DACAmented Homecomings: A Brief Return to Mexico and the Reshaping of Bounded Solidarity Among Mixed-Status Latinx Families

Abstract

This study builds on the intergenerational family dynamics literature among mixed legal status families. Through in-depth interviews with beneficiaries of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) who traveled to Mexico and their undocumented parents who stayed in the United States, we uncover how their journey back to their country of birth influenced their roles within their families and the immigrant community. DACA recipients experienced feelings of guilt when traveling back to Mexico and leaving their parents behind, but they adopted a new role of family ambassador and transnational mediator. Through this experience, they developed a greater empathy toward their parents’ sacrifices and reshaped their bounded solidarity with their parents and the immigrant community. As a result, they justify a movement away from personally identifying with the traditional Dreamer narrative.