Being a Latinx adolescent under a trump presidency: Analysis of Latinx youth's reactions to immigration politics

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.02.032Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Latinx youth feel marginalized by Trump's immigration policies and rhetoric.

  • Trump's immigration politics are heightening fear and anxiety among Latinx youth.

  • Many Latinx youth perceive Trump's immigration policies as racist and unjust.

  • Some Latinx youth are standing up for injustice in today's political climate.

Abstract

The 2016 presidential election of Donald Trump has ushered in a turbulent time in U.S. history. Given the Trump administration's emphasis on anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric, scholars and practitioners need to better understand how Latinx youth are responding to and affected by the political climate. Using written, open-ended responses from 562 Latinx adolescents from Southern California, the current study documented reactions to Trump's immigration politics. Forty percent of youth articulated views about immigration in their election reactions, and 96% of immigration-related responses were critical of the President's approach. Salient themes identified in immigration-related responses included feeling afraid and/or anxious; expressing anger, contempt, and/or disgust; recognizing and experiencing racism; offering pro-immigrant narratives; and increasing civic engagement. Findings align with social contract theory and suggest that many Latinx youth are feeling marginalized and threatened by government and recognizing injustices in the rights and protections afforded to their racial/ethnic communities. This work can raise awareness among educators and social workers about the tangible consequences of immigration policies and rhetoric for Latinx youth. This sociopolitical moment may also offer opportunities for youth empowerment through civic engagement.

Introduction

“When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending the best. They're sending people that have lots of problems and they're bringing those problems. They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They're rapists and some, I assume, are good people, but I speak to border guards and they're telling us what we're getting.”

“I will build a great wall and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me -- and I'll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”

Donald Trump, June 16, 2015, New York, New York

The United States is uniquely defined by its rich history of immigration, with a national identity built on the diversity of our ethnic roots (Walzer, 1990). Unfortunately, the status of ethnic minorities with immigrant origins—and the rights they are or are not guaranteed—continues to be a highly contested and racialized debate in the United States, and such debates can impact how people of color are included and integrated in society (Masuoka & Junn, 2013). Anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric undoubtedly affect Latinx individuals, a fast growing segment of the population and the nation's largest minority group, representing 18% of the U.S. population and 39% of California's population (Census Bureau, 2016a, Census Bureau, 2016b). Through his 2016 presidential campaign and presidency to date, Donald Trump has prioritized an immigration reform platform that includes explicit and implicit anti-immigrant and anti-Latinx rhetoric (Reilly, 2016; Trump, 2016). Many scholars, practitioners, and civic leaders have voiced concern that Trump's rhetoric and policies threaten the health, safety, and psychological well-being of the Latinx community (e.g., Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC, 2016; Sulkowski, 2017)), and more empirical research is urgently needed. Sociohistorical events such as elections may influence adolescents in particular, as adolescence is a time with substantial potential for growth in worldviews, identities, and societal engagement (e.g., Flanagan, 2013; Wray-Lake, Syvertsen, & Flanagan, 2016). The current study examines a series of written, open-ended responses from a sample of 562 Latinx adolescents from Southern California, many of whom are first- or second-generation immigrants, to document their reactions to Trump's election that pertain to immigration. This work is critical to understanding how Latinx youth are experiencing the current sociohistorical moment and provides valuable policy and practice implications aimed at supporting, advocating for, and empowering Latinx youth.

Scholars across disciplines have long argued that adolescents are influenced by the social, political, and historical contexts in which they come of age (Davis, 2004; Mannheim, 1952; Putnam, 2000; Ryder, 1965; Schuman & Corning, 2011). A major developmental task of adolescence is exploring and developing worldviews, values, and identities; adolescents are actively questioning the world around them and grappling with who they are and want to be (Erikson, 1968; Flanagan, 2004). This phase of exploration and openness gives adolescents a “fresh take” on society, and thus, adolescents tend to experience current events differently than other age groups and often are shaped in more lasting ways by their sociohistorical contexts (Mannheim, 1952). Indeed, empirical evidence has shown that temporary shocks in history such as elections, wars, economic downturns, and social movements that are experienced during adolescence have long-term effects on attitudes, memories, and behaviors (e.g., Davis, 2004; McAdam, 1988; Schuman & Corning, 2011). Other research on adolescence has documented historical fluctuations in many constructs such as adolescents' social attitudes, civic engagement, mental health, and sleep, demonstrating that youth are shaped in various ways by their historical context (e.g., Keyes, Maslowsky, Hamilton, & Schulenberg, 2015; Syvertsen, Wray-Lake, Flanagan, Wayne Osgood, & Briddell, 2011; Schuman & Corning, 2011; Twenge, 2000; Wray-Lake, Schulenberg, Keyes, & Shubert, 2017).

Trump's election as President of the United States may be a historical moment that has lasting impacts on today's youth. New presidential administrations promote policies, offer rhetoric, and lay out agendas for the future – all of which can influence adolescents' experiences of the world and impact their social and political attitudes, behaviors, and sense of identity. Thus, in today's current historical moment, a critical and timely question is: How are adolescents, particularly those from targeted backgrounds, experiencing the Trump era? Hearing Latinx youths' experiences and perspectives on this sociohistorical moment creates an unprecedented opportunity for scholars, policymakers, social workers, and educators to empower youth and support their thriving at this critical moment in American history (Richards-Schuster & Pritzker, 2015; Zeldin, Christens, & Powers, 2013).

The Trump era has ushered in a turbulent time in U.S. history: we have seen contentious political rhetoric in an already polarized environment, heightened threats to civil liberties of vulnerable groups, and contestation over objectivity of information and legitimacy of media and other institutions (Mihailidis & Viotty, 2017; Pew Research Center, 2017; Slate, 2017). In the months immediately following his inauguration, Trump began to outline and enact his plans to reduce immigration from Mexico and Latin America by creating a U.S.-Mexico border wall, dramatically increasing deportations, and reducing employment opportunities for immigrants (Trump, 2016). In January 2017, Trump enacted an executive order restricting travel to the U.S. from seven Middle Eastern countries (Trump, 2017a), which prompted confusion and threats to many individuals and protests in airports around the country (Blake, 2017). This order was challenged in court on grounds of unconstitutionality and was followed up with a revised executive order in September 2017 indefinitely banning travel from certain individuals from eight Middle Eastern and African nations (Trump, 2017b). Moreover, the status of many undocumented youth has been in question due to the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program (Sessions, 2017). Certain immigrant groups with temporary legal status may also feel increasing threat of deportation, for example, by decisions to terminate Temporary Protected Status designations for El Salvadorian individuals who have been residing in the U.S. for over two decades (Nielsen, 2018). Trump often pairs these anti-immigrant policies with anti-immigrant, anti-Mexican, and anti-Latinx rhetoric (e.g., Reilly, 2016), which adds a framing to his immigration views that may be especially marginalizing for Latinx individuals in the U.S. Thus, it is important to hear the perspectives of Latinx youth and document how they are reacting to this moment in history.

Several relevant findings have emerged pertaining to individuals' post-Trump election reactions. Journalists have documented a rise in protests and increased civic engagement among individuals who are resisting Trump's policies (e.g., Holland, 2017); similarly, a poll found that millennial Clinton voters reported more interest in civic engagement and willingness to resist the Trump administration after the election (CIRCLE, 2017). The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) conducted two convenience-sampling surveys of educators before (N = 2000) and after (N = 10,000) the election; teachers, counselors, and administrators extensively described the fears and anxieties expressed by youth of color and the heightened visibility of bullying and discrimination in schools (Costello, 2016; SPLC, 2016). Rogers et al. (2017) echoed these findings with reports from teachers across the nation that schools have become more hostile environments for students of color since the election, and that some students of color were experiencing heightened socioemotional consequences. This report also documented teacher reports of increased student interest in national politics and political issues since the presidential election. Andrade (2017) interviewed a sample of undocumented (majority Latinx) college students and reported that many expressed fear and terror; some were afraid of the political unknown and others expressed fear for themselves and their families. Some undocumented youth also noted that they turned to protests and demonstrations to cope with their fears. We expand this work by drawing on a much larger, younger, and heterogeneous Latinx youth sample to better understand the broader potential impact of Trump's election on these youth. Next, using social contract theory as a lens, we review research that sheds light on how feelings of exclusion and marginalization may impact Latinx youth.

A social contract refers to a collective agreement between individuals and governing bodies in a society; to create a functioning society, individuals must give up certain freedoms in exchange for the government's protections of welfare and guarantee of liberties (Flanagan, 2013; Rousseau, 1968). The social contract is a useful concept for understanding how macro-level societal forces such as national values, policies, or discourses of presidential administrations trickle down to influence how individuals interpret the rules of the social order and engage in society on a daily basis. Indeed, the terms of the social contract often undergo revision by those in power as well as reexamination by citizens in times of political and social change (Flanagan, 2013). Unfortunately, scholars have long noted that those who make the rules of society are much more likely to reap the benefits of these rules (Flanagan, 2013).

Young people's interpretations of the social contract represent an important aspect of their social and political development (Flanagan, 2013). As youth integrate their views of government, policy, and society with their own experiences of inclusion or exclusion, they begin to form lay theories or belief systems about what opportunity structures are available to whom in society and whether all individuals equally benefit from government promises and policies (Flanagan, 2013). Youth of color are less likely to feel that terms of America's social contract – such as equal opportunity and equal protections under the law – apply to themselves and their communities. For example, Wray-Lake, Syvertsen, and Flanagan (2008) found that when Arab immigrant youth perceived Arabs as targets of discrimination in the U.S., they were more dubious that the tenets of the American social contract applied to them. Likewise, Latinx individuals have faced a long history of racial exclusion and discrimination in the U.S. (Suárez-Orozco & Páez, 2002). Today's political climate necessitates examining Latinx youth's views, given that through immigration policies and rhetoric, the Trump administration is narrowing the protections of the social contract for many immigrants of color. In asking youth to reflect on the 2016 presidential election, their recognition of exclusionary policies and exclusionary or derogatory rhetoric would indicate perceived violations of the social contract between individuals and the government, particularly violating principles that the U.S. is a country of equality, fairness, and inclusion that is obligated to protect individuals against injustice and other harms.

At the same time, it is important to recognize that Latinx immigrant youth likely vary substantially in their perceptions of exclusion and societal beliefs. For example, research has found that first-generation immigrant youth are more likely to endorse ideas that American society is fair and just, whereas second-generation immigrant youth are more likely to question this tenet, perhaps due to greater time in the country and accumulation of experiences of exclusion (Bedolla, 2000; Perreira, Harris, & Lee, 2006; Wray-Lake, Rote, Gupta, Godfrey, & Sirin, 2015). Also, research has documented significant heterogeneity in Latinx immigrant youth's views about immigration policies, such that some immigrant youth espouse inclusionary views about immigrants whereas others endorse beliefs and policies that would exclude some immigrants (Dabach, Fones, Merchant, & Kim, 2017).

When youth perceive that their ethnic group is systematically denied rights and protections that society offers, various consequences are plausible. For example, perceived violations of the social contract may take a toll on Latinx youth's mental health and socioemotional development, lead to withdrawal or alienation from society, or, for some, lead to more civic engagement through questioning the system and demanding revisions to the social contract. We briefly examine each of these three possible implications of social contract violations and supporting literature on Latinx youth.

Research suggests that feelings of systemic marginalization or exclusion could negatively affect Latinx youth's mental health and socioemotional development. Accumulated exposure to discrimination contributes to higher levels of stress, which puts Latinx adolescents at increased risk for mental health difficulties such as lower self-esteem, more depressive symptoms, higher levels of stress, and increased substance use (Armenta & Hunt, 2009; Hovey & King, 1996; Romero, Martinez, & Carvajal, 2007; Yosso, Smith, Ceja, & Solórzano, 2009). Immigrant youth are also more vulnerable to being victimized by peers and report more socioemotional, health, substance abuse, and relational problems relative to native-born peers (Maynard, Vaughn, Salas-Wright, & Vaughn, 2016; Sulkowski, Bauman, Wright, Nixon, & Davis, 2014).

More specifically, studies have examined the socioemotional consequences of recent anti-immigration laws and deportation policies for Latinx youth, indicating youth's responses to perceived exclusion at the hands of government. Using a largely Latinx sample of adolescents, Santos, Menjívar, and Godfrey (2013) examined youth's awareness of SB 1070, an Arizona law that made it illegal for any non-citizen to be in Arizona without carrying proper documentation and required law enforcement to determine an individual's immigration status if there was “reasonable suspicion” of illegal status (SB 1070, 2010). They found that youth's knowledge of SB 1070 in Arizona was associated with increased self-reported ethnic discrimination from authorities, lower self-esteem, and higher risky behavior such as aggression, truancy, and school suspensions (Santos et al., 2013; Santos & Menjívar, 2014). In addition, U.S. deportation policies and practices may be perceived by Latinx youth as violations of the social contract's promises of protection and safety. U.S. deportation practices disproportionately target Latinx individuals and a substantial percentage of deported individuals (22%) are parents of U.S. born children, putting many Latinx youth at risk of being separated from their parents (Sulkowski, 2017). Studies show that undocumented youth or youth with undocumented parents may feel highly stigmatized, fearful about the future, and are at risk for higher internalizing symptoms including anxiety, depression, and feelings of hopelessness (Abrego, 2006; Dozier, 1993; Gonzales, Suárez-Orozco, & Dedios-Sanguineti, 2013; Yoshikawa & Kalil, 2011).

Second, Latinx youth's perceived social contract violations may result in disconnection or alienation from civic life. Historically, vast racial/ethnic and class disparities in political participation and pervasive exclusion from politics has shaped the nature of civic engagement for minorities (Schlozman, Verba, & Brady, 2012). As posited by social contract theory, marginalized youth report feeling alienated from social and political systems (Flanagan & Faison, 2001; Levinson, 2007) and are often more distrustful of the government and authority (Baldi, Perie, Skidmore, Greenberg, & Hahn, 2001; Niemi & Junn, 2005) relative to White youth. Thus for many, experiences of discrimination and exclusion can lead to lower conventional civic participation, lower civic beliefs, and less connectedness to the polity through civic identity (Ballard, 2016; Chan & Latzman, 2015; Schildkraut, 2005; Wray-Lake et al., 2008). In addition, policies that threaten the status of immigrants may result in disconnection from school, health care, or other community institutions (Abrego, 2006, Abrego, 2011; Martinez et al., 2015; Santos et al., 2013). At the same time, youth from across ethnic backgrounds have been shown to distrust and criticize government and other authority structures, a reminder that exclusion is not the only reason for negative beliefs about government (e.g., Suarez-Orozco & Suárez-Orozco, 1995; Syvertsen et al., 2011).

Third, Latinx youth may react to perceived social contract violations by challenging political systems. To varying degrees, political theorists argue that individuals have rights and obligations to challenge an unjust political system that has violated social contract principles with its citizens (Habermas, 1985; Rawls, 1971). Likewise, research on critical consciousness has documented that greater awareness of social injustice may prompt some youth, particularly youth from marginalized groups to challenge the system through advocacy or activism (Diemer & Li, 2011; Diemer & Rapa, 2016). Another study showed that perceived institutional discrimination due to race was related to higher civic engagement among Black youth (Hope & Jagers, 2014). Among Latinx adults, knowledge of racial inequalities has been associated with more pro-Latinx stances on policy issues including immigration and bilingual education and greater participation in Latinx-specific political actions, such as attending demonstrations relevant to Latinx issues (Sanchez, 2006a, Sanchez, 2006b). Thus, youth who recognize their ethnic group's marginalization may develop a sense of collective agency and become more motivated to advocate for their ethnic group (Flanagan, Syvertsen, Gill, Gallay, & Cumsille, 2009; Kirshner, 2009).

In this salient political moment, few studies have had the timely opportunity to investigate how youth are responding to the changes brought on by the recent presidential election and transfer of power. The current study analyzed written responses of 562 Latinx youth in Southern California, who attend schools with predominantly Latinx students. Latinx individuals are certainly not a monolithic group: they originate from many countries and have diverse cultural experiences, backgrounds, and political views, including wide-ranging views on immigration (Dabach et al., 2017). We thus expected that Latinx adolescents would express a variety of viewpoints about Trump. Our study's primary aim was to document Latinx youth's reactions related to the politics of immigration, given social contract theory and research pointing to the potential effects of marginalization and exclusion on the well-being and societal contributions of youth. By capturing the voices of Latinx youth, findings can inform a wide range of stakeholders who value youth's perspectives and want to support their thriving during a critical sociopolitical moment.

Section snippets

Research design and sample

This study used open-ended responses provided by 562 Latinx students (age range 14–19; Mage = 15.97; 62% female) collected from seven high schools in one metropolitan school district in Southern California between February and May 2017, with most responses gathered in February and March. Thus, responses were collected shortly after President Donald Trump's inauguration and capture early reactions to Trump's presidency. Students were surveyed as part of a multisite longitudinal survey focused on

Overview of immigration themes

Overall, 224 youth wrote about an immigration-related topic in the open-ended responses, representing 40% of the Latinx responses. We examined sociodemographic differences between Latinx youth who wrote about immigration-related concerns and Latinx youth who did not using independent samples t-tests (see Table 1). Those who discussed immigration were more likely to be female and first-generation immigrants compared to those not mentioning immigration. Latinx youth with immigration-related

Discussion

In this study, many Latinx youth expressed a range of negative reactions to Trump's immigration platform. This finding is noteworthy, given that our survey did not explicitly pull for negative reactions to Trump or solicit comments about immigration: Youth's reactions were unprompted and naturally occurring. Aligning with social contract theory (Flanagan, 2013; Rawls, 1971; Rousseau, 1968), many Latinx youth we surveyed perceived violations of social contract tenets of fairness, equality, and

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest to be disclosed.

Acknowledgements

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1551520. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The authors would like to thank Laura Abrams for reviewing an earlier version of the manuscript and thank the schools that partnered with us. We are grateful to the youth who shared their views with us.

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