Situational triggers and protective locations: conceptualising the salience of deportability in everyday life

ABSTRACT

Previous research has documented the severe consequences of deportation and conceptualised deportability as a key factor that produces and sustains immigrant illegality. Drawing on interview and survey data with 1.5 generation undocumented young adults in California, we explore the mechanisms that structure the salience of deportability in everyday life. We argue that deportability is a situationally triggered fear that is reduced when individuals occupy protective spatial and social locations that limit their exposure to immigration enforcement mechanisms. Drawing on the case of Californian undocumented young adults, we demonstrate that the more protective locations one occupies, the less likely they are to experience their own deportability as a salient dimension of illegality. In this case, deportability mostly emerges as a fear of family separation and preoccupation with undocumented parents who are less likely to occupy protective locations. Our findings nuance theoretical conceptualisations of the role deportability plays in constructing immigrant illegality.

KEYWORDS:

• Deportability
• immigrant illegality
• undocumented immigrants
• 1.5 generation
• immigration enforcement

Acknowledgements

Authors share equal authorship and are listed in alphabetical order. We would like to thank Edelina Burciaga, Susan Coutin, Cynthia Feliciano, Annie Ro, and the anonymous reviewers for their comments on previous drafts. Audiences at the 2017 Law & Society Association and the UCI socio-legal workshop provided helpful feedback. Special thanks to our participants, community partners, Undocumented Student Equity Project collaborators (Dr. Edelina Burciaga, Dr. Tanya Golash-Boza, Miroslava Guzman Perez, Martha Morales Hernandez, Dr. Zulema Valdez, and Daisy Vazquez Vera) and research assistants (Tadria Cardenas, Yareli Castro, Vanessa Delgado, Maria Mireles, and Estela Ramirez Ramirez).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 President Trump’s administration rescinded the DACA program in September 2017 (Duke 2017). At the time of publication, its future remains entangled in the courts.

2 This estimate includes undocumented young adults who arrived before 2013, were under age 18, and either graduated from high school or were currently enrolled.

3 Participants in Enriquez’ study were ineligible for DACA mostly due to being over the age of 31 when the program was announced. USEP participants were ineligible mostly due to not having five years of continuous presence or having another legal status prior to the implementation of DACA.

4 Survey respondents were asked to rate how frequently they thought about ‘their own deportation’, ‘your parent(s) deportation’, and ‘members of the undocumented community in general’. A response was not collected for one respondent (n = 507).

5 Survey respondents were asked the extent to which they strongly disagreed (1) to strongly agreed (5) with the statement, ‘Immigration laws negatively impact my parent(s) more than me’. Thirty-three respondents selected N/A and were excluded (n = 475).

6 Survey respondents were asked the extent to which they strongly disagreed (1) to strongly agreed (5) with the statement, ‘Young people are more likely to be deported than older adults’. Seventeen respondents selected N/A and two did not respond; these were excluded (n = 489).

7 Survey respondents were asked the extent to which they strongly disagreed (1) to strongly agreed (5) with the statement, ‘Latinos/as are more likely to be deported than immigrants from other racial groups’. Eight respondents selected N/A and were excluded (n = 500).

8 We compared Latina/o and non-Latina/o students’ responses to how often they think about their own deportation ranging from never to daily with a t-test (n = 508).

9 We used an ordered logistic model with the outcome variable measuring how often students thought about their own deportation. The only co-variate was a categorical variable capturing four combinations of race and gender. We excluded three students with alternative gender identities (n = 505). Results are available on request.

10 Survey respondents were asked the extent to which they strongly disagreed (1) to strongly agreed (5) with the statement, ‘Undocumented students, like myself, are less likely to be deported’. Eight respondents selected N/A and one did not answer; they were excluded (n = 499).

11 We compared students’ responses to how often they think about their own deportation ranging from never to daily with a t-test. We excluded 17 students who had some other status (n = 488).

Additional information

Funding

Funding was provided by the John Randolph and Dora Haynes Foundation, UC Irvine Office of Inclusive Excellence, School of Social Sciences, University of California, Irvine, UC Irvine Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, University of California Consortium on Social Science and Law, University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States, and the University of California Office of the President.