Migrant families all have different experiences, but they have something in common. The families are stretched across lands, and suffer social injustice, prejudice, and separation from their loved ones. In the book, “Intimate migrations”, Boehm shows us the reasons people migrate, how their gender role changes during this period, and the barriers they face against immigration laws. Migrant workers do not wake up and decide to simply move. Issues with the economy, the low wages, a better life for their family, are all forces behind their decisions. Regardless of the matters at hand, the situation changes depending on their gender. Boehm described that women migrate to reunite with their families, or in case the husband abandoned them, and
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It is not only a place where you sit on a sofa, pay your rent, and sleep. Boehm described a migrant’s home in three subsections. Home as a nation, a place, and as a family. In the first section, as a nation, if a migrant is asked about their nationality, it depends on who is asking the question. If they are American, or part of the police, the answer will be an American. If a Mexican is asking, the answer will change to a Mexican. Migrants consider dual citizenship to be very important for their children, because it gives them more job opportunities in both countries (Boehm 2012: 49). In the second section, home as a place, Boehm states that a migrant worker will believe their home to be the place where they were raised, and where his family now lives. Not a building with a roof over their head (Boehm 2012: 49). The final section is about home as a family, which is described by a woman, Maria, as “my family together, living together… with everyone, your spouse and your children. If someone lives alone, it is not a home, maybe a house but not a home” (Boehm 2012: 50). In Mexico, if some of the family live at home, and some overseas, the phrase “half there and half here”, is commonly used (Boehm 2012:
It is not only a place where you sit on a sofa, pay your rent, and sleep. Boehm described a migrant’s home in three subsections. Home as a nation, a place, and as a family. In the first section, as a nation, if a migrant is asked about their nationality, it depends on who is asking the question. If they are American, or part of the police, the answer will be an American. If a Mexican is asking, the answer will change to a Mexican. Migrants consider dual citizenship to be very important for their children, because it gives them more job opportunities in both countries (Boehm 2012: 49). In the second section, home as a place, Boehm states that a migrant worker will believe their home to be the place where they were raised, and where his family now lives. Not a building with a roof over their head (Boehm 2012: 49). The final section is about home as a family, which is described by a woman, Maria, as “my family together, living together… with everyone, your spouse and your children. If someone lives alone, it is not a home, maybe a house but not a home” (Boehm 2012: 50). In Mexico, if some of the family live at home, and some overseas, the phrase “half there and half here”, is commonly used (Boehm 2012: