UndocuQueers: Resisting Double Exile in Education

• In Event: DREAMers, Immigrant Rights Advocates, and Allies: Strategic Engagements to Expand PK–16+ Public Education

Abstract

Based on Latino critical theory (LatCrit) and queers of color (QOC) critique in education and as part of a larger qualitative research study, this paper explores how three Latinx students’ experiences in public education as undocumented and self-identified as gays and lesbian learn to live in a double exile (Frank, 2009). The presenters analyze how the participants’ narratives with issues of race/ethnicity, immigration status, and sexual orientation in schools intersect with different layers of discrimination. Brockenbrough (2015) argues that using a QOC critique allows queers of color to resist against systems of power and domination. He posits that QOC critique creates the space for queers of color to analyze “their ways of being” and to build “pathways toward their desired social futures” (p. 31).

Using testimonios the participants in the study reveal how living in double exile lead them to experience rejection from their parents, relatives, and sometimes friends due to their sexual orientation, as well as oppression from mainstream society for being Latinx and undocumented. Cruz (2012) posits that using testimonios is a “response to larger discourses of nation-building and has the potential to undermine the larger narratives that often erase and make invisible the expendable and often disposable labor and experiences of immigrants, the working class, African Americans, and others” (p.460). Through face-to-face interviews and observations, the participants share how their lack of legal immigration documents in this country, as well as President Trump’s new immigration policies toward immigrants, especially Muslims and Mexicans, push them to experience uncertainty, racial profiling, and fear of deportation.

The authors realize the importance of talking about undocumented and self-identified LGBTQ students is needed in academia. They argue that these students’ experiences with rejection from their own communities and discrimination from mainstream society encourage LGBTQ undocumented students to abandon their parents, hurt themselves, and/or drop out of school. They also suggest the creation of more inclusive spaces where LGBTQ undocumented students can feel welcomed and safe. Due to the fact that most undocumented LGBTQ students do not qualify for social security, find a decent job, or get federal funds to pursue higher education, most of them end up earning low wages, and trapped in a cycle of poverty. Moreover, those who qualify to apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a federal relief from deportation and work permit, experience a lot of hardships while working full-time and attending local colleges. As a result, most of these Dreamers change their minds about pursuing a higher education.

For this session, the authors will start with an overview about the large qualitative study. They will address the study’s research questions, methods, participants’ recruitment, and preliminary data analysis. They will close their session sharing tools and resources teachers, school administrators, and interested attendees can use to support and advocate for undocumented LGBTQ students.

Authors

• Juan Rios, Bradley University

• Sonja Franeta