Contested Americans

Cassaundra Rodriguez is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"Contested Americans takes readers deep into the dreams, struggles, and survival strategies of Mexican mixed-status families in Los Angeles. Through powerful and humanizing prose, Rodriguez shows the ways in which US citizen young adults navigate family illegality, while maintaining a commitment to their loved ones and resisting racism and anti-immigrant policies. Clearly and beautifully written, and infused with novel insights about contemporary immigrant family life, Contested Americans is a must-read for policymakers, educators, and citizens who are committed to creating a more socially just and inclusive society, as well as for Latinx youth who are leading the charge." * Leah Schmalzbauer, co-author of Immigrant Families * "Contested Americans underscores the in-between legal boundaries navigated by the adult children of mixed families. Along with other family members, they must negotiate family illegality in pursuing education and career goals. Through vivid accounts, Cassaundra Rodriguez presents the poignant story of both privileges and responsibility as these citizens are impacted by changing immigration policies and discrimination. A must-read for immigration and family scholars." * Mary Romero, author of Introducing Intersectionality * "In Contested Americans, Rodriguez offers a comprehensive and compelling analysis of the impact of immigration laws and policies on the lives of the adult citizen children of undocumented immigrants. She masterfully argues that these young adults experience multigenerational punishment as their parents' truncated path to legality fuels anxiety, unloads economic and emotional responsibility, and challenges their own birthright claims to national membership. Using a rich methodology, deep analysis, and a solid theoretical stance, Rodriguez's powerful and engaging narrative reveals the continuous limits of citizenship for U.S.-born members of mixed-status families." * Nilda Flores-Gonzalez, author of Citizens but Not Americans * "In an era of heightened immigration enforcement and amped-up anti-immigrant sentiment and discourse, questions of national belonging have taken center stage. But how do we reconcile conflicting understandings of undocumented immigrants to traverse the gap between individuals' feelings of belonging and the exclusion enforced by the society in which immigrants live today? Drawing on dozens of interviews with members of mixed-status families in Los Angeles, along with a year in their homes and community spaces, Cassaundra Rodriguez argues that membership is a complicated and negotiated ideal for Latino families who must carefully navigate familial illegality and racialization. Theoretically compelling, rigorously researched, and compellingly argued, Contested Americans shines a bright light on contemporary U.S. immigration and Latino families' efforts to carve out a space within the political and cultural fabric of the nation. Rodriguez is a bold new voice in immigration scholarship whose ideas will have resonance for some time to come." * Roberto G. Gonzales, author of Lives in Limbo: Undocumented and Coming of Age in America *