Twentieth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

This study investigates how the current United States immigration enforcement regime has influenced the way Salvadoran immigrant fathers in the U.S. and Salvadoran deported fathers in El Salvador navigate parenting roles and responsibilities for their children. In addition, this study investigates how the enforcement regime has impacted Salvadoran fathers’ intergenerational relationships, sense of belonging, and the ways Salvadoran fathers and their families respond to and resist U.S. exclusionary immigration laws and enforcement practices. This study considers the following research question: How do Salvadoran fathers parent their children under the current U.S. immigration enforcement regime? I conducted 40 interviews with Salvadoran immigrant fathers in Los Angeles, California and 40 interviews with Salvadoran deported fathers in San Salvador, El Salvador from 2019 to 2020. An additional 20 interviews were conducted with individuals who work with Salvadoran immigrant fathers in the United States and with Salvadoran deported fathers in El Salvador. To supplement interview material, I also conducted participant observations of community meetings and rallies, interactions between community organization staff and fathers, and meetings between fathers and their families over the Internet, phone calls, and in-person. Research findings from this study will be able to inform scholars from different disciplines, policymakers in the U.S. and El Salvador, and U.S. immigrant rights organizations and Salvadoran non-profit organizations on the current challenges among Salvadoran fathers and their families in the United States and in El Salvador.