Immigrant Youth and Activism: Opportunities for Leadership and Social Change

Immigrant and undocumented high school students are becoming more active in the struggle for educational and human rights for immigrants. This study examined the social and political activism of a group of undocumented immigrant youth in Southern California as they organized in order to gain access to higher education and advocate for immigration reform. This ethnographic study explored the learning processes and outcomes for immigrant youth as they developed their leadership skills and participated in organizing and activism in their schools and communities. The immigrant youth were part of a community-based youth organization called, Youth United for Immigrant Rights. Youth United students helped their classmates understand the social, political, and economic context of immigrant rights, and participated in marches, rallies, phone banking, and direct actions to inform their peers and community members about issues facing immigrants. Data collection included participant observations of the youth group's weekly organizing meetings as well as semi-structured interviews with 15 youth and 10 previous youth activists over the course of sixteen months. Findings suggest that these immigrant high school students developed critical youth development outcomes through their organizing efforts, particularly related to their development of leadership skills and qualities, their identity as undocumented or immigrant youth, and their understanding of social and political inequities affecting the immigrant community. These processes prepared them to take direct action in their school and community and contributed to their pursuit of a college education.