UCLA

This ethnographic work follows the experiences of 18 Honduran migrants, who at the time of data collection (2016), all resided in Atlantic County, New Jersey. The thesis explores their decision-making process when leaving Olancho, Honduras for New Jersey, United States and the “navigational strategies” they employed when seeking labor opportunities once in New Jersey. The research methods used were participant observation at participants’ towns/cities, homes and jobs, semi-structured interviews, and pl�ticas* (informal conversations) where often, testimonios* (a situational narrative of personal and communal experience) emerged. I also share excerpts from my own family’s letters sent transnationally in the years 1998-2003. Drawing on this data, I argue that Honduran migrants choose to migrate: 1. As a “liberation strategy” from the [harsh conditions and various forms of violence] (framed in a political economic history), 2. To seek labor opportunities in order to provide for their families and/ or 3. To reunite with a loved one. I find that “intimacy” plays a central role in propelling the lives and decisions people make and that they are often entangled in “intimate reliance” (communal support of labor and care) in order to thrive in the United States, even when relationships are fraught with tension and even when they are subjected to violence that follows people across multiple borders and territories.