By: Cristian Paez
The way people furnish their homes is often seen as an exhibition of their personal taste, culture, and socioeconomic status. Beyond aesthetics however, interior design can also reveal manifestations of emotion. Studies in environmental psychology suggest that one creates spaces that reflect their circumstances. A home full of personal decorations, comfortable furniture, and sentimental items is often associated with stability and a sense of belonging, while an impersonal or empty space often signals transition, uncertainty, or distress.
In this respect, this relationship with space for undocumented immigrants becomes complicated. Their homes instead reflect a state of transience, an unwillingness to settle in completely. Given this, there is then a tendency to avoid investing in furniture, home renovations, or even personal decorations. This is not necessarily because they lack the means, but because they live with the constant possibility of displacement. In that case, a sparsely furnished home is much easier to walk away and disassociate from.
Beyond the psychological impact of family instability, legal status has tangible effects on financial and employment decisions. In the United States, home ownership is considered to be one of the primary ways families can build generational wealth. Yet for undocumented immigrants, the barriers to buying a home are high, not just due to financial challenges. Once again, it’s the uncertainty that defines their lives, which can cloud judgment when making decisions.
Currently, no laws are preventing undocumented immigrants from purchasing property, and some even manage to do so through individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITINs) instead of regular Social Security numbers to build credit. However, many choose not to, as only 5,000-6,000 ITIN mortgages were made in 2023, a number which could have been from 73,000 to 88,000 without market barriers. Interest rates and down payments on mortgages are also usually higher than a traditional one, with them being 50 to 200 basis points and 10 to 20 percent higher respectively. Renting instead becomes the default option, but even that comes with social instability. Undocumented immigrants often rely on informal rental agreements to avoid leases that require extensive documentation. With limited engagement with the market through these aversions, many tend to move frequently to avoid attention or because their housing situation remains only temporary. Although there is no explicit data that details this, there is, according to a study, a higher concentration of people living in shared, overcrowded, or undesirable housing.
Employment decisions follow a similar pattern. Many undocumented workers take jobs in industries that do not require extensive paperwork, such as construction, cleaning, or agriculture. These jobs often lack job security, making any long-term financial planning difficult, and are more prone to exploitation. Even those with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, which provides temporary relief from deportation, live with uncertainty, as it must be renewed every two years and policy changes could alter their status overnight. In taking into account recent developments, there are reports that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is nearing a deal with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to share data of undocumented taxpayers, which could be seen as a breach of privacy, despite being told by previous presidential administrations that it would fast-track the citizenship process.
Such fears can also extend across generations in households where the parents are undocumented but the children are U.S.-born citizens. Children may grow up in environments where their parents are hesitant to make the home feel settled, either due to financial constraints or a deeper, subconscious reluctance. Even if the children have legal status and the means to engage legally with educational opportunities, such an environment can lead to lower probabilities of graduating or obtaining advanced degrees. According to a study conducted by Harvard researcher Roberto G. Gonzales in 2011, this demographic is “at risk of lower educational performance,” while also exhibiting lower rates of enrollment in public programs that they are eligible for. Of the 150 interviewed, only 31 had completed college or advanced degrees, with none working in their respective fields. Such developments highlight how fear can cloud judgement of those who are able to exercise their rights as U.S. citizens.
Thus, home in its fullest sense can be interpreted as not just walls and a roof, but also providing security and ensuring family stability. For those who live with the constant fear of deportation, however, it can be a battleground of emotions and survival. The choices that they make on furniture, housing, and employment reflect a larger legal situation that determines their right to security. This reality is a reminder that policy decisions are not just abstract debates, but that they also have personal consequences. In this case, a sparsely furnished room is not just an aesthetic choice, or sign of financial struggle. Rather, it is a reflection of a and testament to a life of uncertainty and fear that comes with legal limbo.
