Heide Castañeda

Borders of Belonging

Struggle and Solidarity in Mixed-Status Immigrant Families

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Heide Casta¿eda is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of South Florida. She is a co-editor of Unequal Coverage: The Experience of Health Care Reform in the United States (2018).

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Stanford University Press
• Seitenzahl: 280
• Erscheinungstermin: 26. Februar 2019
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 18mm
• Gewicht: 363g
• ISBN-13: 9781503607910
• ISBN-10: 1503607917
• Artikelnr.: 53168345

Autorenporträt

Heide Castañeda is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of South Florida. She is a co-editor of Unequal Coverage: The Experience of Health Care Reform in the United States (2018).

Inhaltsangabe

Contents and Abstracts
Introduction: Illegality and the Immigrant Family
chapter abstract
This chapter lays out the three main arguments of the book: (1) that the
construction of "illegality" for some members in a family influences
opportunities and resources for all, including legal residents and U.S.
citizens; (2) that people are not simply passive victims of this
circumstance, but are resilient and creative, and mobilize to challenge its
effects; and (3) that the incorporation experiences of mixed-status
families are significantly framed by place, in this case the U.S.-Mexico
border region. The chapter defines "mixed-status" families as those
comprised of at least one undocumented member and at least one other person
with any authorized legal status or transitional status. It also describes
the study methods and outlines the chapters of the book.
1Belonging in the Borderlands
chapter abstract
This chapter examines how local context uniquely shapes pathways of
incorporation and the everyday experiences of mixed-status families. Local
configurations of laws, practices, and attitudes reflect how specific
geographic settings provide unique mobilities, resources, opportunities,
and disadvantages. Place matters. The chapter examines the geographic,
cultural, and political landscape of the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas,
which in some ways may be viewed as a pocket of inclusion because of its
ethnic makeup, the dominance of the Spanish language, and its strong
binational frame of reference. However, the historical marginalization and
illegalization of Mexican migration through U.S. immigration laws provide
an important backdrop for understanding the experience of illegality for
families. This is strengthened by relentless and constant surveillance
associated with the militarized border, including checkpoints that
supplement and intensify interior enforcement.
2United Yet Divided: Mixed-Status Family Dynamics
chapter abstract
This chapter examines the dynamics of mixed-status families, including
shared norms, interpersonal tensions, and systems of mutual support. As
legal status stratifies the household, creating divisions and even
resentment, the central pattern is nonetheless family unity. Family
relationships necessarily challenge simplistic distinctions between
citizens and immigrants, and underscore the impossibility of assigning
rigid juridical categories to entangled social lives. Juxtaposing the
perspectives of various members within the same family illustrates how
those experiences played out in complex ways. Mutual support is critical,
and certain family members take on specific roles. Finally, the progress of
the entire family and the social mobility of subsequent generations are
viewed as linked to children's educational success.
3"Little Lies": Disclosure and Relationships Beyond the Family
chapter abstract
This chapter turns outward to explore relationships between mixed-status
families and others in their communities. Disclosure-that is, to whom,
when, and why people talk about their own or their family's status-is a
major concern, with both undocumented persons and U.S. citizens describing
"little lies," acts of concealment, and feeling as if they must live a
double life. Even close friendships and intimate romantic relationships are
affected, as those in mixed-status families face difficulties adhering to
normative expectations of dating and courtship. Disclosure is weighed
against the possible repercussions, including stigmatization,
discrimination, ridicule, and fear of denunciation by friends, lovers,
neighbors, co-workers, and even other family members. Finally, the chapter
explores empowered disclosure, or strategic "coming out" as undocumented,
and its role in creating new identities and political subjectivities.
4Estamos Encerrados: Im/mobilities in the Borderlands
chapter abstract
This chapter focuses on spatial restrictions to mobility, including the
various checkpoints, the fear of driving that exposes people to
apprehension, and the racialization of illegality and its effects on
inspection practices. Legal status within the family becomes embodied as
stratified forms of mobility. Many people are relegated to life within this
small strip along the border, and describe feeling "trapped in a cage." The
geographies of policing mobility in the border region are distinct by
virtue of the constraints of the international border, the 100-mile buffer
zone, and specific enforcement practices. Due to shifting legal terrains
and requirements, a range of legal driving opportunities often coexist
within a single family. For everyday driving practice and during inspection
at one of the many checkpoints, racialization is a recurring theme. The
chapter shows how fear, anxiety, and pressure are all part of the affective
nature of the dynamic borderlands.
5Additional Borders: Education, Work, and Social Mobility
chapter abstract
This chapter examines the social mobility of children who grow up in
mixed-status families, including the barriers and secondary borders they
encounter as they try to go to college, obtain jobs, and become
independent. Early experiences in schools are generally inclusive and
positive, but this shifts in high school and with the pressures of applying
for and attending college. Youth living in the borderlands may be unable or
unwilling to attend college in the nation's interior, past the Border
Patrol checkpoints, including U.S. citizens who restrict themselves from
moving away from undocumented family members, thus affecting their own
social mobility. Financial barriers, discrimination, and feelings of
alienation coexist alongside educational success in college. Rarely
explored elsewhere has been young adults' desire to enlist in the U.S.
military or Border Patrol; both are common career paths in this region with
few alternative well-paying jobs.
6Unequal Access: Health and Well-Being
chapter abstract
Simply being part of a mixed-status family can result in poorer health and
unequal access to care, creating hierarchies between individual family
members. Health policies have multiple direct and indirect impacts
specifically on these families, including their hesitancy to enroll citizen
children in programs due to fear of deportation or to avoid jeopardizing
chances of future regularization. As formal systems fail to meet the needs
of a large segment of the population, alternative and informal channels of
care proliferate, including illicit medications, unlicensed providers, and
home treatments. Heavy border enforcement impacts mixed-status families
when specialty care is required outside the region, as well as exacerbating
stress and anxiety. Some families avoid enrolling eligible members in
programs as notions of "deservingness" are internalized. This has a
chilling effect that extends to U.S. citizens, meaning that they are
discouraged from the exercise of their rights, a form of "multigenerational
punishment."
7Family Separation: Deportation, Removal, and Return
chapter abstract
This chapter examines family separation through deportation, illustrating
how the detention and deportation of relatives shapes children's sense of
security and well-being, and increases economic uncertainty in the
household. The chapter follows several families whose members have
experienced deportation, as well as the elaborate "emergency planning"
measures they develop in case of family separation. This shifts household
power dynamics, empowering citizen children in a complex micropolitical
economy of deportability. Finally, the chapter explores how deported family
members are brought back, reliant upon on ties in Mexico, connections to
smugglers, and their ability to pay. Geographic context changes the
landscape of deportability, making security much more precarious in the
borderlands than in other parts of the United States.
8Fixing Papers: Status Adjustment in Mixed-Status Families
chapter abstract
Mixed-status families have an intimate relationship with the law, most
evident when individuals undergo regularization, or "fix their papers." Law
impacts family bonds in distinct ways, often shifting or reversing power
relations between parents and children. It also empowers children, who
finally feel they have agency and control over their family's destiny. The
chapter also provides rich stories of DACA recipients in their transition
from undocumented to "DACAmented," a status that was experienced as
precarious and that solidified prior and produced new forms of inequality.
For some, there are simply "dead ends" in the regularization process.
Finally, for those who are successful in obtaining legal relief or status,
another peril looms: jealousy, stratification, and hierarchies created
within families and communities because others are left behind. The flip
side is survivor's guilt; once people regularize their status, they avoid
seeming boastful or fostering bitterness or resentment.
Conclusion
chapter abstract
The book concludes with a reflection on the lessons learned from the 100
families in this book, arguing that political efforts toward reform or
social integration must take into account mixed-status family
configurations, since they are now a primary and enduring feature of the
contemporary immigration experience in the United States. The book
complicates the idea of living "in the shadows" as it is used in scholarly
and popular discourse, instead portraying mixed-status families as
resilient, socially engaged, and living as active members of their
communities. Yet the daily lives of some 16.7 million people in
mixed-status families are marked by uncertainty and exclusion. The chapter
summarizes both the scholarly and policy implications of the themes
presented in the book. Through a deeper understanding of their experiences,
we can work toward policies that lift communities up rather than exacerbate
inequalities.