U.S. Citizen Children of Undocumented Parents: Examining Political Activism and Immigrant Generation Identity

Abstract

How do U.S. born children of undocumented parents politically act given their indirect experiences with ill-calibrated immigration policies? As immigration becomes a growing concern for undocumented communities and their mixed-status families, U.S. born children of undocumented parents may be more likely than children of U.S. citizen parents to engage in democratic activism demonstrating opposition to anti-immigrant policies. Experiencing fear of a parent’s deportation, U.S. born citizens of undocumented parents act in resistance to policies that are overly restrictive to the livelihoods of their mixed-status family and policies that appear anti-immigrant. Given their citizenship and account for a growing population in the United States, these individuals can engage in electoral politics and influence the abolition of punitive immigration laws. Little research exists addressing whether a parent’s legal status impacts the political engagement of their U.S. citizen children, despite the existence of nearly 17 million Americans living within a mixed-status family. By examining civic engagement data from first-generation children of undocumented immigrants and children of U.S. citizen parents, I will identify whether exposure to navigating “illegality” through their parents and the impact it has on their family’s livelihoods politically mobilizes them and if it surpasses the activism of their third-plus generation counterparts.