Doctoral Dissertation Research: Immigration, Mixed-Status Families, Risk Management and Vulnerability

University Of Kansas Center For Research Inc, Lawrence KS

Investigators

Abstract

This project examines the challenges Latino mixed-status families face in Kansas. Mixed-status families have, by definition, family members of different legal statuses, such as undocumented, semi-legal, or citizen. For Latino mixed-status families, the spillover consequences of current enforcement practices and limited options for regularizing their legal status include family separation, economic strain, and low educational attainment as well as problems with mental health and cognitive development. Previous studies on mixed-status families homogenize Latinos as a pan-ethnic group, blurring intragroup differences and ignoring long histories of colonization, discrimination, and resistance efforts of Indigenous- and Afro-Latino groups. To fill this gap, this project explores Indigenous (Mixteco and Tlapaneco) and non-Indigenous Latino mixed-status families' experiences and investigates the consequences for family dynamics, individual identity, and community engagement. Research involving immigrant families is typically conducted in cities in the West, East, and Southwest parts of the U.S., traditional destinations for immigrant populations. This project takes place in Kansas, allowing for a critical examination of the effects of structural arrangements in this specific context on mixed-status families. Using an intersectional analysis and sociolegal scholarship on immigration policy, this research asks: (1) How does the intersection of structural inequalities based on race, class, gender, and legal status shape mixed-status families' experiences in Kansas? and (2) How do mixed-status family members manage risk, negotiate their legally vulnerable lives, and respond to their conditions? A qualitative study of sixty in-depth interviews with Indigenous (Mixteco and Tlapaneco) and non-Indigenous Latino mixed-status family members and a year-long participant observation in social gatherings, cultural events, and pro-immigration protests in east-central Kansas constitute the main sources of data to investigate these questions. This project gives a voice to a highly marginalized group--mixed-status Indigenous (Mixteco and Tlapaneco) and non-Indigenous Latino families, showing not only how structures affect their livelihoods, but also how they negotiate and contest systems of power and oppression. The findings will provide bases and recommendations for new directions on immigration policy. Through the analysis of the link between citizenship and "illegality," and a careful examination of the blurred boundaries of marginalization, this research can ultimately lead to initiatives in which these transgressions are recognized and made just.