This article presents findings from a 2006-2008 transnational qualitative research study on the impact that undocumented immigration to the United States has on women left behind in Mexico. Three of the findings presented here are: (a) the identification of problems due to emigration as institutional, (b) the special vulnerability of adolescents and young adults in rural Mexico to the pressures to emigrate, and (c) the role changes for women inherent in their reported and observed responses to this crisis. While the youth of Central Mexico are particularly vulnerable to the economic forces of globalization, the women of their communities, their mothers, aunts, and grandmothers, despite what seems to be an overwhelming system of interconnected institutional barriers, are responding to increasing transnational migration of family and youth with initiatives of collective strength. These findings, along with their implications for work with formerly disempowered populations, are presented. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

youth Left behind Undocumented immigration Role changes Mexico empowerment

Mexico [North America] young population qualitative analysis emigration adolescence empowerment globalization United States immigration womens status