Transnationalizing Families: Canadian Immigration Policy and the Spatial Fragmentation of Care-giving among Latin

Complex factors associated with migration and immigration policies con-tribute to the dispersion of families across space. We draw on interviews with 40 Latin American women in Toronto who experienced separation from children as a result of migration and argue that Canadian immigra-tion policy and elements of the women’s context of departure lead to the systemic production of transnational family arrangements. Once in Can-ada, the women dealt with unexpected lengths of separation, the spatial dispersal of social reproduction, and post-reunification problems. The absence of a normative framework that could help the mothers make sense of family dispersal meant that their experiences of migration, family sepa-ration, reunification and settlement were marked by tension, guilt, isolation and shame. The turn of the century has been marked by a steady increase in the world’s migrant population. At the same time, scholars have noted a growing tendency among newcomers to maintain ties to their home coun-try (Levitt et al., 2003; Portes et al., 1999, Suarez-Orozco, Todorova, and Louie, 2002). Analysts point to multiple factors to explain increasing transnationalization including: greater access to and cheaper cost o