title: From refugees to immigrants: the legalization strategies of Salvadoran immigrants and activists.
abstract: "The legalization strategies pursued by Salvadoran immigrants and activists from the 1980s to the present demonstrate that migrants' and advocates' responses to policy changes reinterpret law in ways that affect future policy. Law is critical to immigrants' strategies in that [U.S.] legal status is increasingly a prerequisite for rights and services and that immigration law is embedded in other institutions and relationships. Immigration law is defined, however, not only when it is first formulated but also as it is implemented, enabling the immigrants who are defined according to legal categories to shape the definitions that categorization produces. Immigrants and activists also take formal legal and political actions, such as lobbying Congress and filing class action suits. Through such formal and informal policy negotiations, immigrants seek to shape their own and their nations' futures."
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Coutin
mesh_terms: D000569:Americas; D003710:Demography; D019049:Developed Countries; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D007878:Legislation as Topic; D009656:North America; D011057:Politics; D011153:Population; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011640:Public Policy; D014171:Transients and Migrants; D014481:United States
keywords: Americas; Demographic Factors; Developed Countries; Immigrants; International Migration; Legislation; Migrants; Migration; Migration Policy; North America; Northern America; Policy; Political Factors; Population; Population Dynamics; Population Policy; Social Policy; United States