The contours of belonging: Legality, Race, Class and Generation in the US

Of the more than 38 million foreign-born residents of the United States, roughly a third are naturalized US citizens, a third are legal permanent residents and a third are undocumented migrants without legal papers. The children of these people, if born in the United States, are automatically US citizens. Traditional accounts of political socialization expect that these children will learn about politics and civic engagement from their parents. But what happens when parents are immigrants, especially when their legal status prevents their direct participation in the formal political system? Do children become alienated and detached from politics, or do they compensate for their parents' lack of voice? Do parents still engage in political socialization, or do children become teachers? This paper presents some early findings from over 200 interviews with teenage Americans and their Mexican, Vietnamese or Chinese-origin parents living in the San Francisco Bay area. It argues that even in the United States, we can distinguish "ethnic" and "civic" notions of membership linked to being American or being a US citizen. Notions of belonging are influenced by issues of legality in the ethnic community, even if individual residents do not confront those issues personally.