Learning a New Land While Learning a New Family

• In Event: 4151 - International Migration Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 7: Undocumented Immigration

Abstract

Unauthorized immigrant legal status is associated with a host of negative outcomes for the migrants who are themselves unauthorized, for their families, as well as subsequent generations. There is less research as to the pathways that lead from immigration status to negative outcomes. We draw on 50 in-depth interviews with both unauthorized immigrants and recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to uncover a more quotidian mechanism that accounts for the negative relationship between legal status and life outcomes: transitions at different societal levels. Using our narrative data, we illustrate how nation-state (macro), residential (meso), and family structure (micro) transitions constitute a cycle of cumulative instability that depresses the ability of migrants to simultaneously adjust to changes in their home life and to the national context of the United States. We find that even the limited legal protection that DACA provides slows the frequency and intensity of transitions at all societal levels, furthering integration for DACA recipients and even other individuals in their networks. The negative effective of frequent and intense transitions helps account for the pernicious effects of unauthorized status and illustrates the effectiveness of policies to remedy those effects. Future research on migration and instability should examine how immigrant populations in particular experience a complex form of instability and consider how this may impact the experiences and outcomes of immigrant families.

Authors

• Kimberly B Higuera, Stanford University

• Tomas R. Jimenez, Stanford University