Undocumented in the U.S. South: How Youth Navigate Racialization in Policy and School Contexts

by Sophia Rodriguez

Overview

Undocumented in the U.S. South is a rare look into the everyday realities of undocumented youth in K-12 public schools. In an anti-immigrant policy context, youth and their families navigate historical and current legacies and realities of segregation, racial discrimination, and inequality. With a deep three-year ethnographic study, hundreds of hours of observational research, interviews, and policy analysis, Sophia Rodriguez traces the lives of undocumented youth across multiple public school settings. Her research underscores how these youth are racialized through state policies, school and organizational practices, and everyday interactions with educators and peers. As the first study of its kind to combine this unique framework for analysis, Undocumented in the U.S. South sheds light on the challenges youth face in their everyday struggle to belong. Rodriguez invites us to consider youth experiences as central knowledge for improving educators’ awareness and school practice, while promoting policies that are humanizing and rooted in youth experience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781978828841
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	08/12/2025
Series:	Critical Issues in American Education
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	206
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

SOPHIA RODRIGUEZ is an associate professor of educational policy studies and sociology at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development in New York City. She is the coauthor of Race Frames in Education: Structuring Inequality and Opportunity in a Changing Educational Landscape.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction

Part I Macro

Chapter 2: Ethnographic Interlude I, “I don’t feel welcome here.”

Chapter 3: “This state is racist with its policies toward Hispanics. We work, but don’t have

rights.”: Racialization of immigrants at macro-historical and policy levels.

Part II Meso

Chapter 4: Ethnographic Interlude II, “We call them coolers–immigration rooms are cold.”

Chapter 5: “I was born at the border, like the wrong side of it.”: Racialization and discrimination

at Denizen West High and Citizen North High.

Part III Micro

Chapter 6: “Even being a citizen is not a privilege if you’re Hispanic here...” Undocumented

youth perceptions of racialized citizenship.

Chapter 7: Conclusion and implications for education policy and practice

Appendix

Notes

Bibliography

Introduction 1

Part I Macro-Level

History and Policy Perspectives

1 Ethnographic Interlude I: “I don’t

feel welcome here.”—

Ethnographic

Encounters, Methodological Notes,

and Policy Effects 39

2 “This state is racist with its policies toward

Hispanics.

We work, but don’t

have rights.”: Racialization

of Immigrants at the Macro (Historical and Policy) Level 47

Part II Meso-Level

Organizational

Perspectives

3 Ethnographic Interlude II: “We call them coolers—

immigration

rooms are cold.”—Students’

Migration

Journeys and the Lived Effects of Macro Policies upon

Their Entering U.S. Schools 85

4 “I was born at the border, like the wrong side of it.”:

Racialization and Discrimination at Denizen West High

and Citizen North High 95

Part III Micro-Level

Interactional Perspectives

5 “Even being a citizen is not a privilege if you’re

Hispanic here.”:

Undocumented Youths’ Perceptions of Racialized Citizenship 131

Conclusion: Implications for Education Policy and Practice 149

Acknowledgments

163

Notes 167

References 171

Index 000

Editorial Reviews

"Undocumented in the U.S. South fills a gap in what is known about the educational experiences of undocumented and recently arrived Central American immigrant youth in the South. The rich, meaningful stories within make the book come alive."— Emily R. Crawford, coeditor of Educational Leadership of Immigrants: Case Studies in Times of Change

"Rodriguez provides a timely and much-needed analysis of immigrant youths' experiences navigating education, racism, and inequality in the South."— Lauren Heidbrink, author of Migranthood: Youth in a New Era of Deportation

From the Publisher