Amada Armenta
Biographic Data
| ID | 125253 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Amada Armenta |
| GIVEN NAMES | Amada |
| FAMILY NAME | Armenta |
| SIGNATURE | ARMENTA A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Los Angeles |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9878-0954 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 438 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Who Counts as a “Person of Color”? The Roles of Ancestry, Phenotype, Self-Identification, and Other Factors
Use of the term people of color has grown. What factors do Americans weigh to classify others as people of color (PoC)? An original, preregistered conjoint experiment with two samples reveals that ancestry is the strongest predictor of classification as PoC. Self-identified race/ethnicity and phenotype also matter, though not as strongly. The results also refute the notion that all non-White Americans count equally as PoC: profiles with Black par…
Fleeting civilities
This paper draws on interviews with Border Patrol agents and Mexican migrants to examine narrative accounts of humanitarian governance—instances where expected control and restriction are replaced with courtesy, humor, or kindness. Our respondents’ narratives cluster around three types of moments of fleeting civility: (a) those where agents and migrants acknowledge the respective roles they play in the US immigration system, often by conceding th…
Who Polices Which Boundaries? How Racial Self-Identification Affects External Classification
Work and identity in direct selling
This article examines the work identities of undocumented Mexican immigrants in the direct selling industry, an alternative work arrangement in which they selling branded products and recruit others to join them as sales consultants. Drawing on qualitative research with undocumented direct sellers in Philadelphia, this research shows that direct selling pays in meaningful work and new identities, rather than in wages. While existing research docu…
Stagnant dreamers
Receptionists, doctors, and social workers
Beyond the Fear of Deportation
This article draws on in-depth interviews and ethnography to examine unauthorized Mexican immigrants' perceptions of and experiences with police in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Most existing research focuses on immigrants' fears of deportation as the primary determinant of negative attitudes toward the police. We add to this body of work by arguing that police interactions serve as important moments of legal socialization that also contribute to…
Protect, Serve, and Deport
Open access to this title is possible thanks to the generous support of Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. Protect, Serve, and Deport exposes the on-the-ground workings of local immigration enforcement in Nashville, Tennessee. Between 2007 and 2012, Nashville's local jail participated in an immigration enforcement program called 287(g), which turned jail employees into immigration officers who identified over ten thou…
Policing immigrants or policing immigration? Understanding local law enforcement participation in immigration control
As the United States has expanded its immigration control strategies, police participation in immigration enforcement has increased in scope and intensity. Local law enforcement agencies contribute to immigration enforcement in three key ways: through the direct enforcement of immigration law, through cooperation with federal immigration authorities, and through the everyday policing of immigrant communities. These enforcement approaches have con…
Racializing Crimmigration
Deporting "criminal aliens" has become the highest priority in American immigration enforcement. Today, most deportations are achieved through the "crimmigration" system, a term that describes the convergence of the criminal justice and immigration enforcement systems. Emerging research argues that U.S. immigration enforcement is a "racial project" that subordinates and racializes Latino residents in the United States. This article examines the r…
Between Public Service and Social Control
While research provides numerous insights about the fear and insecurity that Latino immigrants experience at the hands of the police, much less is known about the experiences and practices of local police vis- a ` -vis Latino immigrant residents. This article contributes to research on street-level bureaucracies and immigrant incorporation by examining police practices in a new immigrant destination. Drawing on two years of fieldwork with the Met…
Legal Control of Marginal Groups
The legal control of marginal groups is a central topic in social scientific and legal scholarship. Examining the most influential research produced over the past two decades, as well as a broad collection of foundational and exemplary texts, this review addresses two overarching questions: First, what does it mean to study the legal control of marginal groups in the twenty-first century? Second, what are the recent developments, lingering concer…
From Sheriff's Deputies to Immigration Officers
This article contributes to emerging literature documenting the devolution of immigration enforcement authority by focusing on the implementation of the 287(g) program in Davidson County, Tennessee. It outlines how deputized immigration officers do their work as well as the ways they come to think about their roles in the larger immigration bureaucracy. Immigration officers see themselves as objective administrators whose primary responsibilities…
What We Know About Unauthorized Migration
Unauthorized migration has been an important issue for decades. Because much has changed about this type of migration in the past two decades, this review takes stock of recent scholarship. These studies reveal a new complexity in the unauthorized migration in the early twenty-first century. First, compared with the past, unauthorized migration is more diverse. Whether based on gender, age, or how people enter, there is considerable heterogeneity…
Creating Community
Drawing on 1 year of ethnographic fieldwork in Los Angeles, this article examines how Latina nannies create workplace solidarity in a public park. This article reveals how nannies use public spaces in the neighborhoods in which they work to establish ties similar to co-worker relations in other settings. This paper demonstrates how nannies create a community at the park by incorporating park staff into their activities, reinforcing group values s…
Shifts in the Employment Conditions of Mexican Migrant Men and Women
Prior studies suggest that the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) in 1986 signaled deterioration in the labor market conditions faced by Mexican migrant men. In this article, the authors examine whether and how labor market conditions changed for migrant women after 1986, and the extent to which these shifts were comparable to those experienced by men. Using data about household heads and their spouses from the Mexican Migra…
Racializing Crimmigration
Deporting "criminal aliens" has become the highest priority in American immigration enforcement. Today, most deportations are achieved through the "crimmigration" system, a term that describes the convergence of the criminal justice and immigration enforcement systems. Emerging research argues that U.S. immigration enforcement is a "racial project" that subordinates and racializes Latino residents in the United States. This article examines the r…
What We Know About Unauthorized Migration
Unauthorized migration has been an important issue for decades. Because much has changed about this type of migration in the past two decades, this review takes stock of recent scholarship. These studies reveal a new complexity in the unauthorized migration in the early twenty-first century. First, compared with the past, unauthorized migration is more diverse. Whether based on gender, age, or how people enter, there is considerable heterogeneity…
From Sheriff's Deputies to Immigration Officers
This article contributes to emerging literature documenting the devolution of immigration enforcement authority by focusing on the implementation of the 287(g) program in Davidson County, Tennessee. It outlines how deputized immigration officers do their work as well as the ways they come to think about their roles in the larger immigration bureaucracy. Immigration officers see themselves as objective administrators whose primary responsibilities…
Shifts in the Employment Conditions of Mexican Migrant Men and Women
Prior studies suggest that the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) in 1986 signaled deterioration in the labor market conditions faced by Mexican migrant men. In this article, the authors examine whether and how labor market conditions changed for migrant women after 1986, and the extent to which these shifts were comparable to those experienced by men. Using data about household heads and their spouses from the Mexican Migra…
Legal Control of Marginal Groups
The legal control of marginal groups is a central topic in social scientific and legal scholarship. Examining the most influential research produced over the past two decades, as well as a broad collection of foundational and exemplary texts, this review addresses two overarching questions: First, what does it mean to study the legal control of marginal groups in the twenty-first century? Second, what are the recent developments, lingering concer…
Between Public Service and Social Control
While research provides numerous insights about the fear and insecurity that Latino immigrants experience at the hands of the police, much less is known about the experiences and practices of local police vis- a ` -vis Latino immigrant residents. This article contributes to research on street-level bureaucracies and immigrant incorporation by examining police practices in a new immigrant destination. Drawing on two years of fieldwork with the Met…
Policing immigrants or policing immigration? Understanding local law enforcement participation in immigration control
As the United States has expanded its immigration control strategies, police participation in immigration enforcement has increased in scope and intensity. Local law enforcement agencies contribute to immigration enforcement in three key ways: through the direct enforcement of immigration law, through cooperation with federal immigration authorities, and through the everyday policing of immigrant communities. These enforcement approaches have con…
Beyond the Fear of Deportation
This article draws on in-depth interviews and ethnography to examine unauthorized Mexican immigrants' perceptions of and experiences with police in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Most existing research focuses on immigrants' fears of deportation as the primary determinant of negative attitudes toward the police. We add to this body of work by arguing that police interactions serve as important moments of legal socialization that also contribute to…
Receptionists, doctors, and social workers
Creating Community
Drawing on 1 year of ethnographic fieldwork in Los Angeles, this article examines how Latina nannies create workplace solidarity in a public park. This article reveals how nannies use public spaces in the neighborhoods in which they work to establish ties similar to co-worker relations in other settings. This paper demonstrates how nannies create a community at the park by incorporating park staff into their activities, reinforcing group values s…
Fleeting civilities
This paper draws on interviews with Border Patrol agents and Mexican migrants to examine narrative accounts of humanitarian governance—instances where expected control and restriction are replaced with courtesy, humor, or kindness. Our respondents’ narratives cluster around three types of moments of fleeting civility: (a) those where agents and migrants acknowledge the respective roles they play in the US immigration system, often by conceding th…
Shifts in the Employment Conditions of Mexican Migrant Men and Women
Prior studies suggest that the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) in 1986 signaled deterioration in the labor market conditions faced by Mexican migrant men. In this article, the authors examine whether and how labor market conditions changed for migrant women after 1986, and the extent to which these shifts were comparable to those experienced by men. Using data about household heads and their spouses from the Mexican Migra…
Creating Community
Drawing on 1 year of ethnographic fieldwork in Los Angeles, this article examines how Latina nannies create workplace solidarity in a public park. This article reveals how nannies use public spaces in the neighborhoods in which they work to establish ties similar to co-worker relations in other settings. This paper demonstrates how nannies create a community at the park by incorporating park staff into their activities, reinforcing group values s…
What We Know About Unauthorized Migration
Unauthorized migration has been an important issue for decades. Because much has changed about this type of migration in the past two decades, this review takes stock of recent scholarship. These studies reveal a new complexity in the unauthorized migration in the early twenty-first century. First, compared with the past, unauthorized migration is more diverse. Whether based on gender, age, or how people enter, there is considerable heterogeneity…
From Sheriff's Deputies to Immigration Officers
This article contributes to emerging literature documenting the devolution of immigration enforcement authority by focusing on the implementation of the 287(g) program in Davidson County, Tennessee. It outlines how deputized immigration officers do their work as well as the ways they come to think about their roles in the larger immigration bureaucracy. Immigration officers see themselves as objective administrators whose primary responsibilities…
Legal Control of Marginal Groups
The legal control of marginal groups is a central topic in social scientific and legal scholarship. Examining the most influential research produced over the past two decades, as well as a broad collection of foundational and exemplary texts, this review addresses two overarching questions: First, what does it mean to study the legal control of marginal groups in the twenty-first century? Second, what are the recent developments, lingering concer…
Between Public Service and Social Control
While research provides numerous insights about the fear and insecurity that Latino immigrants experience at the hands of the police, much less is known about the experiences and practices of local police vis- a ` -vis Latino immigrant residents. This article contributes to research on street-level bureaucracies and immigrant incorporation by examining police practices in a new immigrant destination. Drawing on two years of fieldwork with the Met…
Protect, Serve, and Deport
Open access to this title is possible thanks to the generous support of Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin. Protect, Serve, and Deport exposes the on-the-ground workings of local immigration enforcement in Nashville, Tennessee. Between 2007 and 2012, Nashville's local jail participated in an immigration enforcement program called 287(g), which turned jail employees into immigration officers who identified over ten thou…
Policing immigrants or policing immigration? Understanding local law enforcement participation in immigration control
As the United States has expanded its immigration control strategies, police participation in immigration enforcement has increased in scope and intensity. Local law enforcement agencies contribute to immigration enforcement in three key ways: through the direct enforcement of immigration law, through cooperation with federal immigration authorities, and through the everyday policing of immigrant communities. These enforcement approaches have con…
Racializing Crimmigration
Deporting "criminal aliens" has become the highest priority in American immigration enforcement. Today, most deportations are achieved through the "crimmigration" system, a term that describes the convergence of the criminal justice and immigration enforcement systems. Emerging research argues that U.S. immigration enforcement is a "racial project" that subordinates and racializes Latino residents in the United States. This article examines the r…
Beyond the Fear of Deportation
This article draws on in-depth interviews and ethnography to examine unauthorized Mexican immigrants' perceptions of and experiences with police in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Most existing research focuses on immigrants' fears of deportation as the primary determinant of negative attitudes toward the police. We add to this body of work by arguing that police interactions serve as important moments of legal socialization that also contribute to…
Receptionists, doctors, and social workers
Stagnant dreamers
Work and identity in direct selling
This article examines the work identities of undocumented Mexican immigrants in the direct selling industry, an alternative work arrangement in which they selling branded products and recruit others to join them as sales consultants. Drawing on qualitative research with undocumented direct sellers in Philadelphia, this research shows that direct selling pays in meaningful work and new identities, rather than in wages. While existing research docu…
Who Counts as a “Person of Color”? The Roles of Ancestry, Phenotype, Self-Identification, and Other Factors
Use of the term people of color has grown. What factors do Americans weigh to classify others as people of color (PoC)? An original, preregistered conjoint experiment with two samples reveals that ancestry is the strongest predictor of classification as PoC. Self-identified race/ethnicity and phenotype also matter, though not as strongly. The results also refute the notion that all non-White Americans count equally as PoC: profiles with Black par…
Fleeting civilities
This paper draws on interviews with Border Patrol agents and Mexican migrants to examine narrative accounts of humanitarian governance—instances where expected control and restriction are replaced with courtesy, humor, or kindness. Our respondents’ narratives cluster around three types of moments of fleeting civility: (a) those where agents and migrants acknowledge the respective roles they play in the US immigration system, often by conceding th…
Who Polices Which Boundaries? How Racial Self-Identification Affects External Classification
Sociology (14 works) · Political science (13 works) · Immigration (11 works) · Law (10 works) · Criminology (7 works) · Law (7 works) · Migration, Refugees, and Integration (7 works) · Deportation (5 works) · Migration, Health and Trauma (5 works) · Policing Practices and Perceptions (5 works)