Book Read Free

Motherhood across Borders

Page 28

by Gabrielle Oliveira


  children brought over: age range for, 26, 138; deportation fear for, 129–30; immigration policy for, 129–30; migrating factors narrative for, 99–100, 101–3; mothers relationship with, 55–56, 126, 128, 200–201; participant details for, 208–10; population statistics for, 133; racial prejudice experienced by, 153–54; research methods and duration with, 23, 217–19; school/education experience for, 4–6, 18, 23, 27–28, 132–35, 137–38, 146, 150–55, 160–61, 190, 200; social life for, 28; transnational care constellation for, 20–21, 21, 26. See also siblings, separated

  children left behind: abandonment conflict/debate with, 16–17, 33, 39, 46–47, 57, 112, 131, 155, 158; academic performance by gender for, 162–65, 173, 182, 196; age range for, 26, 51–52, 138; belonging and kinship importance for, 120; border crossings for, 159; caregiver relationship with, 65–67, 149–50, 169, 177, 178–79; depression for, 16, 84, 137; emotional/behavioral issues for, 16, 84, 137, 148, 158, 166, 172, 178, 183; factors/scenarios for deciding on, 34–35; family drawings by, 92, 94, 94, 96, 96–97, 97, 218–19; gender expectations for, 175–79, 181–82, 185–86, 195; grandmother in Mexico deception and control of, 65–67; guilt of mothers for, 3, 40, 45, 47, 56, 63, 128, 142; housing and home environment for, 147; ICT reliance for transnational mothering of, 18–19, 45, 74, 88–90, 191–92; media portrayals of, 131; memory loss for infant, 35, 54–55; migrating factors narrative for, 99–100, 101–3, 107, 113, 183; migration aspirations for, 149, 162–63, 172–73; migration plans kept from, 52–53; motherhood ideals conflict around, 38–40, 46–47; NYC perceptions for, 109–11, 115–18, 194; participant details for, 208–10; paternal compared with maternal migration impact on, 45, 148–49; prioritizing, 14, 142, 160; research methods and duration with, 23, 217–18; resentment from, 111–12; reunification hopes for, 28–29, 165; reunification in NYC for, 159–61, 199–201; school/education difficulties for, 16, 68–72, 80, 83–84, 147–48; school/education expectations for, 165–70, 171–75, 177–78, 181–82, 184–88; school/education experience for, 4, 6, 27–28, 68–72, 88, 132–33, 135–38, 146, 147–48, 155–56, 161, 190; school/education focus and success for, 126, 127–29, 182–84; school/education remittances for, 76, 80, 126, 127, 132, 136, 142–43; school/education status for, 26; school-related decisions significance for mother of, 68–77, 193; siblings (US-born) ignorant of, 37, 38; social life for, 28, 88; statistics of, 8, 14; transnational care constellation for, 2–4, 10, 15, 20–21, 21, 26, 148–49; trust in relationship with mother for, 175, 180; UNICEF report on, 131, 182; violence and danger for, 71–72, 79–80. See also remittances and gifts; siblings, separated

  citizenship: juridical definition of, 9; Mexican immigrants obstacles to, 6–7; under 1986 Act, 33, 221n1; transnational care constellations redefining, 190

  college enrollment, 17, 134

  communication technology. See Internet and Communication Technologies

  constellations. See transnational care constellations

  consumerism, 106, 109, 168

  crime. See violence/crime

  criminalization, 9, 159

  crossings, undocumented: arrests with, 159; for children left behind, 159; fear with, 55; hardship and cost of, 1–2, 63–64, 159, 170; planning for, 62–63; sexual relationship arrangement for, 62–64

  data collection: analysis and coding after, 219–20; types, 25

  dejada, 34, 54

  deportation: children brought over fear of, 129–30; hospital stays and fear of, 122–24; mixed-status families fear of, 7, 152–53, 197–98; school-related involvement and fear of, 73, 78, 85, 87

  depression, 16, 84, 137

  discipline, 48–49, 76–77, 158

  drawings, family: by children (US-born), 92–93, 93; by children left behind, 92, 94, 94, 96, 96–97, 97, 218–19; as narrative tools, 218–19

  Dreby, Joana, 13, 19, 26, 136, 149, 178; on citizenship obstacles, 6; on criminalization of Mexican immigrants, 9; on deportation impacts, 197

  drugs, 115, 139, 221n2

  East Harlem, New York, 23, 24, 208, 209, 217

  economic inequality. See inequalities

  economic opportunity. See opportunities

  education. See school/education

  email. See Internet and Communication Technologies

  emotional/behavioral issues, 55, 70; for children left behind, 16, 84, 137, 148, 158, 166, 172, 178, 183; gender differences in, 166; mothers role in supporting, 76; with parental migration, 16, 35, 63; school/education as diversion from, 165. See also guilt

  employment: with Herbalife, 30–31, 151, 208; legal status and accountability with, 15; for migrant mothers, 26, 37, 126–27, 151, 155, 157, 208–10; as migrating factor, 99–100; motherhood differences with, 44; stability, 141–43

  engagement level, 23, 208–10

  English language. See language barriers

  ethnographic scholarship/research: on gender, 14, 42; immigration policy informed by, 199; Marcus on, 21–22; migration studies impact on, 11–12; motherhood in, 43; multi-sited, 12, 21–22, 26–27; patterns over time with, 156; on siblings separated by migration, 193–94; tradition and leaders in transnational, 13, 26–27. See also research methods and sites/participants

  Europe, 133

  Everyday Illegal: When Policies Undermine Immigrant Families (Dreby), 9, 197

  Facebook. See Internet and Communication Technologies

  family: defined, 45–46; drawings, 92, 92–97, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 218–19; immigration policy, 14; migration challenging concept of, 45–46; transnational care constellations redefining, 190

  fathers: caregivers from mother’s side compared to, 53; remittances and gifts from deported, 197; research methods and duration for, 23; resentment of migrating mothers over, 111–12; school/education involvement for, 76, 78. See also paternal migration

  feminist theory: on care chains, 42; on family, 46; on motherhood myths, 43

  Filipinos, 15, 26, 41, 45, 71, 136

  “folk-urban continuum,” 11

  Gálvez, Alyshia, 9, 26–27

  Garcia, O., 152

  gender: in academic performance in Mexico, 162–65, 173, 182, 196; caregiver expectations based on, 170, 177–78, 185, 196; children left behind and role of, 175–79, 181–82, 185–86, 195; emotional/behavioral issues by, 166; ethnographic scholarship on, 14, 42; ICT and, 18; Mexican immigration by, 13–15, 17, 45, 163, 213–14; in migrating factors narratives of children, 100; migration aspirations by, 172–73; migration impact by, 45, 148–49; migration study bias to, 13–16, 41; motherhood ideologies and, 37, 41, 47–48, 58, 71; parental resentment from children left behind bias on, 111–12; of parent in school-related decisions, 76, 78; remittances and gifts impact by, 180–82; research inclusion of, 24; school drop-out rate in Mexico by, 26, 173; school/education expectations bias on, 4, 6, 28–29, 165–75, 177–78, 181–82, 185–86, 195, 199

  gender hierarchies/divisions: academics stigmatized with, 178; in household labor, 14, 41, 165, 168–69, 175–78, 186; in immigration historically, 33; in income provision, 41; in marriage separations, 34; transnational mothering and, 15, 49–51

  gifts. See remittances and gifts

  girls. See gender

  Glick-Schiller, N., 190

  globalization and global capitalism: children and youth role in, 193; migration influenced by, 10–11, 13, 41; transnational care constellations and, 5

  Gomberg-Muñoz, Ruth, 6–7

  Goodwin, Doris Kearns, 41

  grandmothers (in Mexico), 2–4, 26, 166; abandonment feeling from, 80; on biological mothers role, 85; children left behind deceived and controlled by, 65–67; conflict/falling out with, 62–67; gender roles enforced by, 178, 196; participant details for, 208–10; paternal compared to maternal, 53; school/education involvement for, 149–50, 171, 198–99, 221n1; worry of, 55. See also caregivers; intergenerational relationships

  grandmothers (in U.S.), 59

  green cards, 6–7

  Guadalupe in New York: Devotion and Struggle for Citizenship Rights (Gálvez), 9<
br />
  guilt: of migrant mothers, 3, 40, 45, 47, 56, 63, 128, 158; in mixed-status families, 18; sacrifice relationship to, 49, 58

  Hamann, E. T., 13, 90, 200

  Hays, S., 43–44

  Herbalife, 221n1; employment with, 30–31, 151, 208; products sent to Mexico, 31–32; social life around, 30–31

  Hidalgo, Mexico: academic performance by gender in, 173; migration from, 213; participants from and in, 1, 3, 72, 119, 173, 180–82, 208, 209; research scope and surveys in, 22, 117

  historical structuralists, 10–11

  Hochschild, A., 45, 102

  homework: as academic performance factor, 162, 163; accountability in Mexico, 147, 149; caregivers difficulty assisting with, 73, 79–80, 85–86, 91, 198; gender roles in Mexico and, 163, 175, 178, 199; ICT role in, 74, 88–89; language barriers in assisting with, 79, 85, 140, 158, 168, 198–99; mothers role in assisting/enforcing, 76, 78, 79, 83, 85, 90, 154, 158, 168–69, 195, 201, 218; tutors in NYC for, 139–41, 154, 195

  hospital stays, 122–24

  household labor, 14, 41, 165, 168–69, 175–78, 186

  housing and home environment: in Mexico, 147; in NYC, 78–79, 139–40, 141, 195, 221n2; stability/instability in, 139–41

  ICT. See Internet and Communication Technologies

  illiteracy, 79, 84, 85, 150

  illness, 56

  imagine, 6, 20, 98, 99, 104, 110, 120, 194, 217, 219

  immigrants, 74–75; Filipino, research, 15, 26, 41, 45, 71, 136; gender historically for, 33; Mexican compared to other, 6

  immigration policy: ethnographic scholarship/research informing, 199; family, 14; 1986 Act in, 33, 221n1; under Obama administration, 9, 129, 196; racial bias in, 8; under Trump administration, 196–97; for undocumented youth, 129–30

  The Impact of International Migration: Children Left Behind in Selected Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (UNICEF), 131, 182

  income: educational/social experience in NYC variances by, 141, 194–95; for families left in Mexico, 26; gender hierarchies in provision of, 41; for migrant families, 8, 26, 37, 141, 194–95; migrant mothers as providers of, 3–4, 14, 27, 37, 41, 44–45, 71, 74–78, 85–86, 91, 127–28

  inequalities: cross-border experience and perceptions of, 28, 98–99, 103–7, 109–11, 120–21, 194; economic, with remittances and gifts, 16, 136–37; in mixed-status families, 18

  infants left behind, 35, 54–55

  intensive mothering, 44

  intergenerational relationships: conflict and distance in, 60–67; disciplinary tensions in, 48–49; for migrant mothers, 32, 37–40, 42, 46, 48–49, 53–54, 58, 60–67, 196; motherhood expectations in, 40, 46, 58

  International Migration Review, 12

  Internet and Communication Technologies (ICT): belonging and kinship impacted by, 18–19, 28, 89, 115–17, 121, 191; gender and, 18; Mexico increase in, 117–18; perceptions of “other side” through, 115–17; research using, 219; school/education life influenced by, 27–28, 74, 88–90, 91; transnational mothering reliance on, 18–19, 45, 74, 88–90, 91, 191–92

  Jackson Heights, New York. See Queens, New York

  Jalisco, Mexico, 17, 213

  Kearney, Michael, 11–12, 111

  kinship. See belonging and kinship

  language barriers, 134–35, 159, 195; for mixed-status families, 37, 56, 83, 158; in parent-teacher conferences, 77–78, 79, 85, 193; in school for children, 81, 83; school involvement challenges with, 77–78, 79, 84–85, 87, 140–41, 154, 158, 168, 198–99; in socioeconomic status and academic success, 17

  Latino, 7, 17, 24, 78, 134, 135, 153, 198

  legal status: birth process obstacles and stress with, 122–24; children (US-born) discussions of, 103, 197–98; children feeling restriction due to, 152–53; employment accountability and, 15; 1986 Act impact for, 33, 221n1; school-related involvement and fear of, 73, 78, 85, 87. See also mixed-status families

  Lévi-Strauss, Claude, 42–43

  Levitt, P., 190

  Lincoln, Abraham, 41

  Lionnet, F., 101

  Long Island City, New York. See Queens, New York

  Long-Wood-Stock, New York. See Bronx, New York

  Manhattan, New York, 1, 217; demographics profile for, 215; participant details in, 208, 209; research demographics for, 215; research sites in, 23, 24. See also East Harlem, New York

  Marcus, George, 21–22

  marianismo, 47–48, 49, 51

  marital status, 14–15, 26, 57, 208–10

  marriage/love partnerships, 49–51; abuse in, 56–57, 61, 125, 127; affairs in, 157; alcoholism in, 33–34, 61; children prioritized over, 160; expectations for children’s, 174–75; ideologies in Mexico on, 34–35; stability in, 143–46, 171; statistics of, 145

  McDermott, R., 221n3

  men. See fathers; gender; marriage/love partnerships

  mental illness, 56

  Mexican Consulate (New York), 222n1

  Mexican immigrants: citizenship obstacles for, 6–7; criminalization of, 9, 159; by gender and area of origin, 13–15, 17, 45, 163, 213–14; income for, 8, 26, 37, 195; in NYC past and present, 6–8, 215; population statistics for, 134; school/education and socioeconomic status for, 17–18, 134–35; social services and assistance for, 24, 150–51, 155, 157; victimization of female, 221n1. See also specific topics

  Mexico: academic performance by gender in, 162–65, 182, 196; cartel violence in, 79–80; gender expectations for children in, 163, 175–79, 181–82, 185–86, 195, 199; gender roles in, 163–65, 175–76, 178, 196; housing and home environment in, 147; ICT increase in, 117–18; marriage ideologies in, 34–35; motherhood ideals in, 47–52; mothers school-related involvement in NYC compared to, 75, 77, 90, 212; move back to, factors, 135; NYC children perceptions of, 104–8, 109, 115–17, 194; parent-teacher conferences in NYC contrasted with, 77–88, 90–91; research methods and sites/participants in, 22–27, 26, 158–59, 208–10, 217–20; school drop-out rate, 26, 173, 174; school/education expectations for children left in, 165–70, 171–75, 177–78, 181–82, 184–88; school/education experience in NYC compared to, 4, 6, 27–28, 132–33, 137–38, 146, 155–56, 161, 190; school/education values in NYC compared to, 87–88, 161; school/education variances in NYC compared to, 146, 156, 194–95; school enrollment and graduation rates in, 146–47, 164–65; schooling in, 146–50; school system divisions in, 222n1; school systems in U.S. compared with, 211–12; social life for women in, 31. See also specific states

  Mexico State, Mexico, 22, 208, 210, 213

  Michoacan, Mexico, 17, 213

  Mid-South Bronx, New York. See South Bronx, New York

  Migrant Hearts and the Atlantic Return (Napolitano), 48

  migrant mothers and transnational mothering: age range for, 26, 52; birth process and fear of deportation for, 122–24; caregivers relationship and negotiations with, 37, 38, 52–58, 60–67, 88; children left behind resentment of, 111–12; deportation impacts on, 197; discipline by caregivers compared to, 48–49, 76–77, 158; employment for, 26, 37, 126–27, 151, 155, 157, 208–10; gender constructs in, 15, 49–51; guilt with, 3, 40, 45, 47, 56, 63, 128, 142; ICT reliance for, 18–19, 45, 74, 88–90, 91, 191–92; impacts and costs of, 15, 17, 29, 148–49, 190; income provision expectations/aspirations for, 3–4, 14, 27, 37, 41, 44–45, 71, 74–78, 85–86, 91, 127–28; intergenerational relationships for, 32, 37–40, 42, 46, 48–49, 53–54, 58, 60–67, 196; marriage/partnerships for, 49–51; motherhood ideals impacted with, 27, 38–40, 41, 44–47, 51, 58; parent-teacher conferences for, 77–88, 90–91, 193; participant details for, 208–10; paternal migration impact compared with, 45, 148–49; return to Mexico plans for, 56; role transformation for, 49–51, 58; school/education success of children tied to stability of, 132–33, 140–41, 146, 155–56, 190; school-related decisions for children left behind significance for, 68–77, 193; statistics by area of origin, 213; welfare system use by, 154–55, 195. See also mother, biological; transnational care constellations; specific topics

  migrating f
actors, 13–14, 58, 60; abuse in, 125, 127; caregivers on, 101–2, 166; children left behind decisions in, 34–35; children’s perspective of, 99–100, 101–3, 107, 113, 183; employment as, 99–100; opportunity as, 11, 50, 52, 57, 99–100, 160, 166, 195; sacrifice narrative in, 101–4, 168, 192–93; school/education as, 5, 70–71, 72–73, 75, 127, 166, 168, 170; sexual harassment as, 61–62

  migration plans and aspirations: for children left behind, 149, 162–63, 172–73; for crossing, 62–63; discussions of, 52–53; in secret, 52–53, 63

  migration theory and study: anthropological approach in, 10–13; feminization of migration in, 40–41; gender in, 13–16, 41; limits of, 11–12; push and pull factors in, 11; Rosaldo on, 8–9

  Minor Transnationalism (Lionnet and Shih), 101

  mixed-status families, 199; conflict in, 18, 103, 135; deportation fear in, 7, 152–53, 197–98; language barriers for, 37, 56, 83, 158; research methods and sites for, 23; school/education aspirations impacted in, 135; socioeconomic status of, 133; treatment inequalities in, 18

  Mixteca Poblana, Mexico, 31, 217

  modernization theory, 11

  Morelos, Mexico, 22; migration from, 213; participants from, 208; schooling in, 148

  mother, biological: bond with caregivers compared with, 35, 52, 54–55, 65–67, 96–97; caregivers expectations on role of, 76–77, 85–86; caregivers from father’s side compared to, 53; education provision expectation for, 3–4, 14, 27, 37, 41, 44–45, 71, 74–78, 85–86, 91, 127–28; school/education involvement/enforcement role of, 68–79, 83–85, 90, 140–41, 154, 158, 168–69, 193, 195, 198–99, 201, 212, 218; school/education provider expectations on, 3–4, 14, 27, 37, 41, 44–45, 71, 74–78, 85–86, 91, 127–28; societal value of, 17, 52; transnational care constellation role of, 3–4, 20–21, 21

 

‹ Prev