Conozca Sus Derechos: The Necessity and Limitations of Legal Trainings in

Abstract

This thesis focuses on Know Your Rights trainings for youth and immigrants. Know Your Rights trainings explain basic constitutional rights and police interactions, and teach people how to exercise their rights. This project examines the ways trainings can be used in undocumented and mixed-status immigrant communities to prevent deportations and do harm reduction. The project consists of two parts: the first part is a research-based, literature review that establishes the necessity of the trainings. This piece includes a description of some dominant paradigms and narratives about immigration, as well as a counter-narrative that gives an outline for the problems and challenges the trainings try to address. This counter-narrative also illustrates the ways in which trainings can be limited. The second half of the thesis is project-based. I updated, translated, and consolidated existing trainings to create a new "Juvenile Immigrant" training. The training is available online and was given at a conference in May, 2014.