Of Love and Papers: How Immigration Policy Affects Romance and Family

Of Love and Papers explores how immigration policies are fundamentally reshaping Latino families. Drawing on two waves of interviews with undocumented young adults, Enriquez investigates how immigration status creeps into the most personal aspects of everyday life, intersecting with gender to constrain family formation. The imprint of illegality remains, even upon obtaining DACA or permanent residency.

Interweaving the perspectives of US citizen romantic partners and children, Enriquez illustrates the multigenerational punishment that limits the upward mobility of Latino families. Of Love and Papers sparks an intimate understanding of contemporary US immigration policies and their enduring consequences for immigrant families.

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Awards

2022 Early Career Book of the Year, American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education

2021 Distinguished Book Award , American Sociological Association, Latina/o Sociology Section

2021 William J. Goode Book Award, American Sociological Association, Family Section

Silver Medal, 2021 Victor Villaseñor Best Latino Focused Nonfiction Book Award, Empowering Latino Futures, International Latino Book Awards

Reviews

“In this moving account of mixed-status families, Enriquez offers a textured examination of the ways in which contemporary immigration policy extends its reach into the more personal and intimate aspects of family life. Allowing the voices of the subjects shine through, this book succeeds due to its clarity and empathy.”—Roberto G. Gonzales, Author of Lives in Limbo: Undocumented and Coming of Age in America

“By highlighting the ways U.S. immigration policies shape the experiences of romantic love, intimacy and family formation, Enriquez’s meticulous research calls attention to the enduring injurious effects on undocumented and DACAmented young adults, and on their citizen spouses and children.  An innovative and sobering account of the far-reaching consequences of our punishing immigration policies. Timely and compelling.”—Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, Florence Everline Professor of Sociology, University of Southern California

“In engaging and methodologically rigorous narrative, Enriquez sheds novel light on the courtship and dating phase of family formation among undocumented and/or mixed status Mexican immigrant families. Undeniably, it will be of central interest to anyone who cares about immigrants and their families.”—Cecilia Menjívar, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles

 

 

Related Media

	Podcast: Órale Boyle Heights ep 38: Laura Enriquez includes discussion of the book’s impetus and some key themes
	DACA and why the fight must go on: Laura Enriquez features DACA-related findings from the book in reaction to the 2020 Supreme Court decision to retain DACA
	Op-Ed: Fear and romance for people without papers features key findings from the book for a Valentine’s Day themed op-ed