9423023 Coutin This research seeks to shed light on the ways in which illegal immigrants seek to shape the transnational forces that compel their movements. To do so, it investigates the ways in which Salvadoran immigrants in Los Angeles define and negotiate their legal identities in the United States. It builds on recent studies of immigration that have emphasized the global structural forces that drive immigration, in preference to models that emphasize individual choice. However, it challenges the assumption that immigrants are powerless subjects of such forces by concentrating on the Salvadoran immigrant efforts to use law to define and alter their status in society and reinterpret concepts of citizenship. Its investigation focuses on the legal strategies devised by Salvadoran immigrants to the United States since the late 1970s. If concentrates in particular on the change in focus from the status of refugee to that of immigrant. The research will consist of 18 months of fieldwork within the Los Angeles Salvadoran community, one of the largest and best-organized in the United States. It will involve work with two Salvadoran immigrant organizations, community organizations, individual Salvadoran immigrants, and observation of immigration proceedings. Analysis of the research data will improve our scientific understanding of the conceptions of the nation-state of individuals who have experienced transnational forces first hand. %%%% This research investigates the ways in which Salvadoran immigrants in Los Angeles define and negotiate their legal identities in the United States. It challenges the assumption that immigrants are powerless subjects of transnational forces that drive their migration by concentrating on the Salvadoran immigrant efforts to use law to define and alter their status in society and reinterpret concepts of citizenship. Its investigation focuses on the legal strategies devised by Salvadoran immigrants to the United States since the late 1970s. If concentrat es in particular on the change in focus from the status of refugee to that of immigrant. Fieldwork within the Los Angeles community will enlarge our knowledge of the role and behavior of immigrants in American democracy and shed light on the concepts of citizenship and nationhood devised by individuals who have experienced transnational forces first hand. ****
