From migration to citizenship: Transnational workers, families, and children

Session N
Migrating out of the home and into the gendered and racialized globalized market of household labor

From Migration to Citizenship:Transnational Workers, Families, and Children

The creation of a transnational worker or a family lies in both personal factors and larger structural conditions, which reflect the social, economic, and political processes of globalization. In a foreign land, transnational workers and family members often work and live under different immigration statuses and visa categories. This paper examines the ways in which working and living in America under different immigration statuses and non-immigrant visa categories affect the work, personal, and family lives of Nepali transnational workers. The paper focuses on the effects and ramifications of U.S immigration policies and different non-immigrant visa categories on Nepali transnational workers, their children, and other family members.

The paper draws upon two different sources: (1) an ethnographic study of ten Nepali female migrants/immigrants (age range 16 - 60) who live in the Los Angeles area and their lived experiences; (2) personal testimonies (friends, relatives, and acquaintances). The research highlights their social, political, and economic marginality and vulnerability in relation to respective immigration statuses and visa categories.