Student resistance in the language/literacy classroom has been an important focus of research in TESOL and applied linguistics. This article examines resistance by two adult-arrival immigrant students in a developmental literacy classroom, drawing from a larger ethnographic case study focused on students' transition into community college. The students' behaviours seemed puzzling or self-defeating to some college personnel, but when viewed through the theoretical framework of identity work, they can be read as attempts to counteract institutional marginalization. Findings from this analysis illustrate how an understanding of the histories, identities, and investments of adult immigrant learners can help educators respond to "difficult" moments in the classroom and beyond. This study has several implications for higher education practitioners: First, we must question our initial assumptions about student behaviours, so that we interpret those behaviours accurately. Second, we must be explicit about the norms of the academic culture, so that students can more effectively enact their desired identities and display symbolic capital in college courses. Finally, we must build curricula, policies, and pedagogies that are more inclusive and relevant for adult immigrant learners. These findings add to scholarly conversations about immigrant students' funds of knowledge and agency enactment within postsecondary education.