Of Love and Papers - by Laura E Enriquez (Paperback)

About the Book

"Of Love and Papers explores how immigration policies are fundamentally reshaping Latino families. Drawing on two waves of interviews with undocumented young adults, Enriquez investigates how immigration status creeps into the most personal aspects of everyday life, intersecting with gender to constrain family formation. The imprint of illegality remains, even upon obtaining DACA or permanent residency. Interweaving the perspectives of US citizen romantic partners and children, Enriquez illustrates the multigenerational punishment that limits the upward mobility of Latino families. Of Love and Papers sparks an intimate understanding of contemporary US immigration policies and their enduring consequences for immigrant families"--

Book Synopsis

A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org.

Of Love and Papers explores how immigration policies are fundamentally reshaping Latino families. Drawing on two waves of interviews with undocumented young adults, Enriquez investigates how immigration status creeps into the most personal aspects of everyday life, intersecting with gender to constrain family formation. The imprint of illegality remains, even upon obtaining DACA or permanent residency.

Interweaving the perspectives of US citizen romantic partners and children, Enriquez illustrates the multigenerational punishment that limits the upward mobility of Latino families. Of Love and Papers sparks an intimate understanding of contemporary US immigration policies and their enduring consequences for immigrant families.

From the Back Cover

"In this moving account of mixed-status families, Enriquez offers a textured examination of the ways in which contemporary immigration policy extends its reach into the more personal and intimate aspects of family life. Allowing the voices of the subjects shine through, this book succeeds due to its clarity and empathy."--Roberto G. Gonzales, Author of Lives in Limbo: Undocumented and Coming of Age in America

"By highlighting the ways U.S. immigration policies shape the experiences of romantic love, intimacy and family formation, Enriquez's meticulous research calls attention to the enduring injurious effects on undocumented and DACAmented young adults, and on their citizen spouses and children. An innovative and sobering account of the far-reaching consequences of our punishing immigration policies. Timely and compelling."--Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, Florence Everline Professor of Sociology, University of Southern California

"In engaging and methodologically rigorous narrative, Enriquez sheds novel light on the courtship and dating phase of family formation among undocumented and/or mixed status Mexican immigrant families. Undeniably, it will be of central interest to anyone who cares about immigrants and their families."--Cecilia Menjívar, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles

Review Quotes

"Of Love and Papers. . . .[shows] us what the subtitle tells us: how immigration policy affects romance and family. In the process she delivered an excellent study that shows us how all of social life is always gendered."-- "American Journal of Sociology"

About the Author

Laura E. Enriquez is Assistant Professor of Chicano/Latino studies at the University of California, Irvine.