Legal Passing

"The discussion of passing itself is fascinating. Angela S. García challenges the notion that inclusion and exclusion are binaries by showing that exclusionary practices can lead to inclusionary strategies. She provides a nuanced picture of the impact of living as an undocumented immigrant." --Susan C. Bibler Coutin, author of Exiled Home: Salvadoran Transnational Youth in the Aftermath of Violence "Angela S. García shows in breathtaking detail how accommodating and restrictive immigration policies enacted in cities shape the everyday lives of undocumented immigrants--from where they decide to settle and how they form bonds to how they construct their own identities. With rich empirical portraits and elegant prose, García helps us to grasp the intricacies of one of the most important and complicated issues of our time. This is social science at its best."--Tomás Jiménez, author of The Other Side of Assimilation: How Immigrants are Changing American Life " Legal Passing contributes a much-needed examination of the effects of local immigration legislation on the everyday lives of Mexican undocumented immigrants. In engaging writing and with insightful analysis, Legal Passing also provides lessons for policy makers and for those concerned with these immigrants' future membership in US society."--Cecilia Menjívar, author of Immigrant Families "In this rigorous mixed-methods study, Angela S. García demonstrates how restrictive city laws intended to deter immigrant settlement accomplish quite the opposite: they paradoxically encourage the rapid incorporation of immigrants in those very same communities, albeit in ways that are harmful to the well-being of these immigrants, their families, and the broader community."--Monica Varsanyi, author of Policing Immigrants: Local Law Enforcement on the Front Lines