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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Undocumented students pursue activist alternatives to voting

Thousands of students across Wisconsin cast their ballots Tuesday in the hopes that their voice will influence the future policy decisions of our nation. For UW-Madison students who also identify as undocumented immigrants, however, this is not an option.

Despite growing up in the U.S. for most of their lives, undocumented students are unable to vote in an election that still affects their communities.

“We do have the Republican candidate, Trump, saying his plan would be to deport all undocumented immigrants,” said undocumented immigrant and UW-Madison clinical psychology doctoral student Laura Minero. “And that is us, that includes us. So, I think there’s a lot of anxiety leading up to the presidential election and election day, and not having a say in that.”

Minero also said there can be fear in even trying to engage in the political process.

“Even to just donate to a campaign, there’s residency or citizenship requirements, and so I think sometimes there’s even a lack of knowledge of what we can do,” Minero said.

And while voting is widely considered a civic duty in the U.S., it can be especially important for students of color.

“The decisions that are made by those people in office ... will certainly affect the lives of younger people, who are disproportionately from a wide range of racial and ethnic groups,” said UW-Madison School of Human Ecology Professor Constance Flanagan, an expert on youth and civic engagement. “We don’t really know the perspective of others whose lives we don’t interact with, so it’s highly important for communities of color to be represented.”

Political Science Professor Katherine Cramer agreed that not having the right to vote can particularly harm undocumented immigrants.

“In so many ways young people of color are marginalized from decision-making processes,” Cramer said. “The people who do have the right to vote are more likely to be listened to by our elected representatives. So any population group that doesn’t have that right to vote is that much less likely to be listened to.”

Even without the ability to vote, immigrant students on campus are embracing alternative forms of activism. Dreamers of UW-Madison, a group advocating for undocumented immigrants on campus, used the hashtag #UndocuElection2016 on Facebook to post messages of support for undocumented students.

Minero said she will continue to push for change even without being able to vote.

“Not being able to vote, I think for me that’s personally why I’m so open to sharing my story, because I feel like that’s all I can do,” Minero said. “It’s all about raising awareness and breaking down misconceptions, because our ability to stay here relies on it.”

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UW-Madison undergraduate and undocumented immigrant Selina Armenta agreed that alternative means to engage in the electoral process are important. Ultimately, however, the goal is to voice her opinions at the ballot box.

“I want to be part of the democracy in the U.S. and I can’t do that right now, so it’s pretty frustrating,” Armenta said.

“I think it’s important to vote because we live in this country. Many of us have lived here our entire lives. We go to school here, we work here, our families have raised us here. So I think many of us feel like we’re American, and voting is a very American thing to do.”

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