Etiquetados: migrant youth, criminalization, and everyday mobility in Buenos Aires

Abstract

Discourses of free movement and “open doors” circulate widely in official Argentine narratives about migration. In fact, some migrant youth cite more lenient Argentine policies as the reason they choose the country over global north contexts. Yet everyday mobility can become a complicated reality for migrant youth of colour who do not fit dominant constructions of Argentine nationhood which have historically centred around whiteness. This article looks at Latin American and African migrant youths’ narratives about their presence and everyday mobility in Buenos Aires. It elucidates the ways in which markers of race, class, and nationality shape youths’ encounters with state and non-state actors alike, often complicating their free movement throughout the city. Further, this article shows how migrant youth come to understand these realities as “normal”, develop strategies to move about the city more freely, and challenge the exclusionary narratives that shape their lived experiences.