ABSTRACT
Based on an in-depth study of activism for immigrants’ rights during the 2018–2019 border crisis, when families migrating from Central America in search of asylum crossed the US–Mexico border in unprecedented numbers, this chapter tells the story of White women’s successes in ameliorating the conditions under which the migrants were admitted to the United States, while also undermining Latino/a organizing for neighborhood revitalization. Vandermeade draws on theories of intersectionality, Whiteness, and gendered and racialized citizenship, arguing that White allies must apply intersectional theory in order to contend with the ways that wielding their privilege on behalf of an Other risks reinforcing the systems of domination that produce the oppressive conditions they aim to undo.
