UC Irvine

This dissertation examines how U.S. immigration laws and enforcement practices have impacted the lives of Salvadoran immigrant and deported men and their families. Based on the experiences of 40 Salvadoran immigrant men and 40 Salvadoran deported men, I found that they experienced the effects of the U.S. immigration enforcement regime in several distinct and interrelated ways. First, as Salvadoran immigrants arrived to the U.S. many faced inclusionary and exclusionary immigration laws. While some Salvadoran immigrants benefited from immigration laws, many Salvadoran immigrants have been disproportionately targeted due to their ethnic identity, gender, and working class background. Secondly, Salvadoran immigrant and deported men faced immigration laws and enforcement actions that affected their ability to fulfill their fathering roles and responsibilities as they were criminalized and deported from the U.S. Thirdly, Salvadoran immigrant and deported men shared that their children experienced the negative spill over effects of immigration laws and enforcement practices in their lives in the form of multigenerational punishments. These punishments manifested in the form of social, economic, emotional, and physical consequences. Similarly, Salvadoran immigrant and deported men shared that their romantic partners experienced the harmful effects of immigration laws and policies in the form of intragenerational punishments. These punishments manifested in the form of physical, emotional, and immigration consequences. Fourth, as Salvadoran immigrant men migrated to the U.S. and deported men returned to El Salvador many struggled with their membership and sense of belonging. Salvadoran immigrant and deported men specifically shared how they navigated different exclusionary practices by U.S. and Salvadoran governments, institutions, laws and policies, employers, and everyday people. In response, many engaged in constructing alternative forms of membership and belonging. Lastly, Salvadoran immigrant and deported men shared their understandings of laws, how they positioned themselves to laws, and how they responded to these harmful laws and enforcement actions in the form of resistance and mobilization strategies. This study ultimately demonstrates how immigrant fathers and their families navigate their lives and relationships under the U.S. immigration enforcement regime. Future studies may find that these experiences relate to other immigrant and deported fathers in the United States and abroad.