This study explored how Mexican immigrant and first- generation Mexican youth resist, conform to, and persist in schooling. Using Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) as a framework, evidence of the "sticky mess"of racial inequalities (Espinoza & Harris, 1997) was shown to impact the lives of all participants. However, the strength of community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005, 2006) mitigated the youths' negative school experiences. Analysis of the dialogic semistructured focal group interviews that comprise the data set focused on the students' family, life in Mexico, and schooling experiences both in Mexico and the U.S.