Liminal Existence and Emotions under a Deportation Regime

• In Event: 41061 - Section on Latina/o Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 3: Latinx Migration, Labor, and Social Mobility

Abstract

Based on five focus groups, consisting of 45 Mexican immigrant parents in Central Texas in 2016 and 2017, this study explores the emotional effect of deportability and deportation. We found Latine immigrant parents exhibited more than fear, they expressed a liminal existence. Following Turner’s (1964:4) understanding of liminality as “betwixt and between, neither here nor there,” liminal existence transports immigrant parents between fear and joy. We seek to understand this movement through the lens of the sociology of emotions.

Authors

• Nancy Plankey-Videla, Texas A&M University-College Station

• Joseline Michelle Gonzalez-Ajanel, Texas A&M University-College Station