“Coming out of the shadows” and “undocuqueer”

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hinda Seif
Keyword(s):  
Coming Out ◽  
Immigrant Youth ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
Youth Of Color ◽  
Youth Organizations ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Youth Movement ◽  
Queer Youth ◽  
Youth Politics

Coming out of the shadows is a powerful strategy of the undocumented youth movement, yet there has been little analysis of the ways that young immigrants have adapted lesbian and gay speech. This article examines three key language developments of this movement that intersect with LGBTQ language: (1) coming out of the shadows; (2) coming out as both undocumented and LGBTQ; and (3) use of the term “undocuqueer.” This analysis is based on observation and discourse analysis of coming out rallies and other activities of Mexican origin members of Chicago’s Immigrant Youth Justice League (IYJL) and other immigrant youth organizations in Illinois between 2010 and 2013. These linguistic innovations reflect the leadership of women and queer people in undocumented youth organizing. Armed with language, activists are developing a confrontational queer youth politics of immigration that challenges both “homonormativity” (Duggan 2002) and citizenship orthodoxies. Queer Latina/o immigrant youth use the language of sexuality for self-realization, political mobilization, and coalition-building. As more LGBTQ youth of color publicly embrace their non-normative sexualities, they may creatively use language for social justice centered in their intersectional experiences.

Make Room in the Circle

2019 ◽  
pp. 89-120
Author(s):  
Wesley C. Hogan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Immigrant Youth ◽  
The United States ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Dream Act ◽  
Real Problem ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Driver's License

During the 1990s and into the 2000s, three basic barriers prevented undocumented youth from achieving major milestones of independence—acquiring a driver’s license, submitting college applications, and working legally. The circumstances repeated again and again in the accounts of undocumented youth. Elioenai Santos recalled, “Living like that is a real problem. It’s a real blow to your self-esteem, because you always feel like you are somehow less. It’s awful to always feel like you’re inferior. You see your friends driving around, traveling to other countries, while I don’t have money to go to school.” Nor could they keep their families together, as everyone felt constantly threatened by separation. The result since the early 2000s has been a growing, powerful movement among undocumented youth to redefine “who belongs” as a citizen in the United States. This chapter explores how the Immigrant Youth Justice League, Freedom University, Cristina Jimenez and United We Dream, and other undocumented and undocuqueer youth immigrant activists have fought for DACA and the DREAM Act and against deportation and the border wall. They have fundamentally challenged all US citizens to reimagine who belongs within the circle of belonging.

Overcoming Fear

2020 ◽  
pp. 44-67
Author(s):  
Abigail C. Saguy
Keyword(s):  
Coming Out ◽  
Immigrant Youth ◽  
State Level ◽  
Illegal Immigrants ◽  
Undocumented Immigrant ◽  
Dream Act ◽  
President Obama ◽  
Youth Movement ◽  
Deferred Action ◽  
Legislative Changes

This chapter examines how the undocumented immigrant youth movement has evoked “coming out as undocumented and unafraid” to mobilize fearful constituents. It discusses the local and state-level legislative changes for which the movement as advocated, including the federal DREAM Act. It argues that while the DREAM Act never passed, the undocumented immigrant youth movement arguably led President Obama to sign the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order in June 2012, which deferred deportation for “Dreamers” who meet certain criteria on a two-year renewable basis. It further argues that the undocumented immigrant youth movement has successfully challenged cultural understandings by offering an alternative image to that of “illegal immigrants” sneaking across the border—that of educated and talented “DREAMers.”

From “coming out” to “Undocuqueer”: intersections between illegality and queerness and the US undocumented youth movement

2019 ◽  
pp. 125-143
Author(s):  
Ina Batzke
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
The United States ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Youth Movement ◽  
Narrative Self ◽  
Movement Strategies ◽  
The Us ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
And Gender

This chapter explores the intersectionality of seeking citizenship and gender on the movement strategies of undocumented youths by tracing the evolvement of the Undocuqueer movement within the overall undocumented youth movement in the United States since 2001. By analyzing both tactics and narrative self-representations of Undocuqueer activists, it describes the specificities of UndocuQueer challenges and opportunities in order to trace how LGBTQ representations of undocumented youth legitimized themselves within the larger scope of the movement. In the course of this discussion, it is clear that the UndocuQueer tactics are not be understood as a parallel occurrence to earlier representations of undocumentedness, but instead as an intersecting one in the fight for social justice, which almost organically grew from within the overall undocumented community.

Gaining a Voice: Storytelling and Undocumented Youth Activism in Chicago*

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Swerts
Keyword(s):  
Community Building ◽  
The United States ◽  
Youth Activism ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
New Members ◽  
Youth Movement ◽  
The Public ◽  
Context Type ◽  
The Social

In recent years, undocumented youth have come out of the shadows to claim their rights in the United States. By sharing their stories, these youth gained a voice in the public debate. This article integrates insights from the literature on narratives and emotions to study how story-telling is employed within the undocumented youth movement in Chicago. I argue that undocumented youth strategically use storytelling for diverging purposes depending on the context, type of interaction, and audience involved. Based on ethnographic research, I show that storytelling allows them to incorporate new members, mobilize constituencies, and legitimize grievances. In each of these contexts, emotions play a key role in structuring the social transaction between storyteller and audience. Storytelling is thus a community-building, mobilizing, and claims-making practice in social movements. At a broader level, this case study demonstrates the power of storytelling as a political tool for marginalized populations.

The Road to Egypt's Tahrir Square

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-43
Author(s):  
Marwa Maziad ◽  
Norah Abokhodair ◽  
Maria Garrido
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Coalition Building ◽  
Mass Mobilization ◽  
Youth Movement ◽  
The Road ◽  
Tahrir Square ◽  
Anthropological Fieldwork ◽  
Facebook Pages ◽  
Physical Spaces

On January 25th 2011, Egyptians revolted, thereby making history. Before the date, roads to political activism were being incrementally built towards their eventual converging on Tahrir Square. This chapter argues that “nodes of convergence,” defined as shared political and economic grievances, as well as shared virtual and physical spaces, had to be created first before mass mobilization for a collective action of millions on the street could ensue. Providing in-depth examination of events leading to January 25th, this chapter offers a case study for mobilization, from which generalized theory is extrapolated about online communities' convergence, networking, and coalition building. Two main Facebook pages were studied: April 6th Youth Movement and We Are All Khaled Said-- both in Arabic. The conceptualization is built on anthropological fieldwork trips in Egypt since March 2011. This covered ethnographic participant-observations and interviewing. For evidence triangulation purposes of the “convergence effect”, the authors conducted qualitative content analysis of significant posts.

Diversity, Leadership, and Authenticity in the Undocumented Youth Movement

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-61
Author(s):  
Fanny Lauby
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Field Research ◽  
State Level ◽  
Elected Officials ◽  
Immigration Status ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
New Members ◽  
Youth Movement ◽  
Electoral Connection ◽  
The Social

AbstractThe undocumented youth movement is diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, and immigration status. I argue that racial and immigration status diversity has a direct impact on the movement's ability to “expand the scope of conflict,” that is to say recruiting new members, reaching out to elected officials, and establishing representative leadership—elements that are critical to the sustainability and effectiveness of a movement. Findings also indicate that immigration status diversity plays a complex role. The presence of citizen allies brings both risks and benefits to the movement, as they reinforce the electoral connection sought by elected officials while at the same time jeopardizing the authenticity of the movement. Results are based on field research conducted between 2012 and 2015 in NJ and NY, including participant observation in state-level campaigns and interviews with over 130 immigrant youths, allies, and elected officials. This article contributes to the social movement literature by providing empirical evidence of the challenges present within diverse coalitions. It addresses the question of immigration status diversity, an issue that affects the immigration movement but speaks more broadly to the role of allies in social movements.

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