Dr. Ruth Gomberg-Munoz, University of Illinois at Chicago, will conduct qualitative research to examine the experiences and outcomes of immigration legal status change among Mexican immigrants to the U.S. Findings will complement macro-level quantitative studies of new legal immigrants by contributing person-centered qualitative data on legal stages of naturalization from the point of view of immigrants themselves. The ethnographic participants of this study will be selected from four groups: immigrants who anticipate changing their legal status from undocumented to legal permanent resident, those who have recently changed their status, those who adjusted their status ten or more years ago, and naturalized U.S. citizens.
This study will document multiple effects of the legalization process on immigrants' goals, perceptions, and activities as they move toward becoming citizens of the US. Research questions will address experiences in the process of legal status adjustment, the impact of social, demographic and labor variables on the process, the kinds of support services available and used for assistance in the process, changes in views of the process as immigrants move between stages, and shifts in attitudes toward citizenship and the state that accompany modifications in immigrants' legal status.
This project will advance research in an area that is of critical importance to wider considerations of nationhood, citizenship, transnational migration, and globalization. Furthermore, the research will document the challenges that immigrants face during and post-legalization, and how these challenges may be experienced with respect to characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, and class. This study can provide important information for organizations and agencies that provide support and resources to legalizing immigrants. Finally, this study can offer a timely contribution to local and national policy debates about immigration programs.
