Hyper-Illegality, Reentry, and Everyday Life in the United States Post-Deportation

Abstract

This article centers on the experiences of an understudied segment of the undocumented population: individuals who reenter the United States post-deportation without authorization and their family members. The state classifies unauthorized reentry after deportation as a criminal offense rather than a civil violation, thereby designating these individuals as felons. On the basis of 113 in-depth interviews with undocumented returnees and their relatives, I find that this criminal labeling leads families to internalize a sense of criminality, experience intensified fear and anxiety, and adopt more extreme strategies to evade detection. Their experiences are a prime example of what I term hyper-illegality—an enduring condition of legal precarity or liminal status whereby individuals are permanently marked by conditional inclusion and heightened vulnerability to state surveillance and punishment.