(Re)building Families: Undocumented Young Adults Contest Legal Violence

Immigration law affects an array of family relationships, including connections to extended family members and romantic partners. We consider how undocumented young adults (re)build familial relationships in light of U.S. immigration policies that inflict legal violence. Drawing on two interview studies with 1.5 generation undocumented young adults in California, we examine two cases in which this occurs: building relationships with extended family members in their country of origin and forging new families through marriage and romantic partnerships. First, we explore the experiences of undocumented young adults with DACA as they harness the law to apply for advance parole, allowing them to travel to their country of origin and (re)build their relationships with extended family. Second, we consider how undocumented young adults negotiate immigration law and the possibility of adjusting their immigration status through a U.S. citizen spouse when considering marriage and romantic partnership. We argue that immigration law perpetrates legal violence that harms undocumented young adults’ family relationships, but they actively negotiate the law to (re)build their families. Our findings nuance our understanding of agency deployed by undocumented young adults, while widening the breadth of family dynamics research.