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Jane Lilly Lopez

Assistant Professor of Sociology, Brigham Young University, Provo
Areas of Expertise:

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(801) 422-2105

About Jane

López's research focus is on experiences at the intersection of immigration; citizenship; law; and the family. Her book; “Unauthorized Love: Mixed-Citizenship Couples Negotiating Intimacy; Immigration; and the State” (Stanford University Press) offers an intimate examination of the effects of US immigration laws on mixed-citizenship American families (families composed of individuals from two different countries/with two different citizenships) and calls for a rethinking of citizenship as a family affair.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | In the News | Publications

Contributions

Update the CARES Act to Show Congressional Support for All Americans

Policy Recommendation,

Why Laws Targeting Non-Citizen Immigrants Affect Citizen Family Members and Associates, Too

Key Findings Brief,

In the News

Opinion: "How Biden’s Executive Order to Protect Immigrant Spouses of Citizens From Deportation Will Benefit Their Families and Communities," Jane Lilly Lopez (with Kristina M. Fullerton Rico), The Conversation, June 18, 2024.

Publications

’Til Deportation Do Us Part: The Effect of U.S. Immigration Law on Mixed-StatusCouples’ Experience of Citizenship in Within and Beyond Citizenship, edited by Nando Sigona and Roberto Gonzales.

Demonstrates that the experience of citizenship can be significantly enhanced or diminished without undergoing a change in personal legal citizenship status, but rather as a result of family-level citizenship.

"’Impossible Families’: Mixed-Citizenship Status Couples and the Law" Law & Policy 37 (2015): 93-118.

Exposes the family-level effects of citizenship and reveals that immigration and citizenship laws focused on individuals can reach beyond those individuals to their family members. Argues that citizens in mixed-citizenship marriages are obliged by the law to live the immigrant experience because of their spouses’ immigrant status.

"Obama’s Immigration Reform: The Triumph of Executive Action" (with John D. Skrentny). Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality 2, no. 1 (2013): 62-79.

Examines how President Obama used executive action to secure support from Latino voters despite his inability to deliver comprehensive immigration reform.