Current Activism:
Researchers Caitlin Cahill, Leticia Alvarez Gutierrez, and David Alberto Quijada Cerecer set out to research, understand, and advocate against what they call “the school-to-sweatshop pipeline.” The researchers explain the phenomenon as follows:
“Our analysis considers how culture and policy interact to criminalize, contain, neglect, and exclude, in order to reproduce an economically polarized labor force that sorts and disciplines young people of color and, in particular, young immigrant and undocumented students, for particular roles in the economy. In this framework, the ‘sweatshop’ denotes not just a place, but a state of labor exploitation, whether working long hours in factory settings, mowing lawns, cleaning hotel rooms, or washing dishes.” (Cahill, 2016 pg. 123)
Cahill’s research is all about understanding what they call “the double-knot of dispossession,” in which undocumented students “illegality” is produced by the culture they live in and institutions they participate in and they are never given room to aspire to go to college (Cahill, 2016, pgs. 128-129). Their work puts equal emphasis on research and actual intervention efforts (at the capital and at school). These three ideas are central to their work and key to the power of its impact:
- Resistance happens at home. “…because home is where global restructuring is intimately felt and negotiated but also because it is where we can act and resist. As feminist and critical race theorists have argued, the family, home, and school – the material conditions of social reproduction – are targeted by capitalism in part because they are sites of resistance.This is especially true for immigrant communities where the family/la familia includes an expansive network of kin and community relationships that are central to survival and achievement” (Cahill, 2016, pgs. 123-124).
- Showing up at the capital, taking up space as brown bodies engaged in the democratic process, makes a difference. “Neoliberal restructuring is not a nameless, faceless political process circling the globe, but happening right here in front of us as legislators make decisions that affect our everyday lives. After years of visiting the legislators at the Capitol, many legislators know our Collective and recognize that we are educated about the issues” (Cahill, 2016, pg. 130).
- Storytelling, art, and cultural inclusion/celebration (in school culture and curriculum) is essential. “Youth and families felt excluded at school because of the hostile tone they encountered when inquiring about educational concerns and access. They shared experiences of being treated as if they were ‘illegally’ in the school and could be ‘deported’ at any time, leading to feelings of inadequacy and insecurity” (Cahill, 2016, pg. 130). They were able to make a difference in the school by showcasing 140 “immigration autobiographies” and designing and painting a mural reflecting immigrant experiences (Cahill, 2016, pg. 130).
Image Source: Mestizo Arts Collective
The Department of Education’s Resource Guide for Supporting Undocumented Youth:
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- lays out the importance of making schools safe spaces where undocumented students’ can be seen, understood, and supported by their teachers, counselors, and hopefully, eventually upper-level administrators (US Dept. of Edu, 2015).
Emily Crawford’s research on what motivates counselor’s to support/advocate for undocumented K-12 students prioritizes a similar starting point:
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- the relationships between students and teachers/counselors and the relationship between counselors and parents (Crawford, 2017, pg. 1).
The United We Dream #HereToStay Toolkit seeks to support schools in:
1. Creating “undocu-friendly classrooms and educators and being undocu-friendly outside classroom time.”
2. Changing “your school or campus to be a sanctuary of safety”
3. Demanding and supporting “local campaigns demanding that city, county or state
officials create sanctuary policies to keep residents safe” (United We Dream, pg 9).