Youth at the Margins of the School: Latin American Immigrants Navigating U.S. Public Education

• In Event: Reimagining Belonging and Justice in K–12 Education: Centering Latine Students, Families, and Communities

Abstract

This paper examines the educational experiences of recently arrived Latin American immigrant youth in a public high school in a predominantly white, liberal Midwestern city. Amid a politically divisive era marked by anti-immigrant rhetoric, the study explores how students navigate discipline, access, inclusion, and belonging. Drawing from a broader ethnographic project, it presents preliminary findings from interviews, observations, and youth-centered activities such as workshops and dialogue circles. Using an intersectional lens, the paper highlights how language barriers, unfamiliar systems, and immigration-related fears shape students’ experiences. Two focal cases, Lucero and Carlos, reveal how structural and symbolic mechanisms operate within supposedly inclusive spaces. The study contributes to Latinx/Latine Education and Urban Education through a youth-driven, participatory research approach.

Author

• Zaira Magana Carbajal, University of Wisconsin - Madison