Family Reunification and Separation: How U.S. Immigration Policy Shapes Family Structures

This chapter provides a broad survey of the ways that U.S. immigration policies shape family unity and family separation, and in doing so, shape the character of immigrant families. It looks at the family sponsorship opportunities available through U.S. visa policies and at which family members immigrants can bring with them to the United States as derivatives. Bars to immigration that affect the ability of U.S. citizens and permanent residents to help their family members obtain legal status are examined, as well as how family relationships can help immigrants obtain waivers to those bars. The treatment of families at the U.S.–Mexico border is examined along with the ways in which relevant policies affect families’ migration decisions. Finally, the chapter looks at immigration enforcement policies within the interior of the country and the extent to which family ties in the United States lead to leniency in immigration enforcement.