Legal Passing: Navigating Undocumented Life and Local Immigration Law

By: Angela S. García

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Synopsis: Legal Passing offers a nuanced look at how the lives of undocumented Mexicans in the US are constantly shaped by federal, state, and local immigration laws. Angela S. García compares restrictive and accommodating immigration measures in various cities and states to show that place-based inclusion and exclusion unfold in seemingly contradictory ways. Instead of fleeing restrictive localities, undocumented Mexicans react by presenting themselves as “legal,” masking the stigma of illegality to avoid local police and federal immigration enforcement. Restrictive laws coerce assimilation, because as legal passing becomes habitual and embodied, immigrants distance themselves from their ethnic and cultural identities. In accommodating destinations, undocumented Mexicans experience a localized sense of stability and membership that is simultaneously undercut by the threat of federal immigration enforcement and complex street-level tensions with local police. Combining social theory on immigration and race as well as place and law, Legal Passing uncovers the everyday failures and long-term human consequences of contemporary immigration laws in the US.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:: 9780520969117
Related ISBNs:: 9780520296756, 9780520296749
Publisher:: University of California Press
Date of Addition:: 05/14/19
Copyrighted By:: University of California Press
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: Nonfiction, Social Studies, Law, Legal Issues and Ethics, Politics and Government, Sociology
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.