Immigrant Families - (Immigration and Society) by Cecilia Menjívar & Leisy J Abrego & Leah C Schmalzbauer (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Immigrant Families aims to capture the richness, complexity, and diversity that characterize contemporary immigrant families in the United States. In doing so, it reaffirms that the vast majority of people do not migrate as isolated individuals, but are members of families.

There is no quintessential immigrant experience, as immigrants and their families arrive with different levels of economic, social, and cultural resources, and must navigate various social structures that shape how they fare. Immigrant Families highlights the hierarchies and inequities between and within immigrant families created by key axes of inequality such as legal status, social class, gender, and generation. Drawing on ethnographic, demographic, and historical scholarship, the authors highlight the transnational context in which many contemporary immigrant families live, exploring how families navigate care, resources, expectations, and aspirations across borders. Ultimately, the book analyzes how dynamics at the individual, family, and community levels shape the life chances and wellbeing of immigrants and their families.

As the United States turns its attention to immigration as a critical social issue, Immigrant Families encourages students, scholars, and policy makers to center family in their discussions, thereby prioritizing the human and relational element of human mobility.

Review Quotes

"Comprehensive, well-researched, and clearly-written, Immigrant Families fills a unique niche in both the fields of immigration and family literature. The authors bring wisdom, empathy, and clarity to the complex political, economic, legal, sociological, and gendered forces shaping immigrant families' lives."
Carola Suárez-Orozco, UCLA

"In Immigrant Families, Menjivar, Abrego, and Schmalzbauer give us an excellent analysis of the factors that shape migration and family formation. They bring into focus how changing immigration laws, class, deportation practices, gender, and generation in the United States interact in the lives of immigrant families. With immigration sure to be an important part of life well into the future, Immigrant Families provides a wealth of information and analysis for a concerned public, policy-makers and students."
Leo Chavez, University of California Irvine

About the Author

Cecilia Menjívar is Foundation Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Kansas.

Leisy J. Abrego is Assistant Professor of Chicana/o Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Leah C. Schmalzbauer is Associate Professor of American Studies and Sociology at Amherst College.