, of soothing a crying 5-year-old who missed her mama. Villanueva's youngest sisters are now 12 and 9 and attend school in Hughson.

Like many first-generation college students, earning a college degree, going to graduate school, finding a good job and affording a house, are all part of Villanueva's dreams. It's just that achieving them has been challenging because of the experiences she's enduredand she's certain she's not alone.

"I want to know more stories of other immigrants and what happened to them," said Villanueva, who will be conducting solo research for the first time. "I want to know the impact of that law on their lives and their families. I was shocked when I started to learn about the act. I said to myself, 'This law was the reason my mom had to go back to Mexico. This is what the United States government did to people. What they did to undocumented and documented communities living in the United States was inhumane."'

Telling an unpopular truth is something historians often do. Villanueva, who is not yet 21, is about to learn that lesson. But she's endured much worse and came through it stronger and ready to take on life's challenges.

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