"We Are the Most Impacted": Undocumented Intelligence in the New Latino Diaspora

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: Anti-Immigrant Discourse, Latinx Undocumented Student Resistance, and Sanctuary in School and Out-of-School Spaces

Abstract

This paper investigates how the life experiences, namely (im)migration and K-12 schooling experiences, of Latinx undocumented youth shape their higher education attainment and involvement in immigrant youth movements. Drawing from undocumented intelligence, I shed light on the intricate ways undocumented students’ organizing experiences, while triggered by recent political events, are grounded in previous experience. This project centers the testimonios of seven undocumented youth leaders in the New Latino Diaspora and their efforts to gain basic protections and dignity. The testimonios expand mainstream narratives about undocumented youth and disrupt the DREAMer narrative by providing a nuanced account of undocumented youth leaders and organizers working for immigrant justice in a hostile political climate.

Author

• Carolina Silva Martinez, Washington State University - Pullman