Asian and Undocumented

2020 ◽  
pp. 49-76
Author(s):  
Kevin Escudero
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Immigrant Youth ◽  
The United States ◽  
Asian Immigrants ◽  
Undocumented Immigration ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Undocumented Youth ◽  
National Imaginary ◽  
History Of

This chapter focuses on the case of Asian undocumented youth to explain immigrant youth activists’ efforts to unearth the silenced history of Asian undocumented immigration and to place this history in conversation with current immigration debates. As part of these efforts, activists use storytelling strategies to counteract stereotypes of Asian immigrants as solely high-skilled workers and individuals who have come to the United States to attend college, noting that Asians were and continue to be affected by the issue of undocumented immigration. Asian undocumented activists also strategically draw upon their intersectional identities as both Asian and undocumented individuals in Latinx organizing spaces to work alongside members of a group that is largely invoked in the national imaginary in discussions of undocumented immigration. As part of activists’ efforts to push beyond discussions solely of the need for increased representation of Asian and other non-Latinx undocumented activists, this chapter emphasizes the extensive efforts that Asian and Latinx undocumented organizers have undertaken to employ a broad, multiracial approach to framing undocumented identity.

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.

scholarly journals Immigration: How It Affects Our Lives

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-218
Author(s):  
Miski Mohamed
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
American Culture ◽  
Immigrant Youth ◽  
The United States ◽  
Immigrant Parents ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Cost

Immigrant youth are often tasked with balancing the cultures of 2 different places, the culture of their heritage and American culture. While immigrant parents want their children to succeed and thrive in the United States, this often comes at the cost of losing important insight about the context and circumstances surrounding a family’s immigration journey. This youth author explains that acculturation, but not assimilation is important because learning and understanding the history of countries of origin helps to make more informed and conscious citizens.

Review of A brief history of the United States.

1919 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 414-414
Author(s):  
No authorship indicated
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
History Of

An American Language

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosina Lozano
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
National Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Spanish Language ◽  
Spanish Speakers ◽  
Language Recognition ◽  
Political Language ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
History Of ◽  
The U.S

An American Language is a political history of the Spanish language in the United States. The nation has always been multilingual and the Spanish language in particular has remained as an important political issue into the present. After the U.S.-Mexican War, the Spanish language became a language of politics as Spanish speakers in the U.S. Southwest used it to build territorial and state governments. In the twentieth century, Spanish became a political language where speakers and those opposed to its use clashed over what Spanish's presence in the United States meant. This book recovers this story by using evidence that includes Spanish language newspapers, letters, state and territorial session laws, and federal archives to profile the struggle and resilience of Spanish speakers who advocated for their language rights as U.S. citizens. Comparing Spanish as a language of politics and as a political language across the Southwest and noncontiguous territories provides an opportunity to measure shifts in allegiance to the nation and exposes differing forms of nationalism. Language concessions and continued use of Spanish is a measure of power. Official language recognition by federal or state officials validates Spanish speakers' claims to US citizenship. The long history of policies relating to language in the United States provides a way to measure how U.S. visions of itself have shifted due to continuous migration from Latin America. Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens are crucial arbiters of Spanish language politics and their successes have broader implications on national policy and our understanding of Americans.

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