Home in the Heartland: Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Latina/os, Illegality and Living Arrangements

• In Event: 3232 - Latinx Intersectionalities

Abstract

Although access to housing is a right recognized by the U.S., in the current anti-immigration regime de jure and de facto policies impede undocumented immigrants and mixed-status families from accessing quality housing. Housing and living arrangements are signifiers of immigrants’ social integration and generational social mobility. Previous studies have shown the role of social ties in helping immigrants’ initial settlement processes and living arrangements. Trends show that Latina/o immigrants tend to share living arrangements upon arrival and with time in the U.S. families secure independent living spaces. Yet, little research has focused on ethnoracial differences among Latina/o immigrants’ social integration processes. This paper utilizes in-depth interviews with Indigenous and non-Indigenous Latina/os and two years of participant observation to explore ethnoracial heterogeneity within Latin American immigrants’ living arrangements and access to housing in Kansas.

Author

• Andrea Gomez Cervantes, University of Kansas