The Contested Citizenship of Latinx Children of Immigrants

• In Event: International Migration Section Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): 21. Second generation

Abstract

How do Latinx individuals born and raised in the U.S. navigate the tension between legal citizenship and everyday experiences of racial exclusion? Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with Latinx young adults in New York State, this study explores how racialization shapes participants' sense of national belonging, identity, and embodied self-presentation across a range of institutional and social contexts. Using a skin-tone scale as a methodological tool allows for a more granular analysis of how colorism — not only ethnicity — shapes experiences of belonging and exclusion among Latinx individuals; applying Lopez’s (2018) concept of “street race” further focuses attention on real-world experiences of racialization rather than rigid, institutional racial categories or racial self-identification.
Participants describe complex and often contradictory relationships with their U.S. identity. All confirm their citizenship on legal grounds — having been born in the U.S. — and their experiences being raised in the U.S. seem to suggest a certain level of familiarity and belonging, yet few describe "American" as a category that accurately captures their lived experience. Some reserve the label "American" almost exclusively for formal contexts such as international travel or citizenship documentation. Others describe Americanness as something they have had to consciously perform in order to signal belonging in predominantly white environments. Importantly, the skin-tone scale data shows that not all participants experience these pressures equally; darker-skinned participants report facing racial scrutiny more often and more intensely. That suggests that skin color is a key factor shaping how Latinx individuals are perceived and treated. Additionally, participants describe the long-term psychological costs of these accommodations, including diminished self-worth and an ongoing struggle to reclaim their own identity. Citizenship, for many Latinx Americans, remains a conditional and contested status, navigated through the body, language, and daily life rather than secured by birthright alone.

Author

• Tsveta Dobreva, University at Albany, SUNY