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| 31 2 Mitad Allá, Mitad Aquí/ Half There, Half Here In an interview at the dining room table of her Albuquerque home, a former ESL and U.S. citizenship student, Lucía (see Introduction)—articulated the experience of being part of a transnational family. “I think that I am divided,” she explained. “I consider Mexico my home, but I think of my home as [the United States] because here I have had many opportunities and this is where I live. So I am confused when I think about home . . . I think of home as half there, half here [mitad allá, mitad aquí] . . . half in Mexico and half here.” A few weeks after I interviewed Lucía, I visited with her at a party held in honor of her daughter and niece on the day of their first communion. Lucía talked with different family members—her fatherin -law who was in town for a one-month visit, her brother who lived a few blocks away, her teenage daughter who had just started taking classes at the community college. Lucía later told me that she was disappointed that her family living in Mexico could not be part of the celebration. She said that at holidays and family parties, she feels especially nostalgic about the rancho. “I know it is not possible, but sometimes I wish that we could all live in one place.” Individuals, couples, and families living across an international border experience the contradictory processes of continuity and fragmentation . Even as the U.S.-Mexico border divides couples and families, Mexican (im)migrants build relationships and construct home and family in a manner that transcends nation-states. Despite the fluid movement of transnational Mexicans between the United States and Mexico, the border is a barrier with a powerful and far-reaching impact on families and the geographic and symbolic locations of kin. Ultimately, for Mexican (im)migrants, constructing home, marriage, and family is a transnational endeavor, one that bridges—yet is always ruptured by—the U.S.-Mexico border. 32 | Half There, Half Here Families in Flux Laura and Federico González have been married for more than twenty years; they have six children, ranging in age from three to nineteen years old. In some ways, the González family has a life quite typical of many Mexicans, as well as many families living in the United States: Federico and his two eldest sons work to support the family; Laura manages their home, prepares meals, and is the primary caregiver for the children; and the four youngest González children attend school full time. But the González family is distinct as well. They do not live together, in fact, they live more than one thousand miles apart, and they have not been all in one place for more than three years. The experiences of this transnational family, like those of the extended families described in the following section, demonstrate how kinship transcends and challenges nation-state boundaries. The daily lives of the González family also emphasize the difficulties of living in multiple nations, and illustrate how familial and marital ties are more often than not, severed by the U.S.-Mexico border. The experiences of the González family highlight many of the kinship transformations underway among Mexican (im)migrants and point to some of the changes discussed in this chapter and throughout the book. The González family lives in a gendered transnational household: Federico and two sons live in an Albuquerque apartment with other males from San Marcos, while Laura and the four youngest González children live in the rancho. Laura and Federico have experienced strains living so many years apart—there have been allegations that Federico was in an extramarital relationship —yet they are committed to sustaining their transnational family. Finally, migration is prominent in the lives of their children: two González sons left for Albuquerque with their father when they were fifteen and sixteen years old, and another son, who is fourteen, is considering when it will be best to join his family in the United States. The youngest González, at age three, has never met his father and eldest brothers. Although they are undocumented , Laura and Federico hope to reunite their family in Albuquerque within a few years, and they are saving money to cover the cost of coyote/as to relocate five family members (a coyote/a is man or woman who facilitates entry into the United States...

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