Contentious Citizenship: Undocumented Activism in the Not1More Deportation Campaign

Abstract

This article examines a key shift in the activism of undocumented immigrants: the move from pro-system, institutionally-focused politics to the more contentious, direct action politics of the Not1More Deportation campaign. I trace this shift by analyzing three dimensions of undocumented activism: the content of the narratives or experiential accounts shared by activists; the tactics utilized by DREAMers and community-based organizations of undocumented immigrants; and the strategies of emotion management and emotional performance adopted by activists. I argue that this move toward contentious politics was fueled by an iterative process of movement claims-making and institutional response, which both empowered undocumented activists and rendered them skeptical of reliance on formal institutions or political parties. This article draws on several years of empirical research with undocumented activists in the state of Arizona; it analyzes the Not1MoreDeportation campaign as it has occurred both in Arizona and nationwide.