Knight Library
Browsing Room
Mixed-Status Families In the US/Mexico Borderlands: Inequality and the Meanings of Citizenship in the Contemporary Migration Experience
A talk by Dr. Heide Castañeda (Anthropology, University of South Florida)
Monday October 3, 1:30-3pm
There are 2.3 million mixed-status families in the US, in which the undocumented legal status of some members influences opportunities and resources for all. A focus on individuals in law and policy largely overlooks cumulative ripple effects on families, although individuals are always embedded within these complex social units. This talk examines how mixed-status families experience specific policies related to health care, education, and mobility, and seeks to understand how they collectively navigate opportunities and obstacles. It is necessary to understand the experiences of these families – including and especially the impacts on some 4.5 million US citizen children – in order to ensure equitable application of policy and to reduce disparities.
Dr. Heide Castañeda is Associate Professor and Graduate Director in the Department of Anthropology at the University of South Florida. She received a PhD from the University of Arizona, a MPH from the University of Texas, and an MA from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Her research, which has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Fulbright Program, Wenner-Gren Foundation, and German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), lies at the intersection of cultural and medical anthropology and focuses on migrant health, constructions of citizensip, and how policy and legal institutions shape everyday experiences of immigrant communities.