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

Sophia Rodriguez (Author)

9781978828834

Hardback, published 12 August 2025

208 pages, 4 color images and 5 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.454 kg

"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 youth stories within make the book come alive." - Emily R. Crawford (coeditor of Educational Leadership of Immigrants: Case Studies in Times of Change)

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.

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