Reconceptualizing Dignified Living: A Humanized Look into the Cumulative Effects of the "Undocumented Tercera Edad”

A vast area of literature has highlighted the educational and social impacts of legal status on undocumented Latine individuals. Missing from this research are the intersections between aging and undocumented status. In my study I aim to call upon attention to undocumented Latinx individuals who are headed towards and are living the “tercera edad”. The term “tercera edad” connotes individuals usually around the age of 65 who are societally thought of as being to retire from the workforce. The “tercera edad” is characterized by biological, psychological, and social changes. The concept of “tercera edad” is central to the ways I intend to highlight the intersection between legal status and aging. The “tercera edad” serves a pivotal time/age frame that necessitates a life-course framework to understand how the long-term exclusion of legal-social protections has a cumulative dis/advantage for how the aging Latinx undocumented community live the “tercera edad”. For aging undocumented folks the “tercera edad” is a contradiction for what many consider a universal and natural trajectory that comes with aging; defying assumptions of secured healthcare, financial safety nets, and one’s ability to finally rest. My study fills this gap by drawing on a life-course framework calling attention to the cumulative dis/advantages shaping the life trajectories of undocumented people as they age. Using semi-structured interviews, my research adopts a qualitative approach to illustrate the legal-social exclusions faced upon aging undocumented Latinxs, while simultaneously highlighting the role of aging undocumented peoples as principal agents in living dignified lives.