Mi casa es tu casa? Transnational Practices and the Integration of Children of Return Migrants

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

Abstract

Research on transnationalism among second-generation children looks at their involvement in transnational practices and how this affects their identity and integration in their country of birth. Research on immigrant integration analyzes how foreign-born individuals adapt to a new country. The children of return migrants who move to their ancestral country arrive at a place that is not entirely foreign. This study connects the literature of immigrant integration and the literature of transnationalism to analyze how transnational practices and network resources shape the integration of Mexican-American children in Mexico. Data for this study comes from semi-structured interviews to Mexican-American children (who arrived after the Summer of 2014), their parents, members of their extended family, and school staff. The data was collected during the Summer of 2017. The study took place in rural and urban communities in Zacatecas, Mexico. Some of my main findings are that transnational practices are the pillars of children’s integration in Mexico and that family resources (financial resources, social capital, and human-cultural capital) that shape transnational practices are the foundations of immigrant integration.

Author

• Maria de Lourdes Ramirez Flores, Cornell University