RAPID: Deportation and Transborder Sociolegal Ties

Loyola University Of Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

The research supported by this award explores how sociolegal ties are created by migration through deportation. In particular, it asks 1) what social and legal relationships are produced by deportation, 2) how sociolegal relationships, such as those between parents and children with different citizenships, are managed and maintained in families separated (and in some cases reunited) by deportation, and 3) what new challenges and legalities are generated in post-deportation, cross-border ties. Attention to the sociolegal specificities, as well as the generalities, of life after deportation will make a vital and timely contribution to current efforts to understand the effects of the unprecedented mass human displacement currently underway globally. The research will be conducted in the United States and Mexico. This is an appropriate site because recent and anticipated shifts in policy afford an opportunity to collect data during the process of establishing new sociolegal ties and relationships. The researcher will collect data through semi-structured interviews and focus groups with recent deportees, family members, community organizers, and legal professionals who work with migrants and deportees on both sides of the border. Results from the rapid assessment will be used to develop a longitudinal bi-national study of sociolegal dimensions of deportation and to prepare conferences presentations and publications. The researchers will increase flows of information between United States.-based and Mexico-based migrant communities through two community forums, and the project will provide training in ethnographic research to two undergraduate students from underrepresented communities.