Undocumented Latino Student Activists' Funds of Knowledge: Transforming Social Movements

There are approximately 28,000 to 55,000 undocumented enrolled in postsecondary institutions in the United States (Passel, 2003). In order to achieve their educational ambitions despite the structural social, socioeconomic, political, and legislative barriers facing them, undocumented students utilize various resources they have at their disposal. Minoritized populations, specifically undocumented Latino students, have employed individual and collective agency in overcoming structural racism and barriers enacted to maintain the status quo. This study of eight undocumented Latino student activists in Virginia and Washington reveals the various forms of resources available undocumented Latino student activists and documents how these students utilize them to navigate the barriers they encounter, shape the undocumented student social movement, and achieve their educational aspirations. This study seeks to uncover what resources undocumented Latino student activists have at their disposal and how the usage of said resources impacts policy formation on an institutional, state and national level. The study seeks to uncover whether undocumented students utilize their available funds of knowledge to achieve their educational goals and navigate through the barriers they encounter. The study finds that undocumented Latino student activists utilize their funds of knowledge in agriculture, business, construction, mechanics, music, and religion to develop strategies to navigate through educational, financial, institutional, and intrapersonal barriers they encountered. This application of funds of knowledge and community cultural wealth to student activism moves the debate from a deficiency narrative that has long permeated higher education research to an agency narrative. This study provides valuable insight into the increase of undocumented Latino students’ participation in activism and how one can best aid undocumented Latino student activists. Through the thematic narrative analysis, the lived history and stories of undocumented Latino student activists from Washington and Virginia are woven together to unveil individual and collective routes to educational attainment and activism on behalf of undocumented students