“DREAMing” within Sanctuary

• In Event: 4322 - Section on Political Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 10. Perspectives on Current Political Issues

Abstract

This essay examines the political activism of undocumented immigrant youth-led movements within politically liberal spaces. Drawing on the case study of a local “circle” of Movimento Cosecha, a national immigrant rights social movement, in Boston, Massachusetts, one of a growing number of cities to implement locally-scaled inclusive immigration policies, the essay will examine how activists interpret, negotiate, and engage with sanctuary policies in order to challenge conceptions of citizenship. This paper examines this activism in the context of the development of the 2014 “Trust Act” in Boston, which limits law enforcement participation in the federal Secure Communities program, by examining the program’s significance in contesting federal immigration policies as well as assessing its limitations. We find that by emphasizing a place-based identity, drawing on a range of historical traditions of civil disobedience, and integrating song, dance, and spoken word into their public actions, Cosecha activists confront the power of the nation-state, breaking through the tensions between federal and local policies to engage creatively in the transformation of the immigrant subject.

Author

• Tibrine Dafonseca, Northeastern University