“I Was Born at the Border, Like the ‘Wrong’ Side of It”: Undocumented Latinx Youth Experiences of Racialization in the U.S. South

Abstract

This article provides ethnographic evidence of how Latinx undocumented youth navigate racialization processes. The research occurs in a focal state in the New Latino South, a highly restrictive and hostile context toward immigrants broadly and undocumented ones specifically. The author situates this research in Rogelio Sáenz and Karen Douglas' call for the racialization of immigration studies, considering notions of race and racism in the study of undocumented youth experiences of identity, discrimination, social isolation, and belonging, and how processes of racialization mark the bodies of undocumented youth in negative, punitive ways in school and societal contexts in a restrictive policy context like South Carolina. Drawing on data from a threeyear, multisite ethnography in two Title I public high schools in South Carolina, the study shows how youth are racialized in their schools and communities. Their narratives provide moments when undocumented youth elaborate their experiences in schools, which the author argues is an act of resistance where they broker, dismantle, and overcome their position of marginality. This cultural elaboration by undocumented youth positions them as active agents and re-centers and humanizes their experience of racism and racialization in order to make visible the systemic oppression they encounter. It is through their cultural elaboration of their undocumentedness that they can powerfully critique immigration policy and schools' roles in perpetuating deficit discourses about the "problems" the undocumented subjectivity presents. [Immigrant, New Latino South, Racialization, Undocumented, Youth] "I am overdetermined from without. I am the slave not of the 'idea' that others have of me but of my own appearance." Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks

Immigration Arrests and Educational Impacts: Linking ICE Arrests to Declines in Achievement, Attendance, and School Climate and Safety in California

“…Few studies incorporate students’ perspectives and reports about how attending school under conditions of increased hostility and fear, particularly in the years after Trump took office, may affect them (see Valdivia, 2019, 2020 and Capps et al, 2020 for some exceptions). Prior work that centers the voices and experiences of undocumented immigrant youth and children in mixed-status families has revealed some of their struggles and resilience in the face of unwelcoming environments and major obstacles (Canizales, 2021; Gonzales, 2015; Mangual Figueroa, 2017; S. Rodriguez, 2020).…”

Safety and Belonging in Immigrant-Serving Districts: Domains of Educator Practice in a Charged Political Landscape

“…In regions considered nontraditional immigration sites-known in the literature as parts of the New Latino Diaspora in the Midwest and Southeast-school districts are often unfamiliar with the particular experiences of their growing immigrant-origin populations and may be unprepared to offer relevant educational and social resources (Hamann et al, 2015;Hopkins et al, 2015;Mangual Figueroa, 2013). At the same time, schools may function as supportive receiving sites, providing immigrant-origin students with opportunities to learn (Hopkins & Lowenhaupt, 2016) and creating bridges between students, families, and social services in the community (S. Rodriguez, 2020). Some schools have become trusted spaces where families can share their worries and dilemmas about safety, providing an alternative context of reception distinct from broader anti-immigrant discourses and policies (Bajaj & Suresh, 2018;Crawford, 2017).…”

“…Schoolwide practices that build on students' assets, such as bilingual programs, have been shown to promote student belonging (DeMatthews & Izquierdo, 2018;Dorner, 2012). In addition to teachers, school social workers, administrators, and other staff are also responsible for supporting immigrant-origin students and families (Crawford, 2017;DeMatthews & Izquierdo, 2018;Mavrogordato & White, 2020;S. Rodriguez, 2020).…”

“I’ve never cried with a stranger before”: pedagogies of renewal and research dilemmas with/by undocuscholars

“…On the other hand, we emphasize a gap related to who is researching this topic and how they navigate the personal and professional parameters involved. Thus, in this issue we are augmenting the voices of undocuscholars alongside critical researchers with long-standing, reflexive commitments in/with the community, as relationships are often central and used to make sense of undocumented youth experiences (Abrego, 2019;Abrego & Negr on-Gonzales, 2020;Rodriguez, 2020b). This is a key contribution of this special issue: the methodological-both personal and professional-dilemmas of undocuscholars and critical researchers with long-standing investments in the undocumented community and how we navigate the vulnerability and answerability of engaging in this research and teaching.…”

“…In our own efforts as researchers with connections to the immigrant community, we continually interrogate our relationships (Rodriguez, 2020a). In conversations with participants and community members over the years, we have learned about the tensions of researching, and making visible, a community that is treated as invisible or at times prefers to remain in the shadows of society due to the significant surveillance they encounter (Arriaga, 2017;Rodriguez, 2020b;Verma et al, 2017). Making decisions about what and how to write with this community is a deeply emotional experience, and one that we tread lightly with our privileges as citizens.…”