Leisy J. Abrego

Guatemala-U.S. migration: transforming regions

Guatemala-U.S. Migration: Transforming Regions, by Susanne Jonas and Nestor Rodriguez, Austin, University of Texas Press, 2014, ix+276pp.,

Workers, Families, and Immigration Policies

24.95 (paperback), ISBN 978-0-292- Studies of international migration have often focused on how and why people migrate and settle and fare as they do. Over the past couple of decades the field has moved away from examining almost exclusively what happens in the country of destination, to recognizing that migrants may continue to be deeply informed by and connected to what happens in their native countries. This line of scholarship revealed that for some migrants, settlement and incorporation in the United States was heavily influenced by their trips home, by how their families and communities were faring there, or by their political organizing efforts with an eye toward their home countries. In those cases, scholars have debated about the proper terms and lens to use— transnational or bilocal—to most correctly capture processes of migration. In this context, authors Susanne Jonas and Nestor Rodriguez persuasively propose a conceptual reframing that moves us to think more expansively and accurately about migration, settlement, and incorporation. Privileging the social production of space over time, the authors examine the case of Guatemalans—now comprising the 6 th largest Latino group in the United States—as evidence for the need to approach migration through a transregional lens. The transregional approach is multi-layered and multidimensional. It locates power and agency (in unequal degrees) among various actors and in multiple sites. In the case of Guatemala, the authors highlight U.S., Mexican, and Guatemalan state and non-state forces and actors. Specifically, they include politicians, government employees, corporate capital, nongovernmental migrant advocacy groups and community based organizations, as well as

“I Can’t Go to College Because I Don’t Have Papers”: Incorporation Patterns Of Latino Undocumented Youth

With hundreds of thousands of immigrant families forcibly separated over the last several years, and millions more living in fear of possible deportation, stakes are high as we enter discussions about immigration reform. At a time when public discourse more clearly recognizes the presence of women and children in the immigrant community, this chapter aims to shed light on how immigration policies andenforcement practices affect immigrants and their families.