Soc 152 Part 2 Laws

1965 Immigration Act

A landmark U.S. law that ended the national-origins quotas and opened immigration from Asia and Latin America. Major demographic shift began after 1965.

Family Reunification Law / Family-Based Preferences (1965–present)

Set of visa categories established in the 1965 Act that prioritize spouses and unmarried children under 18. Continues shaping who can migrate today.

Immigration Enforcement Era (1990s–present)

Growth in deportations, detentions, and surveillance starting in the 1990s and accelerating in the 2000s. Enforcement splits families and limits integration.

Visa Backlogs / Long Wait Lines (1990s–present)

Decades-long delays for family visas—especially for Mexico, Philippines, India, China—created by caps set in earlier immigration laws.

Mixed-Status Families (Term popularized 2000s–2010s)

Families where members have different legal statuses (e.g., undocumented parent + U.S.-born child). Emerged as a major category with rising enforcement.

Chilling Effect (Observed heavily after 2016)

Mixed-status families avoid public programs due to fear of exposing undocumented members. Documented sharply during the Trump-era enforcement surge.

Deportation Impacts / Parents of U.S.-Born Children (2017 statistic)

In 2017, 12,464 deported immigrants had at least one U.S.-born child.

“Anchor Baby” Myth (Political rhetoric from 1980s–present)

False claim that U.S.-born kids give undocumented parents citizenship or protection. In reality, parents have no legal protection.

Local-Level Immigration Enforcement (post-2005 growth)

Cities/counties partnering with ICE; increases immigrant isolation. Expanded after programs like Secure Communities (2008).

Nuclear Family Preference (1965–present)

The U.S. immigration system has prioritized nuclear families since the 1965 Act.

Transnational Motherhood (Term from Hondagneu-Sotelo & Avila, 1999)

Mothers working in the U.S. while caring for children across borders. Concept developed in 1999.

Suspended Families (2000s–present)

Families stuck in long-term separation due to long visa backlogs or legal precarity. More common as legal pathways narrowed after 1990s.

Separated Families (2000s–present)

Families divided by deportation, detention, visa delays, or enforcement practices.

Reunited Families (1980s–present)

Families who reunify after long separations once migration becomes possible. Studies rise in 1990s–2000s.

Documented Status Wage Premium (Research from 2015)

Research around 2015 shows that documented status raises wages by 25%.

Undocumented Tax Contributions (2015 study figure)

Undocumented immigrants contribute $11.6 billion per year in taxes (2015 estimate).

Immigrant Selectivity (Lee & Zhou, 2015)

“Hyper-selectivity” introduced by Jennifer Lee & Min Zhou in 2015, describing immigrants who are more educated than both origin and host populations.

Skin Color Wage Penalty (Recent research 2010s–2020s)

Studies from the 2010s–2020s show darker-skinned immigrants earn less even when controlling for other factors.

Inter-Nativity Marriage (Measured since 1960s)

Marriage between foreign-born and U.S.-born. Seen as increasing integration especially after 1965.

Ethnoracial Intermarriage (National stats: 1967 → 2020)

Interracial marriage rose from 3% in 1967 to 11% in 2020 — used to measure assimilation.

Intergenerational Intermarriage (Observed 2000s–present)

Marriages within the same ethnic group but across immigrant generations.

Assimilation Theory – Milton Gordon (1964)

Framework from 1964—intermarriage identified as the “ultimate” stage of assimilation.

Rise in Multiracial U.S.-Born Population (2010 → 2020)

Individuals identifying as two or more races:

• 2010: 9 million

• 2020: 41.8 million
  → 276% increase

Norm of Reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960)

Sociological rule from 1960 stating people should return favors; crucial for understanding immigrant networks.

Life in Limbo / Living in Flux (2000s–present)

Term describing immigrants living with legal uncertainty due to enforcement; heavily studied since early 2000s.

Co-Ethnic Community (Sociology usage 1980s–present)

Community of immigrants from the same ethnicity/nationality; widely used since the 1980s.

Global Care Chains (Hochschild, 2002)

Concept created in 2002 describing transnational caregiving relationships.