How Undocumented Youth in Tennessee Navigate the Intersection of Immigration Status and Race

• In Event: 32.060 - Strategies and Outcomes of Grassroots Organizing

Abstract

This article highlights the ways in which undocumented immigrant youth in Tennessee challenge various forms of social injustice arising from the intersection of their immigration status with their racialized identities. This study is based on an ongoing participatory action research project with members of an undocumented youth-led organizing group in Tennessee. Several youth in this study have incisive analyses of social practices, policies, and discourses that conflate race and immigration status, and many youth engage in multiple forms of resistance to contest these challenging dynamics. As such, this presentation illustrates how several undocumented youth in this study seek to transform the unequal social and structural arrangements that marginalize immigrant communities throughout the U.S.

Authors

• Krista Craven, Guilford College

• Jazmin Ramirez, Trevecca Nazarene University

• Maria Robles, McGavock High School

• Rodrigo Robles, Fisk University

• Diana Montero, Fisk University