This essay examines the grassroots digital media produced by young undocumented immigrants to reveal how these media both enable and restrain immigrants in processes of negotiating the effects of stigma affiliated with being undocumented, abating isolation, and advocating for immigration reform. I problematize the coming out process by revealing the ways digital communication may discourage heterogeneous perspectives, normalize free labor, facilitate hateful and xenophobic responses, and perpetuate confirmation bias. Foregrounding oral history interviews with 25 undocumented or formerly undocumented immigrants in New York City, this project advances understanding regarding the facility and limitations of digital media while simultaneously attending to an existing underrepresentation of undocumented immigrants in U.S. scholarship.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Sarah Bishop (2017) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: