Wendy A. Vogt - Lives in Transit: Violence and Intimacy on the Migrant Journey

The California Series in Public Anthropology emphasizes the anthropologists role as an engaged intellectual. It continues anthropologys commitment to being an ethnographic witness, to describing, in human terms, how life is lived beyond the borders of many readers experiences. But it also adds a commitment, through ethnography, to reframing the terms of public debatetransforming received, accepted understandings of social issues with new insights, new framings.

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Lives in Transit: Violence and Intimacy on the Migrant Journey, by Wendy A. Vogt

Lives in Transit

VIOLENCE AND INTIMACY ON THE MIGRANT JOURNEY

Wendy A. Vogt

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.

University of California Press

Oakland, California

2018 by The Regents of the University of California

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Vogt, Wendy A., author.

Title: Lives in transit : violence and intimacy on the migrant journey/Wendy A. Vogt.

Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2018] | Series: California series in public anthropology ; 42 | Includes bibliographical references and index. |

Identifiers: LCCN 2018016212 (print) | LCCN 2018019795 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520970625 (eBook) | ISBN 9780520298545 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780520298552 (pbk. : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: ImmigrantsViolence againstMexico. | ImmigrantsAbuse ofMexico. | ImmigrantsServices for. | Central AmericansMexico.

Classification: LCC HV 6250.4. E 75 (ebook) | LCC HV 6250.4. E 75 V 64 2018 (print) | DDC 362.88086/9120972dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018016212

Manufactured in the United States of America

25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For my family
and for migrants everywhere

Contents

Illustrations

MAP

FIGURE

Acknowledgments

This book is dedicated to the migrants, shelter workers, priests, activists, and local community members who shared their lives and their stories with me. It has been the privilege of my life to witness and work alongside you as you struggled to cross borders, support your families, and speak truth to power. I am particularly humbled and inspired by the work of everyday people who in big ways and small choose love over hate and justice over profit. For reasons of confidentiality I am not able to mention the people who fill these pages by their real names, but it is my hope this work contributes in some way to ongoing and collective struggles for rights and justice.

The School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona was a wonderful place to be a graduate student. In Tucson, I cultivated rich and meaningful relationships with my mentors, peers, and friends. Through her example, my advisor Linda Green taught me the power of critical and politically engaged research, and I am forever grateful for her unwavering support, guidance, and friendship. I thank Thomas Sheridan and Laura Briggs for their sharp insights and enthusiasm. I am also indebted to Linda and Laura for showing me that academic motherhood is not just possible but comes with many rewards. I also thank Ana Alonso, Diane Austin, Bill Beezley, James Greenberg, Eithne Luibhid, Norma Mendoza-Denton, Lydia Otero, Barnet Pavao-Zuckerman, Jennifer Roth-Gordon, and Drexel Woodson, at the University of Arizona. My fellow UA alums continue to be a wonderfully rich source of inspiration and friendship, and I love connecting with you all at conferences and visits. For their input and support on this project, I especially want to thank Brian Burke, Jacob Campbell, Daniela Diamente, Heide Castaeda, Karin Friederic, Natalia Martnez Tagea, Nick Rattray, Robin Reineke, Rodrigo Rentera Valencia, Andrea Rickard, Jeremy Slack, and Joanna Stone. Special thanks also to my friends Jennifer Josten, Gabrielle Civil, Nick Kawa, and the Alkov, Ricchiuto, and Rubin families. Extra special thanks to my bestie Sarah Rubin, who has been on this anthropology journey with me since our days in Kroeber Hall.