Author-Meets-Critics: “Sacrificing Families: Navigating Laws, Labor, and Love across Borders” by Leisy Abrego

The International Institute, the UCLA Program on International Migration, the Cesar E. Chavez Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies, the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, and the Center for Oral History are pleased to present:

Author-Meets-Critics Session on Leisy J. Abrego’s book Sacrificing Families : Navigating Laws, Labor and Love across Borders (Stanford University Press, 2014)

Author: Leisy J. Abrego, Chicana/o Studies, UCLA

Critics: Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, Sociology, USC and Carola Suárez-Orozco, GSEIS, UCLA

Sacrificing Families offers a first-hand look at Salvadoran transnational families, how the parents fare in the United States, and the experiences of the children back home. It captures the tragedy of these families’ daily living arrangements, but also delves deeper to expose the structural context that creates and sustains patterns of inequality in their well-being. What prevents these parents from migrating with their children? What are these families’ experiences with long-term separation? And why do some ultimately fare better than others?