“Wise Up!” Undocumented Latino Youth, Mexican-American Legislators, and the Struggle for Higher Education Access

Abstract

The successful struggle for California's Assembly Bill 540 (AB 540), which waives out-of-state tuition for undocumented California youth who attend public higher education institutions, challenges two assumptions: that legislators only serve citizen voters and that legislative activists are adult citizens. It points to the significance of youth and educational struggles in 20th century Latino politics, which has responded to demographic and political change by incorporating undocumented youth. The author discusses the historical trajectory of Latino educational struggles through the experiences of legislative professionals from working class backgrounds. She introduces a Los Angeles-based youth group called Get Smart!^* that organized in support of AB 540 and includes undocumented members. The fight for AB 540 united Latino citizen professionals with undocumented youth and suggests channels to confront the global tragedy of the undocumented raised on the borderlands of the nation-state.

^*This organizational name is a pseudonym to protect the confidentiality of its members.