“Si Mis Papas Estuvieran Aquí”: Unaccompanied Youth Workers’ Emergent Frame of Reference and Health in the United States

Abstract

Relying on in-depth interviews and ethnographic data in Los Angeles, California, this study examines the health experiences of unaccompanied, undocumented Latin American-origin immigrant youth as they come of age as low-wage workers. Findings demonstrate that unaccompanied, undocumented youth undergo cumulative physical and mental health disadvantages in the United States’s secondary labor market and during critical developmental life stages while lacking the parental monitoring and guidance to navigate them. Developing comparisons between their past and present living conditions and between themselves and other youth in Los Angeles—what I refer to as an emergent frame of reference—youth workers come to perceive family disruptions, and especially separation from their parents, as the most salient factor affecting their health. While some youth ultimately resign themselves to short-term attempts to assuage illness, injury, or distress through activities like substance abuse, others pursue community connections and support groups that can sustain them long term.

The Work, Economic, and Remittance Stress and Distress of the COVID-19 Pandemic Containment Policies: The Case of Venezuelan Migrants in Argentina and Chile

“…Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the stress of precarious jobs, involuntary unemployment, underemployment, and professional stagnation was more prevalent and severe for immigrants. Immigrants experience more work stress than citizens because they are more likely to have precarious and nonstandard bad jobs with high risk and security [ 8 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Specifically, immigrants who have undocumented or liminal legal status, are racialized, and have low educational attainment with fewer employment opportunities, forcing them to endure the stress and distress of bad working conditions and daily discrimination from coworkers and employers [ 21 , 22 , 25 ].…”

“…These work and economic stressors, stress, and distress dynamics more severely affect immigrants who are in structurally disadvantaged positions and already struggling with the psychological strain of underemployment, the loss of professional status they had in their country of origin [ 15 ], limited labor market opportunities, and precarious employment conditions [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these conditions, as immigrants experienced high psychological distress in general [ 23 ], or due to being in debt [ 24 ], a perceived threat of financial hardship [ 25 ], and when their employers cut their working hours [ 26 ].…”

Working‐class Latina/o youth navigating stratification and inequality: A review of literature

“…Working‐class Latina/o youth's financial labor during their transition to adulthood can come at a cost to mobility. The negative impacts of working in adolescence and teenage years include early exposure to workplace violence, including verbal abuse and exploitation (Canizales, 2022). Studies also show that maintaining family obligations can “interfere with academic success as they put a toll on children's time and energy that can lead to school absences, school dropout, and lower rates of college enrollment (Calzada et al., 2012, p. 1698; Lopez, 2003; Zhou et al., 2008).…”

“…Indigenous Latin American youth's cultural labor is evinced in their strategies to “cloak” Indigenous language proficiencies and keep Indigenous identities secret in response to harassment and resulting feelings of shame (Barillas Chon, 2010; Kovats Sanchez, 2018; Machado‐Casas, 2009). Indigenous‐language speakers in immigrant communities strategically claim proficiencies in their native languages, Spanish, or English (Canizales, 2021a, 2022). And some Indigenous young people choose to identify as panethnic Latino/Hispanic, while others identify as Indigenous or as both Indigenous and Latino/Hispanic.…”

“…Youth who fit the stereotype of Latina/o immigrant and who are racialized as “illegal” (Gómez Cervantes, 2021) might encounter more hostile interactions at school (Jimenez, 2009; Lopez, 2003) and other public spaces that then expose them to their perceived outsider status. This is especially the case for Indigenous youth who experience such hostility from non‐Indigenous peers within the Latina/o immigrant community and non‐Latina/os in society more broadly engage in daily emotional labor to manage their emotions and make meaning of their Indigeneity in a multicultural society (Canizales, 2015, 2022).…”