This paper integrates theories and research from the fields of transliteracies and language brokering to understand the language and literacy experiences of bilingual youth who grew up in Mexican immigrant families. Analyzing data from three interrelated studies that used ethnographic research methods to understand the language brokering of…

This study examined the collateral effects of deportation on the children of mixed-immigration households where the father is Mexican and has been deported, the mother is American, and the children were born in the United States. These children are American citizens by birth, but after spending most of their lives in the United States, they begin…

This article examines the development of racially segregated Mexican rooms and Mexican schools in Wyoming during the Depression era. Working in concert with New Deal legislation, the segregation of Mexican children--regardless of US citizenship--in Wyoming was not just a matter of social practice and local custom, it became an expression of…

This article explores notions of belonging and citizenship for "American Mexican" students--Mexican-heritage youth born in the United States who return to Mexico with their families. Our findings reveal belonging as a sociocultural practice that participants negotiated spatially and relationally, chiefly by making their US-born status…

Drawing from an ethnography with mixed-status families residing in Mexico, we examine what we term transborder literacies of (in)visibility, or diasporic people's innovative interactions around texts that prepare them to move across incompatible mononational institutions divided by borders. Through close attention to the literacy practices…

This study analyzes the impact that U.S. curricula have on Mexican transnational returnees. Specifically, this article focuses on the ideological development of the army and imperialism promoted in U.S. schools among Mexican populations. Using a framework that combines critical literacies, transnationalism, and Bourdieu's concepts of…

Although organized activities promote positive youth development, Latina/os are least likely to participate among ethnic minority youth. This study tested whether an indicator of social stratification, namely mothers' documentation status (i.e., nativity, citizenship, and legal status), explained low activity participation rates among Mexican and…

In this essay, Joanna Dreby, Sarah Gallo, Florencia Silveira, and Melissa Adams-Corral use a transnational frame to explore the meanings of US citizenship for binational children and its importance to experiences of belonging. Drawing on interviews with children ages six to fourteen living with their Mexican-born parents in rural Puebla, their…

This study investigated the relationship between psychocultural, sociocultural, college knowledge, and citizenship status factors on Latinx high school students' college enrollment. Participants included 307 Latinx ninth-grade students enrolled across four high schools in central Texas that were followed post-high school graduation. Results…

Using discourse analysis, this article explores how Mexican-American students at an Arizona high school exploited intersections of race, gender, and socioeconomic class to position themselves and their peers along a racial continuum from less to more Mexican. Thus, private social distinctions among students both mirrored and transformed publicly…

This article discusses the contributions of foreign-born TESOL instructors helping adult language learners develop literacy skills through a pen pal project, which lasted 10 weeks and consisted of writing letters back and forth weekly. The project provided adult immigrant learners with an opportunity to practice meaningful writing to support their…

The experiences of Mexican and Iranian immigrant families are often unheard and unpacked. The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine how race, ethnicity, and national identity are at the core of the sociopolitical and economic issues that Latino and Iranian families undergo in the United States. Using critical race theory as a framework,…

This article draws from a 23-month ethnographic study conducted in mixed-status Mexican homes to detail the particular methodological concerns that arise when conducting research within these legally complex and vulnerable families. Specifically, the analysis illustrates when and why undocumented parents in one focal family asked the ethnographer…

Mexican immigrant farm-worker mothers' class, race, citizenship status, and jurisdictional status of their town in a Northern California community rendered them invisible. However, when the school board decided to close the elementary school the mothers mobilized. Drawing on these mothers' "'fototestimonios" we examine how they, as…

Located on the U.S.-Mexico border, Webb County is an international trading center, bursting with culture and opportunities. But the county's future success depends on whether every Webb County child has access to opportunities that help them reach their full potential. Ensuring the well-being of all Webb County's children--across neighborhood,…