ABSTRACT
After examining 50 interviews with undocumented young Latinos, this chapter shows that race directly initiates perceptions of illegality and ultimately denies Latinos access to citizenship status prior to the assessment of their documentation status. The authors also note that 1.5-generation Latinos do not passively take racism directed at them, but instead resist by speaking up and being visible as undocumented. The chapter challenges the mainstream thought of 1.5-generation as assimilation-oriented by showing they are cognizant of structural racism and are also resisting it.
