Borderland parentocracy: Mexican parents and their transfronterizo children

Drawing on data collected during a 31-month critical qualitative study in the MX-US borderlands, the authors elucidate a positive and complex form of parentocracy unique to transfronterizo families. They demonstrate how parents bear their children in the US, move close to the border so that their children can more easily attend US schools and, in some cases, relinquish their parental rights to a guardian living in the US, to ensure educational and future employment advantages for their children. The experiences of the parents and their children are analyzed within the broader historical, political, and cultural tensions in the borderlands.