The Racialized Control of Latinx Immigrant Students

Scholars have scrutinized and problematized how social control punitive frameworks have been diffused into United States (U.S.) schools. Evidence-based research indicates that Latinx immigrant students experience disproportional surveillance and punitive social control. Such research also points to distinctive causes, correlates, and consequences that Latinx immigrant youth endure as a result of racialized control within schools. Some also utilize the “threat” of “criminal” immigrants to bolster the increased surveillance and control of immigrants. In this article, we argue that immigrant threat does not fully capture racial inequities with school discipline patterns. Drawing from Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Latina/o Critical Legal Theory (LatCrit), we argue that a racialized control theoretical framework better explicates the criminalization of Latinx immigrant students. We also highlight implications for practice regarding the educational experiences of the largest minoritized segment of the U.S. student population–Latinx immigrant students.