It Affects Us, Our Future: Immigration Policy in the Lives of Citizen Romantic Partners

• In Event: 1256 - The Impact of Immigration Policy on Immigrant Families and Communities

Abstract

16.6 million people are members of mixed status families where at least one family member is an undocumented immigrant. Previous research has focused on the negative consequences of parental undocumented status on citizen children’s everyday lives and opportunities for upward mobility (Bean et al 2015; Dreby 2012, 2015; Enriquez 2015; Yoshikawa 2012). However, we know little about the ways in which illegality seeps into the lives of citizen romantic partners. I draw on interviews with 39 mixed-status couples composed of undocumented young adults and citizen romantic partners. I explore how mixed status couples jointly negotiate illegality in committed romantic partnerships. I show how citizen partners come to perceive the material consequences of their partner’s illegality, realize that they will share in these consequences, and commit themselves to mediating these to the best of their ability. This can take a toll on relationships as it restructures relationship dynamics – infusing stress and guilt into relationships – and in some cases, lays the foundation for inequality and abuse. In all, I argue that immigration laws and policies produce enduring consequences by infusing inequality into mixed-status relationships and the life chances of citizen Latina/o partners. I discuss these with an eye to how immigration policy intimately shapes families.

Author

• Laura E. Enriquez, University of California-Irvine