First Advisor
Greg Townley
Term of Graduation
January 2026
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Language
English
Subjects
Anti-immigrant sentiment, Children of immigrants, Familismo, Labor exploitation, Latino immigrant families, Latino immigrants
Physical Description
1 online resource ( pages)
Abstract
The United States’ history of treatment toward Latino immigrants has been shaped by anti-immigrant sentiment and exploitative labor practices, creating psychological violence that harms their families’ well-being. Although previous research has examined anti-immigrant sentiment, labor conditions, and familismo among Latinos, these areas are often studied in isolation, with limited attention to their intersections and how they are experienced across generations. Informed by history, prior research, and my lived experiences, this study qualitatively explored the intersections of anti-immigrant sentiment and parents’ manual labor to understand how these contexts shape familismo and well-being among Latino immigrant families. This work was grounded in Chicana feminist epistemology, Latino critical theory, pláticas methodology, and reflexive thematic analysis. I worked alongside other Indigenous and Mexican American students to conduct and analyze four focus group pláticas with Latino immigrant parents (n = 22) and four with young adult children of Latino immigrants (n = 22). We created six themes from the parent pláticas (e.g., son frios: control and surveillance, seguir adelante) and five from the young adult pláticas (e.g., soy de aquí y de alla, witnessing labor exploitation and envejecimiento). Together, these themes demonstrated parents’ and young adults’ shared and distinct experiences related to (1) nuestra cultura y familismo, (2) experiencing and witnessing racism, anti-immigrant sentiment, and labor exploitation, (3) family separation, and (4) individual and collective well-being. Parents’ and young adults' historias highlight the intricate ways in which culture, labor, and racist and xenophobic systems shape family relationships and well-being, while also reflecting their families’ and the Latino immigrant community’s collective strength. Their collective knowledge and experiencias call for humane immigration and labor policies, as well as linguistically and culturally responsive health services and education that protect and support undocumented and documented Latino immigrant families so they may thrive in the United States.
Rights
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Recommended Citation
Robles Saenz, Faviola, "Entre La Lucha: Familismo and Well-Being of Latino Immigrant Families Navigating Manual Labor and Anti-Immigrant Sentiment" (2026). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 7143.