Divided by Borders

Since 2000, approximately 440,000 Mexicans have migrated to the United States every year. Tens of thousands have left children behind in Mexico to do so. For these parents, migration is a sacrifice. What do parents expect to accomplish by dividing their families across borders? How do families manage when they are living apart? More importantly, do parents' relocations yield the intended results? Probing the experiences of migrant parents, children in Mexico, and their caregivers, Joanna Dreby offers an up-close and personal account of the lives of families divided by borders. What she finds is that the difficulties endured by transnational families make it nearly impossible for parents' sacrifices to result in the benefits they expect. Yet, paradoxically, these hardships reinforce family members' commitments to each other. A story both of adversity and the intensity of family tiesDivided by Borders is an engaging and insightful investigation of the ways Mexican families struggle and ultimately persevere in a global economy.

Since 2000, approximately 440,000 Mexicans have migrated to the United States every year. Tens of thousands have left children behind in Mexico to do so. For these parents, migration is a sacrifice. What do parents expect to accomplish by dividing their families across borders? How do families manage when they are living apart? More importantly, do parents' relocations yield the intended results? Probing the experiences of migrant parents, children in Mexico, and their caregivers, Joanna Dreby offers an up-close and personal account of the lives of families divided by borders. What she finds is that the difficulties endured by transnational families make it nearly impossible for parents' sacrifices to result in the benefits they expect. Yet, paradoxically, these hardships reinforce family members' commitments to each other. A story both of adversity and the intensity of family tiesDivided by Borders is an engaging and insightful investigation of the ways Mexican families struggle and ultimately persevere in a global economy.

Preface: Ordinary Families, Extraordinary Families
Acknowledgments/Agradecimientos

1. Sacrifice
2. Ofelia and Germán Cruz: Migrant Time versus Child Time
3. Gender and Parenting from Afar
4. Armando López on Fatherhood
5. Children and Power during Separation
6. Middlewomen
7. Cindy Rodríguez between Two Worlds
8. Divided by Borders

Appendix A: Research Design
Appendix B: Family Descriptions
Notes
References
Index