It is Very Dominated by Latinos Here”: How Places Perpetuate Meanings of Racialized Illegality

• In Event: 2166 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 1: Race & Higher Education

Abstract

How is racialized illegality constructed in space? Extant research has examined how Latino ethnorace operates as a social marker for undocumented status (Garcia 2017). Few studies have explored how racialized illegality takes on a spatial dimension. This article draws from 34 interviews from undocumented students and Dream Resource Center staff as well as twelve months of participant-observation data from Dream Resource Centers (DRCs), a form of institutional support at colleges/universities for undocumented students, to
suggest three ways in which racialized illegality unfolds in space: 1. DRC decoration 2. Food and Language 3. Presence of Latinos. Examining racialized illegality in space is critical given that it is a mechanism for inclusion of those that fit the racialization of illegality while excluding those that do not, therefore restricting their access to peer networks and resources. This study
advances theoretical understandings of racialized illegality and ethnoracial framework.

Keywords: race, immigration, space, undocumented students, institutional support

Author

• Karina Santellano, University of Southern California