Sanctuary Making: Immigrant Families Reshaping Geographies of Deportability

Immigration policy and enforcement practices in the United States now extend beyond the border to the country’s interior, impacting the private lives of millions of undocumented and mixed-status families in new ways. Sanctuary Making traces this shift, showing how as enforcement has expanded and deepened, new ＂hot spots＂ have appeared across nontraditional sites such as neighborhoods, roads, worksites, hospitals, grocery stores, and homes. Undercurrents of fear, anxiety, and loss permeate the everyday lives of the families navigating these terrains of enforcement.

Carolina Valdivia reveals the emotional and material labor of young adults that often underpins families’ sanctuary making efforts--strategies to shield against the worst outcomes of enforcement. Many young adults are compelled to take on parental responsibilities and serve as a primary source of emotional support for family members while also brokering legal processes tied to their family’s immigration cases. How might policymakers, organizers, educators, and the wider community better support these young people in their efforts to create sanctuary for their families in an increasingly hostile landscape?

Carolina Valdivia is Assistant Professor of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of California, Irvine.