by Fernando Mejía

Read the sidebar that accompanies this article, What is the Dream Act?.

Youth have been and are important actors in the movement for social change. Their energy fueled the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. They occupied Walgreens counters, registered African-Americans to vote, marched with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, and, yes, were lynched by white mobs. In South Africa, youth were instrumental in challenging and eventually ending apartheid. Today, youth continue to play a vital role in the movement for social change in the United States and in other parts of the world.

Youth membership and participation has been critical to the success of the Idaho Community Action Network (ICAN), an organization that brings together Idahoans committed to progressive social change. Youth are the driving force in our work for immigrant rights. In 2007 and again in 2008, ICAN’s youth members introduced a bill in the state legislature to establish in-state tuition for undocumented students. In the past two years, they have also worked for the passage of the federal DREAM Act, which would secure post-secondary education opportunities for students regardless of their immigration status. Leadership in these campaigns deepens young activists’ understanding of injustice and propels them to take ownership of the campaigns. In addition, their involvement inspires other youth to participate.

ICAN youth member Eugenia Ojeda credits her participation in the organization for sharpening her analytical skills about issues facing her community.

“ICAN helped me realize that the problems facing the Latino community are systemic and rooted in racism,” she said. “We need to work together to solve these problems, and youth have an important place in finding the solutions.”

When ICAN organizes youth, we not only extend and strengthen our membership base; we also invest in developing young people’s political consciousness. By doing so we are making it more likely that they will continue to engage in positive social change. I know this from my own experience. I developed my political consciousness when I got involved in community organizing four years ago. Since then, I have seen other students change their political and cultural views as a result of becoming active in community organizing.

The student becomes the teacher
Youth involvement in challenging unjust immigration policies brings a different frame and perspective into the debate. In the case of the DREAM Act (see box on page 9 for more information), youth expanded the debate beyond immigration into education. In Idaho, when we talk with legislators about in-state tuition, we stress that this is an educational issue. Students who have worked hard in high school should have the opportunity to achieve higher education, which, in the long term, benefits the whole community.

Studies have shown that degree holders earn up to $19,000 more than those with only high school diplomas, and, in turn, contribute more in taxes. Indirectly, immigrant college graduates serve as role models to other Latino youth, an especially important factor considering that only 11% of Hispanics over the age of 25 have a bachelor’s degree, according to a report in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Media portray immigration with images of farm and domestic workers, but generally ignore the face of a teenager who talks and looks just like native-born teenagers. Members of ICAN and similar groups present a different – and younger – face of immigrant rights.

In fact, young immigrant students are as “American” as their neighbors except for their uncertain status. This is why, when the opposition voices its disagreement with in-state tuition, it usually attacks the parents, not the youth. Robert Murray, a local resident and outspoken opponent of illegal immigration, was quoted in the Idaho Press-Tribune as saying, “[Parents are] still responsible for these children, and they’re not citizens, so why should they be given privileges that Americans can’t get?” By the same token, Idaho legislators have indicated that parents should have thought about consequences before they broke the law by illegally crossing the border.

At ICAN, we know that this is a simplistic argument. The involvement of youth in the immigration debate signals the complexity of the issue. They embody the very reason why parents immigrate – to provide a better future for their children. The fact that young people’s opportunities are being limited by punitive policies thwarts parents’ hopes and dreams. Without opportunities, immigrant youth will perpetuate the current underclass of workers who will continue to be exploited.

Many challenges ahead
Despite ICAN’s success in recruiting and involving youth, several challenges remain. There are the usual barriers that many youth organizing efforts share. These include lack of time, especially if the youth are working and going to school at the same time; conflict with other interests, such as sports; and apathy. For immigrant youth in Idaho – as elsewhere in the nation – there is also the insidious presence of institutional racism, which hinders young immigrants from the start.

For example, funding for public schools continues to discriminate against poor and immigrant students by not allocating resources where they are most needed. According to “Hispanic Education in the United States,” a report released by National Council of La Raza, Latino children are more likely to attend schools that serve primarily low-income students and have fewer student resources available. Furthermore, the report notes that in many states, school districts with the highest percentages of minority children receive significantly less funding than districts with the fewest minority students. In Idaho, the least experienced teachers are often sent to the schools that are primarily poor and have the most immigrant students. Furthermore, the passage of statewide English-only laws sends the message to immigrant students that their home language is to be avoided. As language is part of one’s culture, students begin to feel that their home culture is inferior to the dominant culture. This instills internalized oppression and may result in the denial of one’s self identity.

In addition, immigrant youth experience the very real fear of racial profiling and deportation. In Idaho, Latinos have been subjected to arbitrary stops by the police, and in some of these cases, police did not ask for a driver’s license but for proof of citizenship. Increasing raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service, or INS) cause both youth and adults to limit where they go. Participating in media events to publicize our campaign for in-state tuition is especially difficult for undocumented youth. It takes a lot of courage to put oneself out there and know that the consequence could be deportation.

In order for youth organizing to be incorporated into ICAN’s current work, there was an organizational effort to involve youth at the leadership level. In our case, there are youth representatives on the Board of Directors. However, tension remains with the established members over allocation of resources. ICAN, like many community organizations, has limited resources. In order to maximize those resources, we look at youth angles in broader issue areas such as immigrant rights. In-state tuition for immigrant youth fits within our immigrant rights focus, which also included campaigns on pesticide poisoning of farmworkers and the passage of comprehensive immigration reform.

ICAN strongly believes in the importance of youth organizing. Youth bring energy and new perspective. They challenge existing assumptions. Investing in youth leadership guarantees the continuation of the organization. Today’s youth leaders are tomorrow’s staff organizers, Board members, donors, and advocates.

Read the sidebar that accompanies this article, What is the Dream Act?.

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Fernando Mejia is co-chair of ICAN, and for the last three years he has been working on the DREAM Act and in-state tuition campaigns in Idaho. He is currently enrolled at Boise State University studying political science and remains very active on campus.