Doctoral Dissertation Research: Stability and Disruption in Transnational Families

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SES - 1130500Rubén G. Rumbaut (PI)M. Kathleen Dingeman-Cerda (co-PI)University of California, IrvineDoctoral Dissertation Research: Stability and Disruption in Transnational FamiliesAbstractSince 1996, immigration and deportation policies in the United States have grown increasingly restrictive. As a result, deportations have increased more than sevenfold between 1995 (50,924) and 2009 (387,790). In response to this drastic increase in deportations, human rights organizations have begun to document the consequences for transnational families experiencing separation due to deportation. The unintended consequences of family disruption on family members, especially U.S. citizen children left behind in the U.S., turn out to parallel those experienced by children with incarcerated parents. This dissertation examines how families affected by deportation cope with such separations and try to mitigate the negative impact of family separation. In the process, the research examines the effects of deportation on family dissolution (divorce, abandonment), emigration, and other reconfigurations in transnational space. In that sense, the project examines the degree to which transnational families can play a proactive rather than merely reactive role in a fluid immigration and law enforcement context. Data collection strategies draw on semi-structured life history interviews conducted in the U.S. and El Salvador.Broader ImpactsUnderstanding the factors that help make families stable -- and, inversely, factors that lead to family dissolution -- remains an important social issue of significant interest to policy makers and the general public. Findings from this project may also be of interest to social workers and law enforcement professionals in both the U.S. and El Salvador and will be disseminated accordingly. Because of its explicit cross-national component, the project will help build bridges between the University of California and non-profit migrant rights organizations in Southern California and El Salvador. Dissemination of research findings will include presentations at sociological conferences, publication in social science and general print media.