Mixed families and their every day life in California, USA

The present economic crisis in the USA has increased the xenophobic feelings towards migrants that has led to the implementation of a series of policies in different states that has made life harder and more violent for many migrant families. Supposedly these policies are directed towards the undocumented migrants, however it has been proven that most Mexican families living in the USA are mixed families, that is, they have undocumented and documented family members that have been living for several years and even decades in the USA.

These policies are affecting families in many ways and are provoking all sorts of problems inside the family. Our objectives are the following: to study the effects a different legal status has on family members and their relations; how they affect the power relations between generations; the differences in academic and job opportunities for the young generations. We hope this paper will help to understand the injustice done to these families by the recent policies implemented by  sate and federal governments.

This paper is based on qualitative data gathered during fieldwork carried out in California among Mexican families that live in the Valley of Santa Maria, Central Coast, California, USA. Participant observation and open-ended interviews were done to 20 families.