Aging into exclusion and social transparency: Undocumented immigrant youth and the transition to adulthood

Abstract

This ethnographic study, conducted between 2007 and 2011, examines the various pathways that undocumented Latina/o immigrant youths take upon graduation from high school in a new migrant destination. This research expands the scope of the 1.5 and second-generation incorporation literature that remains dominated by research in traditional migrant-receiving urban areas. Contextualizing the transition to adulthood within a small Southern community, I focus my ethnographic observations and in-depth interviews with 75 community members on the distinct opportunity structures available to youths in a small-town setting. In spite of a reactive political climate on a local level and inertia regarding immigration policy reform on a federal level, undocumented youths in this North Carolina community benefit from extremely supportive teachers, coaches, family employers and other community members. The findings of this study demonstrate how small towns can facilitate networks of social support. Even with the opportunities created by small-town social capital, however, the undocumented youths in this sample remained acutely aware of their legal exclusion.