Left Out But Not Shut Down: Political Activism and the Undocumented Student Movement

Abstract

SETTLEMENT ¶3This inclusion of youth as both subjects and active participants in political organizing is something that young people like Andrea have worked tirelessly at achieving.After spending days in strategy meetings with more than forty other student leaders, on May 1, 2006, Andrea and two hundred other students stood on stage making their concerns heard.While this day was an important one for Andrea and countless others, this was not her introduction to political participation.Long before this spring afternoon, the circumstances of Andrea's life shaped both her political and educational trajectories. ¶4In the spring of 2006, cities across the United States witnessed unprecedented numbers of people taking to the streets in protest.3 Sparked by the passage in the House of an anti-immigrant Congressional bill, 4 supported by powerful allies, 5 and alerted by effective communication networks, 6 millions of people in big cities and small towns took to the streets and used their feet to express their disapproval.From traditional immigrant metropolises like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, to newer immigrant destination cities like Milwaukee, Denver, and Atlanta, these political demonstrations grew into a national effort to mobilize against punitive immigration laws.7 In Los Angeles alone, more than 500,000 people crowded the streets and parks in peaceful protest on March 25, 2006.8 Across the nation, hundreds of thousands of people, young and old, and along a wide spectrum of ethnic communities, walked out of school, gave up their wages for a day, and marched in the streets of U.S. cities.Until then quiet and largely out of public sight, these protestors loudly and visibly carried flags, banners, and placards to show their willingness to stand up for the rights of immigrant workers and students. ¶5Among these demonstrators were large groups of young immigrants and children of immigrants who marched side-by-side with their parents and community members.The efforts of Andrea's group were met by those of other youth groups across the country.About 700 high school students in El Paso, Texas, walked out of their schools in late March, while an estimated 70,000 walked out in San Diego County; 35,000 in Los Angeles County and about 3,500 students in Dallas demonstrated in the streets.9 These are only a few examples of countless political actions by youth and adults alike that took place across the United States.3 Randal C. Archibold, Immigrants Take to the Streets in Show of Strength, N.Y.TIMES, May 2, 2006, at A1; Teresa Watanabe & Hector Becerra, 500,000 Pack Streets to Protest Immigration Bills, L.A. TIMES, Mar. 26, 2006, at A1. 4 In particular, people responded to HR 4437, the bill sponsored by Representative James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wis.),which would criminalize entire immigrant communities and those who would aid them.See H.R. 4437, 109th Cong.(2005) (including provisions for tightening border security, heightening penalties for abetting border crossings, and comprehensively increasing the role of employers in learning the legal status of workers).5 This was reflected in the Ash Wednesday call by Cardinal Roger Mahony, head of the Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese, the nation's largest, when he urged his parishioners to defy such a law.

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