Description
| Product ID: | 9781479841042 |
| Product Form: | Paperback / softback |
| Country of Manufacture: | GB |
| Title: | The Opportunity Trap |
| Subtitle: | High-Skilled Workers, Indian Families, and the Failures of the Dependent Visa Program |
| Authors: | Author: Pallavi Banerjee |
| Page Count: | 304 |
| Subjects: | Social and cultural history, Social & cultural history, Migration, immigration and emigration, Ethnic studies, Sociology: family and relationships, Migration, immigration & emigration, Ethnic studies, Sociology: family & relationships |
| Description: | Honorable Mention, 2024 Social Science Category Book Awards, given by the Association for Asian American StudiesHonorable Mention, 2022 Betty and McClung Lee Book Award, given by the Association for Humanist SociologyUnravels how US visa laws fail Indian professional workers and their legally dependent spouses and familiesThe Opportunity Trap is the first book to look at the impact of the H-4 dependent visa programs on women and men visa holders in Indian families in America. Comparing two distinct groups of Indian immigrant families —families of male high-tech workers and female nurses—Pallavi Banerjee reveals how visa policies that are legally gender and race neutral in fact have gendered and racialized ramifications for visa holders and their spouses. Drawing on interviews with fifty-five Indian couples, Banerjee highlights the experiences of high-skilled immigrants as they struggle to cope with visa laws, which forbid their spouses from working paid jobs. She examines how these unfair restrictions destabilize—if not completely dismantle—families, who often break under this marital, financial, and emotional stress. Banerjee shows us, through the eyes of immigrants themselves, how the visa process strips them of their rights, forcing them to depend on their spouses and the government in fundamentally challenging ways. The Opportunity Trap provides a critical look at our visa system, underscoring how it fails immigrant families. |
| Imprint Name: | New York University Press |
| Publisher Name: | New York University Press |
| Country of Publication: | GB |
| Publishing Date: | 2022-03-07 |
