University of California, Irvine
Post-Doc, School of Social Sciences
University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellow
About
My research investigates the opportunities for mobility and well-being of immigrants and their families in the home country.
I am currently writing my first book manuscript, titled, "Distant Inequalities: Immigration Laws and Gender in Salvadoran Transnational Families."
Based on ethnographic observations and 130 in-depth interviews conducted between 2004 and 2006, "Distant Inequalities" captures the gripping and complex stories of immigrant parents in the United States and the adolescent and young adult children they left behind in El Salvador. The book is about family separation that results from migration – an issue that is at the heart of contemporary migrants’ daily struggles throughout the world. In most cases, diminishing economic opportunities drive parents to migrate, often without legal protections. The treacherous journey by land is too dangerous for children, who must stay behind. The book highlights the inequalities that persist despite parents’ intentions to improve their children’s living conditions. Through a sociological lens, it reveals the individual efforts and structural constraints that shape these families’ long-term economic and emotional well-being. I argue that U.S. immigration laws and Latin American gendered norms powerfully shape these families’ experiences. By linking children’s economic and emotional conditions to their parents’ gendered and legally determined opportunities, barriers, and behaviors, Distant Inequalities presents a dynamic portrayal of transnational ties that both strengthen and weaken families.
Previous research focuses on the effects of legal status and educational policies on the educational trajectories of undocumented students.
If you would like a copy of any of my papers, please feel free to contact me.
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