By Erin Manolo-Pedro, Laura E. Enriquez, Jennifer R. Nájera, and Annie Ro in Journal of Health and Social Behavior (2024)
We examine whether anxiety symptomatology was associated with perceived threat to family and if political engagement moderated this relationship. We stratified analyses by self/parental immigration statuses—undocumented students, U.S. citizens with undocumented parents, and U.S. citizens with lawfully present parents—to examine family members’ legal vulnerability. Findings suggest that threat to family was significantly associated with anxiety; higher levels of political engagement reduced the strength of this relationship. However, this moderation effect was only significant for U.S. citizens with lawfully present parents.
By William E. Rosales, Laura E. Enriquez, and Jennifer R. Nájera in Journal of Latinos and Education (2021) (open access version)
We examine how perceptions of the immigration policy context may help or hinder three forms of undocumented college students’ political engagement: political voice, collective action, and individual action. Results show that perceived discrimination and threat to family due are positively associated with all forms of political engagement, while social exclusion is negatively associated. Campus and community engagement weakly moderate these relationships. Comparisons across immigration status suggest that many of these relationships are unique to students who have legal protections like DACA.
Mobilizing Fearful Constituents
By Abigail C. Saguy and Laura E. Enriquez in
By Laura E. Enriquez and Abigail C. Saguy in American Journal of Cultural Sociology (2016)
Using the case of the undocumented immigrant youth movement, we examine how successful political mobilization depends upon the availability and adaptation of symbolically powerful cultural schemas. We contend that the existence of a cultural schema of ‘coming out,’ and the undocumented immigrant youth movement’s innovative use of it, allowed movement leaders to address potential adherents’ fears of publicly revealing their immigration status and promote social movement participation.
See also Chapter 4 in Come Out, Come Out, Whoever You Are: Identity Politics in the 21st Century by Abigail C. Saguy with Laura E. Enriquez. Oxford (2020)
By Laura E. Enriquez in Social Problems (2014)
Drawing on a case study of a university-based coalition of undocumented and citizen students working to build support for the federal DREAM Act, I argue that building a cross-status coalition through a shared ideology has two key advantages: (1) it allows for fast-paced coalition formation and (2) it promotes the mobilization and commitment of organizations and individuals who occupy different identities and social locations. Additionally, I suggest that conflict among members can be best negotiated through the development of discursive and interactive spaces that allow individuals to engage across their different social locations.