Contesting citizenship from below: Central Americans and the struggle for inclusion

Zimmerman, Arely M.

doi:10.1057/lst.2014.71

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Produced through a dialectical process between laws and social life, legal consciousness adapts to make sense of new tropes and experiences (Ewick and Silbey ; Hernandez ). In some cases, even though they are officially “outside of the law” (Motomura ), undocumented and other immigrants with temporary forms of legal status develop a legal consciousness of resistance that empowers them to enact practices of citizenship (Abrams ; Patler ; Schwiertz ; Zimmerman ). Whether because they are claiming rights, resisting unjust policies of exclusion, or effectuating political subjectivities that resist the power of the nation‐state, immigrants can construct a form of citizenship based on “an enactment of membership in a cultural and political community” (Zimmerman : 28).…”

Section: Immigration Law and Immigrants’ Legal Consciousnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In some cases, even though they are officially “outside of the law” (Motomura ), undocumented and other immigrants with temporary forms of legal status develop a legal consciousness of resistance that empowers them to enact practices of citizenship (Abrams ; Patler ; Schwiertz ; Zimmerman ). Whether because they are claiming rights, resisting unjust policies of exclusion, or effectuating political subjectivities that resist the power of the nation‐state, immigrants can construct a form of citizenship based on “an enactment of membership in a cultural and political community” (Zimmerman : 28). They develop a legal consciousness that highlights their positive social contributions to engage politically outside of the electoral system to participate in civic life and democracy in ways traditionally considered to apply only to citizens (Abrams ; Chacón ; Coll ; Coutin ; Gonzales ; Negrón‐Gonzales , ; Pallares ).…”

Section: Immigration Law and Immigrants’ Legal Consciousnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Relational Legal Consciousness of U.S. Citizenship: Privilege, Responsibility, Guilt, and Love in Latino Mixed-Status Families

Abrego¹

2019

Law Soc Rev

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Based on interviews with 100 members of mixed‐status families in Los Angeles, California, this article analyzes how U.S. citizen children practice and understand citizenship in the context of punitive laws targeting their loved ones. Participants' narratives of citizenship as privilege, responsibility, and guilt reveal that despite normative conceptions of citizenship as a universally equal status, citizenship intersects with key social markers to determine the contours and inequalities of substantive citizenship. Specifically, U.S. citizens in mixed‐status families make sense of their juridical category when they navigate unrealistic aspirations from relatives, maintain silence about undocumented family members' legal status, manage their fear of family separation through deportation, and take on financial and logistical responsibilities prematurely to help relatives. In each of these ways, family proves to be a key site for the social and relational production of citizenship.

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Section: Immigration Law and Immigrants’ Legal Consciousnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Immigration Law and Immigrants’ Legal Consciousnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relational Legal Consciousness of U.S. Citizenship: Privilege, Responsibility, Guilt, and Love in Latino Mixed-Status Families

Abrego¹

2019

Law Soc Rev

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“…Equally important, the concept of spiritual citizenship contributes to how sociologists of migration think about religion by calling attention to how religion and faith shape migrants’ legalization strategies. Previous studies have examined how migrants interpret the meaning of citizenship by studying their individual and collective legalization strategies and struggles (Dowling and Inda 2013; Gálvez 2013; Zimmerman 2015). However, this focus overlooks how migrants who do not engage in “progressive” collective movements focused on legalization and immigrant rights nonetheless create alternative definitions of citizenship.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Citizenship generally refers to a set of entitlements granted to those with and withheld from those without legal membership in a nation-state (Zimmerman 2015). However, undocumented migrants can use other support networks and local civic organizations to claim “informal citizenship,” which refers to the ways migrants enact informal recognition through their civic participation (Sassen 2002; Varsanyi 2006; Dowling and Inda 2013).…”

Section: Spiritual Citizenship and Illegality In A Neoliberal Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spiritual Citizenship: Immigrant Religious Participation and the Management of Deportability¹

Garcia

2018

International Migration Review

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This article advances the concept of spiritual citizenship to examine how some religiously active migrants employ religion to see themselves as, and to try to become, less deportable. Drawing from ethnographic observations and interviews with Central American and Mexican immigrants in the United States, I find that undocumented migrants use religion to redefine their own sense of self and to position themselves as spiritual citizens of “good moral character.” This research examines how the priorities of religious organizations can operate in relation to and through a neoliberal context. While religion supports migrants as they endure criminalization, my discussion of spiritual citizenship shows how the benefits of religious participation can also depend on migrants’ willingness to become deserving neoliberal citizens.

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“…This article examines the experiences of undocumented immigrant youth of Central American origin. Central Americans have a rich history of immigrant rights activism (Hamilton and Chinchilla, 2001; Orozco, 2000; Pérez and Ramos, 2007; Rodriguez, 1987; Tejada, 2015; Zimmerman, 2015). Yet, in the many years that we, as long-term international migration scholars, have accompanied and conducted research with undocumented youth in the immigrant rights movement, we have encountered relatively few Central Americans in those organizing spaces.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“Complexities of belonging: Compounded foreignness and racial cover among undocumented Central American youth”

Zimmerman

Pérez

Abrego³

2022

Ethnicities

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Legally excluded from the state through their status, undocumented Central Americans must also navigate belonging in social movement spaces that do not center their cultural experiences. Drawing on 25 interviews with Guatemalans, Hondurans, and Salvadorans from multiple studies, we explore Central Americans’ agency and identity development in immigrant rights organizations and in daily life. We employ the term, compounded foreignness, to capture the layered practices of exclusion they face for being unauthorized and for not fitting into dominant conceptions of Latinidad. We demonstrate that undocumented Central Americans develop various strategies of belonging. For example, shared experiences of racialized illegality can lead to solidarity amongst undocumented immigrant youth across racial, ethnic, and national lines. When they are being negatively targeted, however, they use racialized illegality as racial cover–that is, a way to divert attention away from their illegality in relation to the state, as well as social and cultural foreignness from Latinidad. This means that some choose to pass as Mexican by adopting Mexican cultural norms and colloquial speech, while others take pride in their cultural difference as Central Americans. In other instances, they seek spaces and people who share their cultural identity. Importantly, while racial cover may work as a strategy for navigating these different forms of marginalization, racial cover can also cover up and make invisible Central American identities and needs. Together, these experiences reveal a level of agency and nuance needed to deepen our understanding of undocumented immigrants, Central Americans, and belonging in the United States.

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Contesting citizenship from below: Central Americans and the struggle for inclusion

Cited by 10 publications

References 24 publications

Relational Legal Consciousness of U.S. Citizenship: Privilege, Responsibility, Guilt, and Love in Latino Mixed-Status Families

Relational Legal Consciousness of U.S. Citizenship: Privilege, Responsibility, Guilt, and Love in Latino Mixed-Status Families

Spiritual Citizenship: Immigrant Religious Participation and the Management of Deportability¹

“Complexities of belonging: Compounded foreignness and racial cover among undocumented Central American youth”

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Contesting citizenship from below: Central Americans and the struggle for inclusion

Cited by 10 publications

References 24 publications

Relational Legal Consciousness of U.S. Citizenship: Privilege, Responsibility, Guilt, and Love in Latino Mixed-Status Families

Relational Legal Consciousness of U.S. Citizenship: Privilege, Responsibility, Guilt, and Love in Latino Mixed-Status Families

Spiritual Citizenship: Immigrant Religious Participation and the Management of Deportability1

“Complexities of belonging: Compounded foreignness and racial cover among undocumented Central American youth”

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Spiritual Citizenship: Immigrant Religious Participation and the Management of Deportability¹