Keeping it in “the Family”: Using Gender Norms to Shape U.S. Marriage Migration Politics

• In Event: 2276 - Innovative Methods in Immigration Research

Abstract

When a U.S. citizen petitions for a visa for a non-citizen spouse, U.S. immigration investigates the couple to determine if the relationship is ‘genuine’ (i.e. for love) or ‘fraudulent’ (i.e. for immigration papers). Since love is intangible, suspicions of marriage fraud rest on beliefs about what a real relationship should be like. To see when and how gender norms for “genuine” marriage are established, contested and justified, this paper presents an online ethnography and textual analysis of a large on-line immigration forum. In its advice-seeking conversation threads, relationship norms are debated among people negotiating the spousal reunification process. Participants reduce uncertainty in this risky situation by how they frame their experiences with ostensibly gender-neutral immigration policies. Members treat specific combinations of age, gender and national origin as legitimately drawing special scrutiny. Their gendered beliefs about sexuality, money and vulnerability set the terms of “genuine” relationships, echo past immigration exclusions and limit relationships for petitioning U.S. women more than for male petitioners.

Author

• Gina Marie Longo, University of Wisconsin-Madison