Undocumented Immigrants' Performances and Claims of Urban Citizenship in Los Angeles

Abstract

This study, based on 25 qualitative interviews, illustrates how undocumented unlicenced immigrants negotiate their rights to drive in Los Angeles (LA) County and contest some of the city's hegemonic practices. I illustrate the ways in which undocumented immigrants express their sense of citizenship and belonging at the level of the city and emerge as social actors. This essay demonstrates that urban citizenship needs to be understood as a political, legal and formal struggle as well as in substantive terms: as a performative rights-claiming activity.

Keywords:

• Urban Citizenship
• The City
• Belonging
• Informal Citizenship
• Performativity
• Undocumented Immigrants
• Los Angeles