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.

Full Product Details

Author:   Sophia Rodriguez
Publisher:   Rutgers University Press
Imprint:   Rutgers University Press
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9781978828827

ISBN 10:   1978828829
Pages:   208
Publication Date:   12 August 2025
Recommended Age:   From 18 to 99 years
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.

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

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

Author Information

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.

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