ABSTRACT

Migrant and ethnic minority children grow up having to negotiate multiple ethnic identities and spaces of belonging. Many maintain transnational identities through references both to the society where they live and to their parents’ homeland. This issue becomes more salient when anti-immigrant rhetoric and exclusionary immigration policies shape the experiences of these children. In the case of the United Kingdom, the Brexit referendum is described as the culmination of a long process of development of a hostile environment against migrant and ethnic minorities This presentation draws from my PhD research, which explores how generation 9–11-year-old Polish pupils negotiate their ethnic identity amidst this hostile environment. Through references to their transnational activities, I highlight how Brexit is seen as responsible for immobility, which disrupts their ethnic identity and desire to live transnational lives.