“Together we are stronger”: YPAR and Latinx Immigrant Youth Resilience and Resistance to Oppressive Immigration Policies

Abstract

Latinx adolescents, representing 25% of the U.S. child population, face significant mental health challenges due to aggressive immigration enforcement and policies rooted in racism, nativism, and ethnocentrism. These systemic issues contribute to increased rates of sadness, hopelessness, and suicidal behaviors among Latinx adolescents. Addressing this crisis requires interventions that mitigate the harms of these policies and promote youth voice and agency to foster resilience and resistance and, ultimately, liberation from oppression. This study explores how Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) can empower Latinx immigrant youth to build resilience and resist oppressive systems threatening their well-being. Using a grounded theory qualitative approach, we examined the PARA Jóvenes YPAR project, which engaged 10 Latinx immigrant youth from a community with a history of aggressive immigration enforcement. Through triangulating in-depth interviews, facilitator reflections, and photovoice transcripts, we identified key YPAR components—near-peer mentorship, community building, cultural affirmation, creative expression, and critical inquiry—that promoted and supported youth in developing critical consciousness, cultural authenticity, self-knowledge, and connectedness. This study highlights the transformative potential of YPAR to promote mental health and liberation for Latinx immigrant youth impacted by immigration policies. It underscores the need for further research on its efficacy as an intervention.

Introduction

Over the last decade, immigration policy enforcement and broader immigrant-related policies have been examined as manifestations of racism, nativism, and ethnocentrism codified into laws that exclude and threaten Latinx communities with multiple harms to Latinx children and adolescents (Perreira & Pedroza, 2019; Torres et al., 2022). Latinx children make up 25 percent of the U.S. child population, and an estimated 1 in 4 Latinx children have an immigrant parent impacted by undocumented status (Clarke et al., 2017). The need for interventions has never been more pressing, as the U.S. faces a mental health crisis in adolescents, with a disproportionate burden of increasing feelings of sadness and hopelessness and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among Latinx adolescents over the last decade (Gaylor et al., 2023). Growing evidence links the oppressive immigration policy climate and enforcement (e.g., fear of family separation, family member deportation) to suicidal ideation, distress, depression, and anxiety among Latinx immigrant youth (i.e., immigrants and children of immigrants) (Torres et al., 2022). Addressing this crisis requires developing interventions that mitigate these harms while promoting Latinx youth voice and agency to resist and build resilience against the oppressive systems that threaten their well-being (Chavez-Dueñas et al., 2019; Torres et al., 2022).

Resistance is broadly defined as individual and collective strategies and actions that seek to undermine or dismantle oppressive systems that benefit some groups while discriminating against others (e.g., racism) and can be promotive of resilience (i.e., surviving and thriving in the face of systemic marginalization) (Wray-Lake et al., 2022). For Latinx immigrant youth impacted by multiple, intersecting systems of oppression that underlie immigration policies, individual and collective resistance and resilience strategies seek to restructure power, reclaim humanity, and exercise agency. This can be achieved through promoting ethnic identity and culture, engaging in political advocacy, seeking support from adult mentors to navigate hostile environments, and finding places of belonging and support (Karras et al., 2022; López Hernández, 2022; Wray-Lake et al., 2022). Engaging and supporting Latinx youth in resistance and resilience for liberation from oppression is pivotal for fostering their mental health and well-being during adolescence and throughout life, with broader benefits toward social justice and health equity (Torres et al., 2022). Indeed, Latinx youth resistance to oppressive immigration policies has played a significant role in shaping landmark policies such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), demonstrating tangible effects of collective actions in challenging systemic injustices that also yield positive effects on the mental health of Latinx youth (Mora et al., 2018; Patler & Laster Pirtle, 2018). While the burden should not be placed on Latinx youth to change the social conditions that shape their lives and well-being, supporting and engaging them as equal partners in understanding and transforming our social world can be facilitated by youth participatory action research (YPAR) (Malorni et al., 2022)

YPAR is a critical research approach for documenting youth experiences of marginalization and root causes with evidence of its effects on promoting positive youth development, including resistance and resilience to marginalization among Latinx immigrant youth (Anyon et al., 2018; Kennedy et al., 2019; Lindquist-Grantz & Abraczinskas, 2020). There is no singular YPAR approach to research or action; rather, YPAR encompasses a range of practices and principles that ground inquiry into the experiences and priorities of youth while promoting their agency, knowledge, and power as partners in the research process (Anyon et al., 2018). Linked to broader liberation movements, YPAR is also designed to be transformative, intended to change youth’s individual lives and wider communities as youth examine and act on their social environment (Anyon et al., 2018). Youth participation in social, political, and economic movements, including youth rights, immigrant rights, civil rights, and other struggles, informs YPAR and can be informed by YPAR (Malorni et al., 2022).

YPAR is increasingly explored as more than a research approach, and as an individual, interpersonal, and community-level intervention (Anyon et al., 2018). However, a systematic review of YPAR interventions found sparse examples of YPAR interventions targeting mental health outcomes or evaluations assessing emotional and mental health outcomes (Anyon et al., 2018). Most studies of YPAR have focused on implementing YPAR principles and broad developmental outcomes gained (e.g., critical consciousness, empowerment, collective efficacy) (Anyon et al., 2018; Malorni et al., 2022). Aspects of YPAR that are critical to its success include facilitating critical dialogue, sharing power, and building collective identity to create collective efficacy (Malorni et al., 2022). Syntheses of studies through multiple systematic and scoping reviews have found that YPAR holds great potential for multi-level outcomes (Anyon et al., 2018; Lindquist-Grantz & Abraczinskas, 2020; Malorni et al., 2022). However, few have detailed the processes at a level that can enable replication (Anyon et al., 2018; Malorni et al., 2022). Lastly, most examples of YPAR interventions are school-based, with few targeting specific health inequities or their causes (i.e., structural racism or immigration enforcement). One study has evaluated a school-based YPAR project targeting Latinx youth, finding that the #BarrioEd YPAR project in Chicago supported youth mental health and equipped youth with skills to address systematic oppression (Mayorga & Rosales, 2019). However, schools are often sites of oppression, and school-based YPAR can be less promotive of youth autonomy, presenting a need for understanding the processes and outcomes of community-based YPAR (Malorni et al., 2022; Wray-Lake et al., 2022). In addition, no studies have examined how YPAR can promote resilience and resistance to oppressive immigration policies.

Theoretical Framework

We apply a feminist, intersectional framework to exploring and addressing how interlocking systems of oppression shape the lived experiences of Latinx immigrant youth (Bowleg, 2012). Specifically, our research considers the intersections of racism (i.e., racial oppression privileging whiteness), nativism (i.e., privileging those born in the U.S.), ethnocentrism (i.e., privileging Eurocentric cultures), and adultism (i.e., privileging adults) as oppressive systems and how youth individual social positions within these systems impact them (Torres et al., 2022). We also followed the eco-transactional model for community violence as applied by Barajas-Gonzalez (2018), which explains immigration policy enforcement as a macrosystem factor that threatens a child’s ecosystem. Latinx children and adolescents, especially those in households who are undocumented or with mixed immigration status, face the constant threat of family separation as a form of psychological violence created by immigration policies in the macrosystem (Barajas-Gonzalez et al., 2018). The influence of these policies permeates the mesosystem through policing and deportation in the community and bullying or discrimination at school. In the microsystem, families contend with exclusionary environments and fear of deportation that impact family well-being (Barajas-Gonzalez et al., 2018).

Finally, the Radical Healing Framework provides an ecological view of resilience and resistance with a theoretical understanding of how members of oppressed communities can collectively cope and strive towards a future free of oppression. Rooted in liberation psychology, Black psychology, and ethnopolitical psychology, this framework focuses on central constructs to promote individual and collective well-being among oppressed groups, including critical consciousness (i.e., critical reflection, motivation, and action), cultural authenticity and self-knowledge (i.e., positive ethnoracial identity), strength and resistance (i.e., civic and social participation), emotional and social support (i.e., connection to community, seeking and cultivating support) and radical hope (i.e., envision better future) (French et al., 2019). Together, these theories inform how Latinx immigrant youth, contending with the racialization and criminalization of immigrants manifested in immigration policies, can foster resilience and resistance. YPAR is rooted in Freirean liberation pedagogy of developing a critical consciousness of oppressive social structures and identifying strategies for collective action and liberation, aligning it with the Radical Healing Framework (Freire, 1968; French et al., 2019).

Introducing PARA Jóvenes and Present Study

PARA Jóvenes was a pilot Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) initiative designed to examine and address the psychosocial impacts of immigration enforcement on Latinx youth. The present study explored how the PARA Jóvenes Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) initiative fostered resilience and resistance among Latinx immigrant youth impacted by immigration enforcement policies. To achieve this aim, the study had three objectives: (1) triangulate data from photovoice sessions, facilitator reflections, and in-depth interviews with youth; (2) identify the core components of PARA Jóvenes that contribute to fostering resilience and resistance; and (3) provide solid, formative research findings to guide the refinement and future pilot testing of PARA Jóvenes as a community-based intervention.

We used a grounded theory qualitative approach to address gaps in understanding YPAR as a potential intervention for youth navigating intersecting systems of oppression. This method is particularly suited for theorizing social processes by analyzing data to uncover social concepts and their relationships (Starks & Trinidad, 2007).

Methods

Study Design and Approach

We partnered with two Latinx community-based organizations (CBO) with more than 20 years of history serving Latinx communities, with whom the principal investigator (PI) had an established relationship before the project’s inception. Both organizations primarily work with undocumented and mixed-status families and were involved throughout the project as members of a Community Action Board (CAB) to promote Latinx immigrant youth mental health that guided this project. The organizations were also directly involved in recruiting youth participants, and each hosted a PARA Jóvenes group. The Emory University Institutional Review Board reviewed and approved the study.

Overview of PARA Jóvenes

PARA Jóvenes was a seven-week YPAR conducted in the summer of 2022 with 10 Latinx immigrant youth (ages 14–17) from a county with a history of aggressive immigration enforcement under the 287(g) program. The project adapted the Youth Empowered Advocating for Health (YEAH) Curriculum, a community-based prevention strategy that uses photovoice and action planning to address structural racism and promote health equity among Black youth (Woods-Jaeger et al., 2024). In this adaptation, photovoice participants used photography to explore the question: “How does immigration policy affect Latinx youth mental health?”. They developed prompts addressing issues such as fear of deportation, the need for safe spaces, and coping strategies (Lemon et al., 2023). The two groups synthesized their findings in joint sessions and initiated action planning, which culminated in a bilingual community forum in October 2022 (see Supplementary Materials).

PARA Jóvenes Facilitators and Youth Participants.

The facilitation team consisted of four bilingual Mexican and Central American facilitators with backgrounds in community organizing, public health, and education. The two lead facilitators were young community organizers in their early 20s who grew up in metro-Atlanta. Each lead facilitator was the primary facilitator for one of the two groups and was supported by a co-facilitator (an MPH student in her 20s) and the principal investigator (PI), a PhD student in their 30s with prior experience facilitating the YEAH Curriculum. The facilitation team reflected diverse perspectives, including straight, cisgender, nonbinary, and LGBTQ+ identities, which contributed to an inclusive and supportive environment. Ten youth participants who self-identified as Latinx were recruited for the program. Most participants were of Mexican heritage and from undocumented or mixed-status households. The group also reflected gender and sexual diversity: all youth identified as cisgender (five boys and five girls), three identified as bisexual, pansexual, or sexually fluid, six identified as heterosexual, and one did not disclose their sexual orientation.

Adapting the YEAH Curriculum.

The PARA Jóvenes team and CAB utilized the YEAH Curriculum with some adaptations for Latinx immigrant youth. These followed principles of PAR Entremundos, particularly focused on integrating Indigenous cosmologies and “concientizacion para la colectiva,” meaning “consciousness-raising for the collective”, a principle that seeks to bridge YPAR activities into broader movements rather than in isolation (Ayala, 2018). A Mayan-inspired poem, In Lak’ech, was read at the start of each session to introduce indigenous cosmologies (Acosta & Mir, 2012). For “concientizacion para la colectiva”, we built on years-long partnerships with Latinx organizations with 20+ year histories to integrate photovoice into broader struggles to promote immigrant rights and mental health in the Southeast. We also planned to have these two photovoice groups convene for action planning sessions so these sessions would not occur in isolation. Finally, aligned with the Power With(in) principle of critical reflection, youth requested more time to answer the broader research question beyond the weekly sub-topics. Thus, we modified session 6 to summarize and synthesize findings between the two groups using concept mapping (See Supplement Table 1).

Findings and Community Forum.

Youth identified immigration policies as interconnected with broader systems of oppression, such as policing, deportation, and gentrification, as well as school violence and economic marginalization. Six youths presented these findings at a bilingual community forum attended by over 50 participants, including parents, local officials, and community organizers. The youth-led and organized event featured a photo gallery, a panel discussion moderated by facilitators, and cultural elements like traditional food and decorations, creating a space for collective reflection and celebration.

Data Sources

To comprehensively examine the YPAR process from youth, facilitator, and process perspectives, we triangulated three data sources. Primary data collected specifically for this study included (1) in-depth interviews with youth participants, and (2) written facilitator reflections after each session. We also referred to photovoice SHOWED/VENCER session transcripts, which documented the process in real time, providing additional insight into facilitation and implementation within each group.

Primary Data: In-depth Interviews.

We conducted in-depth interviews at the conclusion of the YPAR project to examine youth perspectives on the YPAR process and its impact on their understanding of immigration policy, mental health, community connectedness, collective efficacy, and critical consciousness. All 10 PARA Jóvenes participants were invited for interviews, with recruitment occurring both during the community forum and through follow-up text or phone communication. Parents provided consent for youth participation.

Six youth completed follow-up interviews after participating in all seven weeks of photovoice and the community forum. Interviews were conducted via Zoom videoconferencing and were audio-recorded and professionally transcribed. To minimize bias, two bilingual graduate research assistants, uninvolved in the project’s facilitation, conducted the interviews using a semi-structured interview guide. Questions focused on youths’ perceptions of facilitators, benefits of participation, memorable moments, and suggested improvements.

Primary Data: Facilitator Post-Session Reflections.

During the YPAR process, each facilitator completed a post-session reflection at the end of each photovoice session using a structured, open-ended guide. The guide asked facilitators how they were feeling, how power was distributed in the group, any concerns about the project, what went well in the session, what could be improved, and the general mood of the session. There were 24 written reflections.

Contextual Data: Photovoice SHOWED/VENCER Session Transcripts.

Transcripts from SHOWED/VENCER photovoice sessions provided contextual insights into YPAR processes, such as youth engagement with the photovoice method and facilitator interactions. These transcripts helped situate the findings from primary data within the broader YPAR process.

Analyses

Coding.

A team of three analysts conducted open coding of interview transcripts to identify themes and codes relevant to the research question. Then, for axial coding, we discussed our open coding and the similarities and differences in generating a codebook (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). This included primarily inductive codes related to YPAR and photovoice processes, youth assets, family relationships, culture, perceptions of social and environmental policies, and perceptions of mental health. As a modification from grounded theory, we also included deductive codes for critical consciousness to our codebook to capture representations of critical reflection, motivation and action that are inherent to the YPAR process. This adaptation allowed us to ensure alignment with the broader theoretical constructs relevant to YPAR while staying rooted in the inductive insights from our data (Hennink et al., 2020). We refined the codebook by independently coding one transcript and meeting to compare coding. This resulted in clarifying code definitions, adding examples, and specifying inclusion and exclusion criteria. Interview transcripts and post-session reflections were double-coded and coded to 80% agreement in MAXQDA (Miles, Huberman, & Saldaña, 2014).

Description, Constant Comparison Conceptualizing.

The coded data were analyzed to produce a thick description of each code, with constant comparison of coded data between youth belonging to each of the two photovoice groups and facilitator reflections and transcripts from these two groups over time (Hennink et al., 2020). We grouped codes to categorize them into broader themes (e.g., essential components, collective processes, perceived benefits). Next, we assessed the interactive relationships across these categories to generate a theory rooted in the data on how YPAR processes foster resilience and resistance for the promotion of mental health for Latinx youth impacted by immigration policy enforcement (Hennink et al., 2020). We analyzed comparing interview findings by gender, sexual orientation, and community organization.

Triangulation with Photovoice Session Transcripts.

We compared these findings to SHOWED/VENCER session transcripts and facilitator reflections to identify salient elements of the YPAR process described by youth and their congruence with youth interviews.

Member Checking and Refinement.

We conducted member-checking with facilitators, youth, and parents engaged in PARA Jóvenes, as well as community partners, through two meetings with the CAB. In the first meeting, we member-checked the preliminary inductive themes focused on salient components and benefits of YPAR. In the second meeting, we reviewed a conceptual diagram to explain how PARA Jóvenes promoted youth resilience factors; youth, parents, facilitators, and community partners posited re-orienting the model from a logic box format to a culturally relevant metaphor of a tree, reminding of the lives underlying our discussions. While member checking is often framed as a validation step, we approached it as an opportunity for participatory reflexivity, wherein feedback informed the refinement and framing of our analysis (Motulsky, 2021). From this process, we retained the conceptual relationships and logic model, incorporating the tree metaphor based on this community input.

Deductive Mapping.

After developing our inductive conceptual model, we conducted a deductive mapping of YPAR processes to the Radical Healing Framework (French et al., 2019) to integrate our inductive findings with established strategies to inform future intervention development.

Results

Through youth interviews, we identified how participating in PARA Jóvenes fostered additional resistance and resilience in youth in an aggressive immigration enforcement context. In Figure 1, we present a conceptual model illustrating the challenges posed by immigration policies and broader criminalization, along with YPAR components identified from youth interviews that foster resistance, resilience and liberation from oppression. Though we compared by gender (boys versus girls) and sexual orientation (LGBTQI+ versus straight), and host organization, we found no differences in the overall findings. From these descriptions, we conceptualize the PARA Jóvenes YPAR program as a seed that can grow into a tree of youth resilience and resistance to oppressive immigration policies.

Figure 1.

Conceptualizing Youth Resilience and Resistance: The PARA Jóvenes Model for Latinx Youth Impacted by Immigration Policies in the Southeast

Note. This model illustrates the core components of youth participatory action research (YPAR) that promote resilience and resistance among Latinx immigrant youth. The curriculum was adapted from Youth Empowered Advocating for Health (YEAH) Curriculum (Woods-Jaeger et al., 2024) and YPAR principles are adapted from Anyon et al. (2018).

With the right components, YPAR can produce a strong tree (i.e., youth resilience and resistance), bearing multiple fruits (i.e., resilience assets and resources). The seed is planted by near-peer mentors who open the space, promote safety and trust, model vulnerability, and guide youth through the YPAR process as facilitators. The seed is firmly planted in the soil of the community through community building (i.e., group norms, ice breakers, reciting In Lak’ech) to give it a secure place to grow. Then, the seed is nourished by multiple components of YPAR.

Cultural affirmation is like water, a vital source to the tree that helps it to grow. Creative expression is like air – the CO₂ is absorbed, processed, and released as oxygen, giving the tree life. Critical inquiry is like the sun, shining light on issues and experiences for the tree to synthesize. The more nourishment this seed receives from these components by doing multiple, repeated sessions, the bigger and stronger the tree can grow. The tree of youth resilience and resistance is held up by its trunk, which is composed of 1) critical reflection and dialogue, 2) collective efficacy and action, and 3) sanctuary and healing space.

Description of Foundational Components

Near-peer, Mentored Facilitation

Interviewed youth described the facilitators as fostering trust, safety, and equality and characterized them as motivating, nonjudgmental, friendly, kind, thoughtful, fun, and respectful. They also noted that facilitators were “not like teachers,” explaining that facilitators treated them as equals, shared lived experiences and were easier to relate to. This distinction was significant because many described schools as often oppressive environments marked by racial segregation, lack of representation, forced assimilation, criminalization, microaggressions, and discrimination. For example, one participant, age 15, said:

I expected like teachers [...] but they were like--they were more understanding and were more friendly. I just felt like it was a very one-on-one like we were equal, you know? Like we were all part of it together. Because they also reminded us a lot doing it that we are leaders too in the project, not just them [...] I like really trusted them, I felt safe.

As described by this youth, near-peer facilitators fostered shared power, trust, safety, and equality, which was key to creating a sanctuary space and self and collective efficacy.

Community Building

Youth and facilitators spoke about salient community-building activities, such as the icebreakers, establishing group norms and reading them in each session, sharing food, and reciting the In Lak’ech poem. The community building described in interviews contrasted with the photovoice and interview discussions about the challenges of community building due to immigration policies and intertwined struggles such as gentrification (e.g., “gentrification […] it’s just tearing our culture apart), pressure to assimilate, and economic oppression (“all we know is work […] we don’t get to enjoy life”). During interviews, youth said community-building activities helped them feel connected and cared for and learn more about each other. A 14-year-old participant said:

I definitely remember going over group norms every time […] We recited this, like, poem [In Lak’ech] […] that represented who we were in both English and Spanish, and I just remember that vividly—like, all of us together reciting it, like—like a community. That really felt really nice, and it helped […] like you were a part of something, like we were all doing something together.

Creative Expression

Some youth said photography motivated their participation and critical reflection and allowed for creatively expressing challenging emotions and experiences. Others discussed the value of the photos as a way to see others’ perspectives, connect to others’ experiences that are in common, validate each other, and prompt discussion. As a 15-year-old youth participant reflected, “We’re very emotional, and art is a really great way to express that. […] photographs are good because it’s what’s happening in your real-world community.”

Cultural Affirmation

Youth described finding safety, connection, and belonging through their heritage culture, especially in expressions like food, music, and language. They also discussed the challenges in navigating cultural differences, facing discrimination, and experiencing cultural loss in their communities. However, they emphasized that PARA Jóvenes provided a space where they felt like they belonged among peers who shared similar cultural backgrounds. Several youth highlighted that connecting with other Latinx peers motivated their participation and deepened their sense of belonging. They also appreciated how Latinx culture was integrated into YPAR sessions and the community forum through food, bilingual language use, decorations, and music. Youth expressed that being able to “showcase” their culture during the forum was meaningful and “felt good.”

In addition, being among youth from similar backgrounds fostered critical dialogue about cultural loss and reclamation, strengthening cultural authenticity, pride, and collectivism. One 14-year-old explained how participating encouraged her to embrace her cultural identity:

I wasn’t as whitewashed anymore. I had more of my culture ingrained in me. I respected my culture so much more and just I no longer was trying to hide that part of me, that really beautiful part of me […] That kinda changed the way I spoke about myself and who I was.

Youth also used critical dialogue and peer support to recognize their cultural strengths as a source of resilience. Another 14-year-old participant reflected on how the program helped youth:

I guess like helping [youth] realize that […] there is nothing like to be ashamed about. Our culture is good the way it is. It helps them cope with stress, anxiety, and depression.

Youth-led Critical Inquiry

Many interviewed participants described that leading the research gave them greater self-efficacy and agency in a stressful context that often threatened their sense of safety and belonging. They also highlighted that the research gave a space to explore issues that they do not normally talk about, such as immigration fears and mental health, and to learn more about issues that were important to them. Youth expressed that their desire to continue exploring and learning grew as they participated and learned through the research process. As a 15-year-old youth expressed, this critical inquiry led to critical reflection and action:

There’s a lotta things that impact your mental health, but I had never taken note that these laws, these policies, and the way that other people view us, that was really affecting me, and that definitely got me more engaged because I was learning more about myself and why I feel this certain way and so as we were researching, not only was I doing research for others, it was more for myself too.

Growing Collective Liberation and Resistance

Critical Reflection and Dialogue

Youth discussed how the YPAR process encouraged them to learn about themselves and their community and identify shared experiences and struggles, primarily related to the effects of immigration policies on their lives and families. For example, a 17-year-old youth described the importance of a space for critical reflection and dialogue:

I just never really had a space to talk about mental health, because everyone else will always see it as something weird or you’re just sad for no reason. […] Like there’s not just no reason, like the impacts that we’ve had like as Latinx […] we had so much stress on us all the time. We had so much anxiety on us because our lives and the way we live just being threatened, of course, you’re going to be stressed, and you’re going to be sad.

Many said that engaging in critical reflection and dialogue “opened my eyes” or “helped me to wake up” through analysis of their communities and experiences and by hearing and seeing perspectives of youth through their photo and photo-elicited conversations. For example, an undocumented youth participant emphasized that he had not known the responsibility of U.S.-born youth for undocumented parents, saying it gave him a new perspective. Another youth, 15 years old, who had a parent deported found it beneficial to hear from others and how they coped with difficulties, saying, “Um, what I gained is, um, learning that there’s other people who are going through it with me or who are witnessing the same things that I’ve been through. […] what they did to, like, help them motivate and stuff.”

Facilitators reflected on how emotional some conversations were for them and the youth. They also reflected on navigating those feelings and said they managed this while feeling tired and exhausted, balancing life outside the sessions. The way youth could emotionally and experientially relate to the facilitators was an essential aspect of creating a shared healing space for youth and facilitators. At the end of one of the first SHOWED/VENCER sessions focused on the fear of deportation, one facilitator commented, “Oh wow, we just went through something.” And a youth participant responded “It’s like – I feel like I let something go. I was stuck or something. I don’t know.” While youth at times described dialogue as “emotional” or “painful” during the sessions, they also described them as “productive” and said it helped them feel less alone in their struggles. Youth described how the space for open dialogue helped them make realizations on topics not frequently discussed, such as mental health, racism, cultural assimilation, cultural pride, how to overcome hardships, and advocating for change.

Though youth primarily emphasized the dialogue in photovoice sessions, they highlighted the community forum as a place to continue this dialogue, spread awareness, and be heard. As a 15-year-old expressed, “It’s a great way to, um – to express what other people are going through, and then to come together and […] for us teens to talk to, like, big, important people and actually letting them hear what we have to say so we don’t stay silent or quiet.”

Collective Efficacy and Action

Youth described how engaging in critical reflection and dialogue helped them learn more about local, state, and federal policies and ways they could address them. The discussions motivated them to continue participation and take action in their communities, especially by raising awareness about the issues facing Latinx communities and the mental health of teens. One youth participant talked about the challenges in navigating the time commitment, but why she continued despite this limitation, “I realized this isn’t just about me; this is about the community as a whole and, like, I’ve gotta speak up ‘cause there’s people out there who felt just like me.”

They also frequently discussed the value of carrying out the community forum. Other youth initially worried that organizing the forum would be challenging, but they found it easier than expected and appreciated the gradual preparation process. They also talked about how good it felt to be heard by “important people” from the school board and local officials while learning about resources to make a change in the community. They also discussed how participating in the community forum developed self and collective efficacy to raise awareness and promote change in their communities. One 16-year-old explained, “That’s something I was not expecting to do when I first started, but I guess by the end of it, I was like, okay, I can do this.”

Others emphasized that the space provided by PARA Jóvenes reinforced to youth that their lives and experiences are important and validated that addressing challenging issues such as immigration policy and mental health are worthwhile endeavors. Reflecting on their experience in PARA Jóvenes, a 17-year-old said, “This made me see that sometimes there are problems out there, but we don’t do anything – until someone decides to do something. Then we see that it was something worth giving an effort to solve.”

In addition, the supportive connections and collective action fostered positive perspectives about the possibility of social change. The same 17-year-old explained:

Now I see that nothing is in vain, that we can – that we – that there’s going to be people that are going to be interested and listen to you. So, if you come together, people will see that it’s not only one person, but it’s a lot. […] It doesn’t have to be only just you.

Sanctuary Space

In their interviews, youth described the myriad of ways that the social environment shaped their identities and interactions with their communities. They recounted personal stories about how the social environment of anti-immigration rhetoric (anti-immigration laws, deportation, and undocumented stigma) made them feel apprehensive and unwelcomed in their social settings such as school. They also mentioned experiencing racism at school or negative interactions with educators or school counselors. They discussed the importance of community spaces where youth could be themselves, feel safe, supported, and free from judgment or negativity. Through the interviews, they highlighted spaces where they found this or aspects of this, such as church, Scouts, or school clubs. While some youth described the importance of places that represented their culture or ethnic group, others highlighted feeling safe in spaces that were inclusive of all cultures. A 14-year-old said:

Walking in […] and seeing different cultures being embraced, even if it’s not mine, that just makes me feel at home or like comfortable because I know that it’s like a place where people are accepted no matter where they come from.”

Youth described how PARA Jóvenes created a space where youth felt safe, connected, and in community with other Latinx youth who faced similar struggles. They explained how PARA Jóvenes created a space where youth could share different views and experiences, express themselves, connect to their culture, have agency, and be free from judgment and discrimination. They also described it as a space to discuss shared struggles, envision better futures, and express themselves openly and creatively. They described how the process of PARA Jóvenes supported their self-image, cultural identity, and relationships with peers, family, and community while also changing their perspective on mental health and their social environment. Having a sanctuary space that mutually interacted with collective action, critical reflection, and dialogue created a support system and mindset shift that supported youth in coping with fears around immigration policy. As a 14-year-old explained, “Now I can, like, I can, like, cope with my feelings. And I can be like, I guess, like, I can feel like less scared than I was before.”

Youth also described how they can build on critical reflection, dialogue, collective efficacy, and action to create their own sanctuary spaces that contribute to more dialogue and action. Another 14-year-old expressed, “We can create our own clubs, […] places where, as a community, we can talk about these things, where we can not only feel welcome but we can, like, have conversations like these and be able to create more change.”

The Fruit of PARA Jóvenes: Individual and Collective Resilience and Resistance

Youth described PARA Jóvenes as a catalyst for individual growth, strengthening connections with peers and the wider community, and fostering a sense of resilience and solidarity with others impacted by immigration policies and structural racism. Through their participation in the program, youth said they felt empowered to lead, get out of their comfort zone, and learn new skills by engaging in critical inquiry, critical reflection and dialogue, and collective action. A 14-year-old Latino participant said, “I think it definitely helped me feel more, um, confident in my own skin. […] Inside, I really felt more confident and more sure of who I was, and […] you could see that when I was interacting with others.” The interaction of these components and youth reflections on them are also presented in Table 1.

Table 1.

Youth Reflections on How PARA Jóvenes Promoted Resistance and Resilience

Photo-elicited critical reflection and dialogue promoted critical consciousness, collectivism	“It just made me feel like I wasn’t alone and – so yeah. […] like we were talking about immigration and how we all went through it.” – Latino, age 16 “I didn’t know a lot of people felt like isolated too and […] when someone’s picture was about [assimilation] I was like wow, ‘cause I resonated so much with that picture and the explanation of it […] I didn’t know that. Everyone else went through that and they felt ashamed of it too” – Latina, age 15 “Well, I think that [photovoice] can help ‘cause to make our youth feel like they belong ‘cause they can see that there are other people that are feeling the same as them or that they understand them. […] And when people help each other, like, so –solidarity. “– Latina, age 17 “The participants are clearly very insightful and aware of the world around them. Their contributions to discussion were rich and once they got a good flow going, connecting the dots between them was easy. They had a strong understanding of mental health and its links to immigration policy-related stress. They articulated very clearly the connections between the two.” – Photovoice Facilitator
Creating a Sanctuary Spaces through Community Building, Cultural Affirmation, Near Peer Mentorship	“Early on we, like, established that there was, like, a […] safe place where we could, like, share what we felt or like what we believed. […] [Latinx youth] need, you know, those safe places so that they have those environments, those right environments to grow in” – Latina, age 16 “Yeah, I definitely feel like that because it was a safe space. There weren’t any adults that were there to judge us […] and make us feel bad about having these problems and feeling this way because of something that neither of us can control. Just — us to say what we’ve been experiencing and have other people be like, ‘yeah me too’.” -Latina, age 15 “They were very open about their inspiration for their pictures. They had shared experiences and expressed empathy when they heard others’ experiences and opinions. They were all very open to the questions facilitators made, even when it slightly challenged their thoughts.” – Photovoice Facilitator
Individual and Collective Resilience and Resistance from Youth-Led Critical Inquiry, Collective Efficacy and Action	“We would, like, we would make up the questions, we would, um, we would write our own answers. And I like that ‘cause usually, I’m used to […] the adults doing things for us, but we actually got to experiment things, like, on our own hands.” – Latina, age 17 “I guess like I see youth now as like, much stronger. […] Because I had like my own mental like struggles, right, with like deportation and stuff like that. […] I wasn’t as scared, like this, like after the project, like, it made me feel better […] like I guess I found out like, how to cope with it by like seeing, like, seeing these like leaders, these communities, like what’s it called, change things around. And that like I could do the same thing.” – Latino, age 14 “Everyone in the group seemed focused. The group seemed to be in a bit of a somber mood, I think the group was impacted by the pictures and the statements. Soon, though, the mood seemed to be optimistic as the kids were beginning to look and appreciate their situations, and that of their loved ones, in a way that could demand action.” - Photovoice Facilitator

Note. Youth reflections and facilitator observations illustrate how YPAR processes interact to foster individual and collective resilience and resistance. Youth quotes are drawn from in-depth interviews, while facilitator quotes are taken from session debrief reflection

Youth reported the development of cultural pride and authenticity, mainly through connecting with other Latinx youth and having a critical dialogue about culture and language that helped them reclaim their cultural identity and resist the pressure of assimilation. Participants said they recognized the strength and agency within themselves and their communities, seeing youth as “stronger” and more able to resist oppression. These align with tenets of the Radical Healing Framework, which we have mapped out in Figure 2.

Figure 2.

Mapping Immigration Policy Impacts and PARA Jóvenes Components to Resilience and Resistance to Oppression with the Radical Healing Framework

Note. The figure demonstrates the relationships between the negative impacts of immigration policies, the PARA Jóvenes components that address these impacts, and how those components contribute to resilience and resistance among Latinx immigrant youth. Data sources include (a) photovoice sessions, (b) youth interviews, and (c) alignment with the Radical Healing Framework (French et al., 2019). Color coding indicates interrelated processes across PARA Jóvenes components and resilience and resistance outcomes.

Discussion

We explored how the YPAR process promoted resilience and resistance in a group of Latinx YPAR youth participants impacted by immigration enforcement policies. We found that acceptance, respect, cultural beliefs and values, representation, and support made youth feel safe and that they belonged in an environment where they faced ethnocentrism, nativism, and racism as members of Latinx immigrant communities targeted by aggressive immigration enforcement. Youth elucidated how the YPAR process promoted connections to self, others, and Latinx culture while also strengthening their capacity to act collectively and advocate for justice and equity. From our findings, we presented a theory for how YPAR strengthens Latinx immigrant youth assets and resources for resilience and resistance, as well as the broader goal of liberation from intersecting systems of oppression manifested by immigration policies. By highlighting specific components and their potential to strengthen both individual and collective resilience and resistance among youth, we address gaps in the literature on the potential of YPAR as a mental health intervention for Latinx immigrant youth. Namely, we identified essential components (e.g., creative expression, near-peer mentors, cultural affirmation) from the perspective of Latinx immigrant youth who participated in a YPAR project. These components align with the Radical Healing Framework, particularly in promoting critical consciousness, cultural authenticity, and collectivism (French et al., 2019). This is a novel contribution that builds on a theoretical understanding of how youth and their communities can address immigration policy harms and advance equity and justice and provides rich, formative evidence for developing and evaluating a multi-level intervention to promote mental health equity for Latinx youth in immigrant families and communities (Torres et al., 2022; Woods-Jaeger 2024).

The intervention components we identified reflect many key YPAR principles and processes previously described in the literature. For example, power sharing, a core YPAR principle, was supported through the use of near-peer mentor facilitators who shared power through strategies like sitting level with youth and reminding them, they were in charge (Anyon et al., 2018). These practices helped create a sanctuary space where youth felt heard and had agency, consistent with studies showing that adult co-researchers are important to promote power sharing, validate youth experiences, and model vulnerability (Anyon et al., 2018; Malorni et al., 2022; Lindquist-Grantz & Abraczinskas, 2020). Prior research also highlights the importance of mentors for Latinx immigrant youth resistance in navigating oppressive systems (López Hernández, 2022). Our conceptual model serves as evidence that adult facilitation is supportive of critical dialogue and sanctuary space, and that these are mutually reinforcing components. Additionally, our research aligns with evidence that learning and practicing social change strategies is key to promoting self and collective efficacy (Anyon et al., 2018). We observed that near-peer facilitators empowered youth and mentored them through new experiences, fostering collective efficacy to promote social change in their community. We found critical dialogue, sanctuary space, and cultural affirmation developed youth connections to peers and community, forming a collective identity and struggle, leading to greater collective efficacy and action. This is consistent with evidence that forming a collective identity is a key relational practice of YPAR that can promote individual and collective resilience and resistance (Malorni et al., 2022).

Many of the resilience and resistance strategies that we saw emerge from the YPAR process are consistent with prior studies. For example, similar to our findings, several studies have shown that YPAR can influence individual beliefs and perceptions about youth agency, greater efficacy and skills in research, communication or advocacy, greater connections to peers or community, and social support (Agner et al., 2023; Anyon et al., 2018; Ozer, 2017). Similar to previous studies, youth described YPAR processes that enhanced positive self-appraisal (i.e., self-determination, self-esteem) and adult and community relationships while changing perspectives of their relationship to their social environment (Anyon et al., 2018). We observed the potential for PARA Jóvenes to strengthen positive ethno-racial identity, cultural assets, and culturally relevant coping, which are important components of resistance and are in line with the Radical Healing Framework and what has been found in the implementation of the YEAH Curriculum among Black youth (Woods-Jaeger et al., 2024). Given the use of photovoice in PARA Jóvenes, artistic expression was frequently cited by youth as a way to develop skills, express emotions, reflect on their environment, connect with peers, and develop empathy. Limited research has focused on the use of artistic expression for fostering resilience to marginalization or its role in YPAR projects, though participatory arts have been found to nurture connections, express and transform emotions, and strengthen identity among young people (Gómez-Restrepo et al., 2022).

Our research points to several directions to continue evaluating YPAR as a community-based intervention for addressing the ongoing harms of immigration policy enforcement. For example, much of YPAR research to date has been qualitative, which is aligned with critical epistemologies that underly participatory approaches (Anyon et al., 2018). However, there is also a benefit to evaluating YPAR interventions using positivist approaches that are common in public health and population sciences, especially given the gap in identified interventions to address the psychosocial impacts of immigration enforcement policies (Anyon et al., 2018; Hoskins et al., 2023). This study provides formative, pilot data that can inform the continued development and future evaluation of PARA Jóvenes as an intervention for Latinx immigrant youth impacted by immigration policy enforcement. By identifying key components and descriptors of each of these elements, our findings contribute to a framework for measuring PARA Jóvenes’ potential impact on emotional well-being, youth resilience, and empowerment. Additionally, these insights, supported by existing literature on YPAR processes and principles, create an opportunity to evaluate standardized elements of PARA Jóvenes while maintaining the flexibility and self-determination that are essential for its implementation in community-based settings (Woods-Jaeger et al., 2024). Lastly, a primary goal of YPAR is to promote social change, a critical aspect of achieving justice and equity for marginalized communities. Few studies have assessed the longer-term and community-level outcomes of YPAR; however, future research should focus on evaluating YPAR to contribute to the liberation of immigrant communities (Kennedy et al., 2019).

Strengths and Limitations

Our study built upon multi-year relationships with community partners to implement a YPAR program for Latinx immigrant youth impacted by immigration-related policies and evaluate its process. Our process evaluation was strengthened by the triangulation of multiple data sources, member-checking, and the use of grounded theory analytic approaches to yield a robust conceptual model. However, our sample was limited to youth who participated in the community forum; four youth did not participate in the forum nor in the interviews due to lack of interest and lack of time. Therefore, those who did not complete the full YPAR project did not share their perspectives, which may have diverged from the findings of youth who did.

Furthermore, our analyses and final model point to the need for sanctuary space, though the absence of multiply marginalized identities in our sample leaves us with gaps in understanding how sanctuary space can be provided for Latinx immigrant youth contesting with multiple systems of oppression beyond immigration policies (e.g., ableism, cis heterosexism). Gender and toxic masculinity were raised as safe discussion topics in the group. Our adult and youth YPAR research team included a mix of LGBTQIA+ and cis heterosexual members, though discussions about LGBTQIA+ identities and experiences were not central to the discussion or mentioned in follow-up interviews with youth. This suggests that sanctuary space may be provided for some identities, but not others, or that these findings may have implications for Latinx-identifying youth more broadly, with need for additional adaptation to address multiply-marginalized. In addition, we lacked Afro-Latinx and indigenous representation, and while racial and ethnic solidarity was raised, the lack of representation of these groups highlights missing perspectives from these groups. Greater representation and focused discussion on the intersections of cis heterosexism with racism, nativism, and ethnocentrism would provide a deeper understanding of the experiences of Latinx individuals living at these intersections.

Conclusions

There have been multiple calls for interventions that address the psychosocial harms of immigration enforcement policies among Latinx and immigrant populations (Chavez-Dueñas et al., 2019; Torres et al., 2022). We contribute formative evidence about the potential for YPAR to develop resilience and resistance in Latinx immigrant youth contending with the ongoing threat of immigration policy enforcement and the broader marginalization of Latinx immigrant communities (Ozer, 2017; Mayorga & Rosales, 2019). Interventions that create sanctuary spaces to acknowledge and reprocess trauma from the broader immigration policy environment, promote critical consciousness, engage in collective action, and form restorative connections have been proposed to address the ongoing harm of immigration policy enforcement and oppressive systems (Chavez-Dueñas et. al; French et al., 2019). Adapted from the YEAH intervention that addresses structural racism and promotes Black youth health equity to Latinx immigrant youth impacted by immigration policy enforcement, PARA Jóvenes shows potential for promoting individual and collective resilience and resistance among Latinx immigrant youth (Woods-Jaeger et al., 2024). Our findings suggest that practitioners working with Latinx immigrant youth should consider incorporating the identified components (e.g., artistic expression, critical inquiry, near-peer mentorship, cultural affirmation) into their interventions to address the psychosocial impacts of immigration enforcement (Kennedy et al., 2019; Gómez-Restrepo et., al). Addressing the mental health needs of Latinx immigrant youth in the face of oppressive immigration policies remains a critical and urgent issue (Torres et al., 2022). Researchers and practitioners should consider the transformative potential of community-based YPAR to equitably engage youth, build resilience, and challenge systems that threaten their well-being (Anyon et al., 2018; Kennedy et al., 2019; Malorni et al., 2022; Ozer, 2017).

Key Highlights:

• YPAR fosters resilience and resistance in Latinx youth impacted by immigration policies

• Creative expression and cultural affirmation help Latinx youth develop identity and agency

• Community-based YPAR supports Latinx youth in navigating structural oppression

Data Availability Statement:

To protect the confidentiality and safety of participants, the data are not publicly available. Researchers interested in further information may contact the corresponding author, and requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis, subject to ethical review and data-sharing agreements.