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The widely recognized "Dreamer narrative" celebrates the educational and economic achievements of undocumented youth to justify a path to citizenship. While a well-intentioned, strategic tactic to garner political support of undocumented youth, it has promoted the idea that access to citizenship and rights should be granted only to a select group of "deserving" immigrants. The contributors to We Are Not Dreamers-themselves currently or formerly undocumented-poignantly counter the Dreamer narrative by grappling with the nuances of undocumented life in this country. Theorizing those excluded from the Dreamer category-academically struggling students, transgender activists, and queer undocumented parents-the contributors call for an expansive articulation of immigrant rights and justice that recognizes the full humanity of undocumented immigrants while granting full and unconditional rights. Illuminating how various institutions reproduce and benefit from exclusionary narratives, this volume articulates the dangers of the Dreamer narrative and envisions a different way forward.
Contributors. Leisy J. Abrego, Gabrielle Cabrera, Gabriela Garcia Cruz, Lucía León, Katy Joseline Maldonado Dominguez, Grecia Mondragón, Gabriela Monico, Genevieve Negrón-Gonzales, Maria Liliana Ramirez, Joel Sati, Audrey Silvestre, Carolina Valdivia
List of contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction / Leisy J. Abrego and Genevieve Negrón-Gonzales 1
1. "Other" Borders: The Illegal as Normative Metaphor / Joel Sati 23
2. "I felt like an embarrassment to the undocumented community": Undocumented Students Navigating Academic Probation and Unrealistic Expectations / Grecia Mondragón 45
3. Disrupting Diversity: Undocumented Students in the Neoliberal University / Gabrielle Cabrera 66
4. American't: Redefining Citizenship in the U.S. Undocumented Immigrant Youth Movement / Gabriela Monico 87
5. Contesting "Citizenship": The Testimonies of Undocumented Immigrant Activist Women / Gabriela Garcia Cruz 110
6. Undocumented Young Adults' Heightened Vulnerability in the Trump Era / Carolina Valdivia 127
7. Beyond Identity: Coming Out as UndocuQueer / Maria Liliana Ramirez 146
8. Me Vestí De Reina: Trans and Queer Sonic Spatial Entitlement / Audrey Silvestre 168
9. Legalization Through Marriage: When Love and Papers Converge / Lucía León 190
10. Undocumented Queer Parenting: Navigating External and Internal Threats to Family / Katy Joseline Maldonado Dominguez 211
Appendix: Keywords / Katy Joseline Maldonado Dominguez 235
Contributors 241
Index 245
About the author
Leisy J. Abrego and Genevieve Negrón-Gonzales, editors
Summary
The contributors to We Are Not Dreamers—who are themselves currently or formerly undocumented—call for the elimination of the Dreamer narrative, showing how it establishes high expectations for who deserves citizenship and marginalizes large numbers of undocumented youth.
