ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how dynamics of power and subjugation may affect the identity development of the ethnic other, and its relevance to the analysis of contemporary immigration policy reforms and White Nativism. The integrated sociopolitical and psychological analysis will discuss how the current immigration sociopolitical context affects the acculturation processes of the American-born Hispanic youth and their sense of national belonging. The current American sociopolitical immigration context, as the integrated policy analysis showed, is one marked by "White Native" political claims and legal statutes that seek to control the Hispanic other, to prevent the contestation of the "White Native" social identity and culture. Power dynamics are central to a discussion of individual and collective self-identities and American immigration policy. The brief overview of the Hispanic Paradox and research seems to challenge traditional notions of acculturation, that have suggested that higher acculturation levels, and ultimately assimilation, lead to better immigrant mental health outcomes.
