Citation

Valencia Y. Gend. Place Cult. 2017; 24(11): 1530-1548.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/0966369X.2017.1352566

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this article, I argue that immigrants' meanings, perceptions, and feelings of risk and (in)security are relational, multi-scalar, and contextual to lived experiences before, during, and after the migration journey. Paying attention to and analyzing Mexican women's testimonios of intimate experiences uncovers why they migrate, how migration is experienced, and how migrant women frame their lives in the US. In this article, I compare how national and transnational policies of the War on Drugs in Mexico, which increased militarization of the US-Mexico border and created tougher immigration policies in the US (all in the name of US national security), form and transform intimate experiences of risk and (in)security across the migration journey for the same population. This comparative approach challenges and expands US-Mexico literature that does not read across experiences in the three sites of the migration journey.

Language: en

Keywords

Mexico-US migration; risk and security; violence; War on Drugs; women’s testimonial/testimonio