Learning the Story for Myself

2019 ◽  
pp. 55-81
Author(s):  
Sarah C. Bishop
Keyword(s):  
Undocumented Immigrants ◽  
Rites Of Passage ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Undocumented Status ◽  
Public Voice

This chapter chronicles the ways young undocumented immigrants uncover their lack of legal status experientially—through interactions with parents and others, in attempts to pursue rites of passage reserved for citizens, and as audiences of political and popular media. The narrators featured in this chapter recount their immigration stories and explore the personal and social ramifications of discovering their status, including feelings of isolation and anomie. It explains how these experiences influence one’s decision about whether to cultivate a public voice, and the narrators reflect on the processes of determining how to narrate their experiences in the context of activism. After undocumented youth learn and grow to understand the implications of their undocumented status, they come to a crossroads: Will they come to see themselves as part of the story of immigrant activism, or does this story belong to others?

scholarly journals To Reveal or Conceal: How Diverse Undocumented Youth Navigate Legal Status Disclosure

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 857-873 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin Patler
Keyword(s):  
Asian American ◽  
Undocumented Immigrants ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Network Formation ◽  
Undocumented Students ◽  
School Personnel ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Status Disclosure ◽  
Social Network Formation ◽  
Academic Resources

Existing literature illuminates the multiple barriers young undocumented immigrants face, yet we know little about how these challenges vary among undocumented youth. This article explores variation in how undocumented youth “manage” their legal status in the educational context. Drawing on interviews with Latina/o, Asian American and Pacific Islander (API), and black undocumented young adults in California, I analyze the factors influencing when and how youth decide to reveal or conceal legal status from school personnel or peers, and the educational consequences of such decisions. I find undocumented students’ decisions to hide legal status, while practical, can constrain social network formation and limit access to academic resources. However, decisions to reveal or conceal legal status are not made uniformly but vary by political and social context, and access to support within co-ethnic social networks. Finally, knowing other undocumented immigrants is an important resource for undocumented youth as they navigate the educational system.

Privacy rules for revealing one’s undocumented status to nonfamily members: Exploring the perspectives of undocumented youth of Mexican origin

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 3178-3198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Kam ◽  
Keli Steuber Fazio ◽  
Roselia Mendez Murillo
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Support ◽  
Undocumented Immigrant ◽  
Privacy Management ◽  
Management Research ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Communication Privacy Management ◽  
Undocumented Status ◽  
Communication Privacy ◽  
The U.S

Based on the theory of communication privacy management, we explored: (a) undocumented immigrant youth’s privacy rules for managing their undocumented status disclosures to nonfamily members, and (b) responses to disclosures by recipients and undocumented youth. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 undocumented youth (10th–12th grades) who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico. Youth managed their undocumented status with nonfamily members using criteria related to support activation, protection, acceptance, and a sense of empowerment. When disclosed, most recipients responded by providing emotional support and advice. Youth felt positively toward recipient reactions that were nonjudgmental. Lastly, most participating youth felt better after revealing their undocumented status because the youth learned that the recipient was in a similar situation or because the youth experienced catharsis. Our results show the extent to which preexisting privacy management research applies to an understudied, marginalized group and provides new insights on privacy management.

scholarly journals “Citizens but for Papers:” Undocumented Youth Organizations, Anti-Deportation Campaigns, and the Reframing of Citizenship

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin Patler
Keyword(s):  
Undocumented Immigrants ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Recognition ◽  
High Achievers ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Youth Organizations ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Media Portrayals ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Public Sentiment

Abstract Scholars have documented strong anti-immigrant bias in mainstream media portrayals and public sentiment, especially associated with notions of “illegality.” Yet certain groups of undocumented immigrants have been able to defend their continued residency. How are undocumented immigrants, as marginalized subjects, able to make claims for legal and social recognition? Through an analysis of 125 anti-deportation campaigns led by undocumented youth organizations in the United States, I show how organizations developed a nationally coordinated model using citizenship frames to challenge deportations and build support for pro-immigrant legislation. Citizenship frames are based in legal and normative ideologies of citizenship that underscore acculturation, civic engagement, and humanitarian concerns. The campaigns highlight undocumented immigrants’ social integration, deservingness, and practice of citizenship, therefore contesting the boundaries between citizen and noncitizen, and between lawful and unlawful. Though citizenship frames are used across cases, campaign tactics vary: students are portrayed as high-achievers who would suffer greatly if deported, while campaigns for non-students emphasize the detrimental effects of deportation on others. Importantly, citizenship frames are bounded by the government’s priorities for immigration enforcement, with potentially negative consequences for those immigrants considered less than model citizens.

Undocumented, to DACAmented, to DACAlimited: Narratives of Latino Students With DACA Status

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorraine T. Benuto ◽  
Jena B. Casas ◽  
Caroline Cummings ◽  
Rory Newlands
Keyword(s):  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Latino Students ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Access To Education ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
Deferred Action ◽  
Undocumented Status ◽  
State Educational ◽  
The Impact

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order intended to protect undocumented youth from deportation and mitigate the negative impact of their undocumented status. Using qualitative methods, eight DACA recipients were interviewed. Participants were primarily females, ranged in age from 19 and 27 years old, and had immigrated from Mexico. Our findings revealed that as participants grew up, they experienced a sense of liminality, or “non-belonging”; however, upon receiving DACA status, these feelings of liminality were temporarily abated. Problematically, as our participants encountered the limitations of DACA, their feelings of liminality returned. While DACA increases access to education, health care, and legal system participation, it only temporarily mitigates the impact of having an undocumented status. The ramifications of the sense of liminality that occur with being undocumented is discussed and policy reforms in areas of federal and state educational policy and immigration policy are suggested.

scholarly journals The Legal Status Divide among the Children of Immigrants

Daedalus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 150 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-149
Author(s):  
Roberto G. Gonzales ◽  
Stephen P. Ruszczyk
Keyword(s):  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Immigration Status ◽  
Educational History ◽  
The Past ◽  
Deferred Action ◽  
Undocumented Status ◽  
Master Status ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Over the past thirty-five years, federal immigration policy has brightened the boundaries of the category of undocumented status. For undocumented young people who move into adulthood, the predominance of immigration status to their everyday experiences and social position has been amplified. This process of trying to continue schooling, find work, and participate in public life has become synonymous with a process of learning to be “illegal.” This essay argues that despite known variations in undocumented youths by race, place, and educational history, undocumented status has become what Everett Hughes called a “master status.” The uniform set of immigration status-based exclusions overwhelms the impact of other statuses to create a socially significant divide. The rise, fall, and survival of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, a policy offering qualified youths a temporary semilegal status, have underlined how closely access and rights hew to the contours of contemporary immigration policy.

scholarly journals Civic Engagement, Legal Status, and the Context of Reception: Participation in Voluntary Associations among Undocumented Immigrants in California

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 237802312110052
Author(s):  
Kevin Beck ◽  
Karina Shklyan
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Undocumented Immigrants ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Voluntary Associations ◽  
California Health Interview Survey ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Civic Integration ◽  
Interview Survey ◽  
Low Rate

For undocumented immigrants, processes of integration are contingent on the qualities of their local context. A lack of legal status may require them to strategically manage their presence in order to avoid detection that could lead to deportation. The authors ask how the need to mask one’s legal status affects the civic integration of undocumented immigrants. Drawing primarily on data from the California Health Interview Survey, the authors estimate the probability of participation in voluntary associations for undocumented immigrants. They naturalized immigrants and find that undocumented immigrants exhibit a lower rate of participation but that this low rate of participation is unlikely the result of their legal status. The findings also show that undocumented immigrants are less likely to participate in voluntary associations if they live in counties where large shares of voters cast votes for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

scholarly journals BETWEEN INCLUSION & EXCLUSION: THE DIGITAL LIVES OF UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS IN THE UNITED STATES

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zach Bastick ◽  
Marie L. Mallet
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Undocumented Immigrants ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Digital Inclusion ◽  
Vulnerable Group ◽  
Transnational Family ◽  
Undocumented Status ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
Depth Interviews

Undocumented immigrants are a highly vulnerable group that can both benefit and suffer from digital technologies. However, little is known about their digital inclusion and the ways in which this amplifies or attenuates the vulnerabilities of their undocumented status. This paper provides rare and novel evidence from 44 in-depth interviews with undocumented Latino immigrants in the United States. It reports on findings regarding the digital employment of undocumented immigrants, the use of the internet in supporting their transnational family practices, and their uses and attitudes towards telehealth services. It highlights the importance of providing insight and analysis on digital life at the margins of society.

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