Barriers Facing Undocumented Women in Divorce: An Examination of Undocumented Mexican Women in Chicago

• In Event: 324 - Section on Race, Gender, and Class Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 03. RGC, Immigration, and Relationships

Abstract

Separation from male, domestic partners can destabilize the lives of women who live in a patriarchal-based society, but the immigration status of undocumented women creates additional problems. Many undocumented women have been separated from their partners through deportation, but what happens when undocumented women are separated from their partners through the voluntary dissolution of a relationship? In addition to the struggles they face as single mothers, undocumented Mexican women encounter various barriers that make separation difficult. From November to December 2013, we interviewed 10 separated, undocumented Mexican women from a low-income neighborhood on Chicago’s Southwest Side. We find being undocumented limits them financially, amplifies gender barriers, and inhibits their knowledge of and likelihood to access legal rights and options. More specifically, their immigration status combines with other marginalized statuses to create extremely unstable lives. Living with the consequences of being undocumented and separated women in a predominantly low-income Hispanic neighborhood with few opportunities traps them and their children in a life of social and economic struggle.

Authors

• Maria Sanchez, University of Illinois-Chicago

• Jazmin Nunez, Chicago Law and Education Foundation