"We're Free but Not Free at the Same Time. It's Like, Where Do We Belong?" Exploring Recently Arrived Undocumented Youth Perceptions of Citizenship, Identity, and Belonging in the U.S. South

• In Event: Navigating Borders and Boundaries: Schooling Experiences of Immigrants and Others

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of recently arrived undocumented youth in restrictive southern policy context, particularly their beliefs about citizenship, identity, and sense of belonging to school and society. I argue that hearing recently arrived undocumented youth stories as they remember their journeys to the U.S. for a “better life” only to be confronted by anti-immigrant policies needs addressing. Drawing on data from a two-year multi site ethnographic study in Title I high schools, this study unravels how undocumented youth are positioned as “problems” and “criminals” in U.S. society and a southern state context and the ways in which they reject such positioning.

Author

• Sophia Rodriguez, University of North Carolina - Greensboro