The Multiple Productions of “Illegality”: Racialization, Liminality, and Legal Status(es)

• In Event: 566 - Section on Latino/a Sociology Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 05. Politics/Policy/Law

Abstract

Existing studies have documented how constructing immigrants and racialized communities as “illegal” is a powerful legal and discursive mechanism for producing and reifying categories of difference, solidifying boundaries of belonging and exclusion, and creating palpable fear among immigrant communities. However, few studies have examined how the mechanisms of illegality may manifest differently among undocumented immigrants or influence the lives of authorized residents or U.S. citizens in close relationships with undocumented immigrants. Using interviews and participant observation conducted since 2011, I will address the ways that illegality intersects with and shapes experiences across multiple legal and social categories in order to better conceptualize the broader scope of influence. Particularly, I will examine how illegality intersects with gender, age of arrival in the U.S., immigrants with temporary legal statuses, and/or people in mixed-status families. The complexities and myriad experiences that flow across and within various identity categories necessitates an expansion of how scholars apply illegality in order to adequately conceptualize and study these diverse experiences.

Author

• Nicole Lambert, University of Colorado-Boulder