Parenting while undocumented: An intersectional socialization approach

Parenting is a demanding task made more difficult for families facing multiple forms of oppression, including undocumented parents. Members of this community grapple with the challenges of protecting their families and keeping their children safe within a context of racism, nativism, and anti-immigrant sentiment. To better understand the unique experience of undocumented parents raising children in the United States (U.S.), this article describes the interplay between parenting and documentation status. To accomplish this goal, a brief review of the literature on parenting, immigration status, and childhood socialization is provided as a prelude to introducing the Intersectional Socialization Framework (ISF). The ISF is an analytical tool for understanding the role that race, ethnicity, gender, and documentation status play simultaneously in the socialization process of children whose parents are undocumented. The article ends with ten recommendations for childhood socialization that undocumented parents can utilize.