Engage & Evade

“[A]dmirable is Asad’s intimate familiarity with the narratives, sentiments, and aspirations Latino immigrants express as they make [a] life in the United States.” —Aaron Arredondo, Ethnic and Racial Studies

"Asad's Engage and Evade is an interdisciplinary study at the intersection of sociology, political science and law, which makes a significant contribution to the fields of migration and surveillance studies." —P. Arun, International Migration Review

"Beyond portraying immigrants in the workplace as workers or households as parents alone, Asad explores what it means to be wholly human . . . In [Engage and Evade], it is beautiful to see immigrants' subjectivities centralized in the analysis of their everyday decisions and behaviors related to institutional interactions. . . . [A] must-read.”—Stephanie Canizales, Social Forces 

"A provocative intervention that challenges the popular and scholarly understandings of institutional surveillance on undocumented immigrants. . . . valuable, nuanced, and insightful. . . . This important book will surely support the societal inclusion of undocumented immigrants by illuminating and interfering in the inequalities of laws and policies."—Oscar R. Cornejo Casares, Law & Society Review

“Asad challenges the conventional notion that undocumented immigrants in the United States hide in the shadows, fearful of all forms of institutional authority. Rather, he persuasively argues, many engage selectively and rationally with both law enforcement and service institutions such as schools, hospitals and health clinics, and organizations that provide social assistance.” —Richard Feinberg, Foreign Affairs

"[Engage and Evade’s] account of the US immigration policies and structure helps to place the intricacies of the US immigration policies in a more historical, cultural, political and social context that gives us a better opportunity to question our common knowledge of the interactions between migrants and the system."—Meghan Geist, Migration & Development

"A comprehensive framework. . . . [Asad] tells a convincing, important, and desire-centered story . . . of how these immigrants balance their often-conflicting identities as undocumented immigrants, workers, and parents." —Emma M. Lezberg, Sociological Forum

"Engage and Evade, a thought-provoking study of how undocumented immigrants contend with surveillance, sheds light on why the vast majority of undocumented immigrants follow the law: they were also law-abiding in their home countries and now seek social inclusion in the United States, where they are making a life for their families.... Engage and Evade is sociology at its finest...." —Richard Mora, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity

"Engage and Evade is a beautifully written study . . . [and] an incredible contribution to scholarship on immigration and surveillance as it provides the nuance and complexity of the ways people who live in fear of surveillance are forced to navigate it."—Saher Selod, Contemporary Sociology

"[Engage and Evade’s] account of the US immigration policies and structure helps to place the intricacies of the US immigration policies in a more historical, cultural, political and social context that gives us a better opportunity to question our common knowledge of the interactions between migrants and the system."—Meghan Geist, Migration & Development

"A comprehensive framework. . . . [Asad] tells a convincing, important, and desire-centered story . . . of how these immigrants balance their often-conflicting identities as undocumented immigrants, workers, and parents."—Emma M. Lezberg, Sociological Forum

"Asad L. Asad makes a thought-provoking scholarly intervention that challenges what scholars and researchers know about surveillance as it relates to undocumented immigrants. . . . [A]ccessible, well structured, and theoretically rich."—Yalidy Matos, Perspective on Politics

"Engage and Evade is a remarkable book both for its subject matter and for the scope and depth of the research. The writing is approachable and compelling. . . . [I]n a moment of contentious politics related to immigration, Asad offers a complex portrait of daily life for undocumented immigrants and their families, making the book crucial reading for both sociologists and the general public."—Edelina Burciaga, American Journal of Sociology

"In Engage and Evade, Asad L. Asad shows us how to treat a community with humanity. This book is the best book about immigration that I have ever read. The amount of empathy Asad shows the people he writes about is what I hope for in my own writing, for my own life. Engage and Evade should be mandatory reading for everyone." —Javier Zamora, Bestselling Author of Solito

“Masterful and compelling. This informative book will not only invoke anger at the unjust policies targeting immigrant communities, it will move you to speak up. Blending brilliant research with personal testimony from Latino families, Asad has given a gift to the immigrant rights movement and beyond.”—Linda Sarsour, Cofounder of Women’s March and MPower Change

“Engage and Evade offers a definitive microsociology of undocumented life in the United States, expertly detailing the complex ballet of institutional engagement and evasion that undocumented parents must undertake in response to the mixed signals emanating from America’s surveillance state to ensure a viable future for their US-born citizen children.”—Douglas S. Massey (Princeton University), Author of Categorically Unequal: The American Stratification System

“Engage and Evade blends meticulous research, a keen sociological eye, and engaging writing to reveal how immigrant families perceive their myriad routine yet complex interactions with the institutions that surveil them. A splendid work of scholarship, this invaluable book shows us how to see state institutions as immigrants do.”—Cecilia Menjívar (University of California, Los Angeles), 113th President of the American Sociological Association

“A remarkable contribution to the study of contemporary migration, Engage and Evade shows how difficult it is for today’s migrants to experience membership when the very institutions that aid in assisting and integrating newcomers are also part of a complex web of surveillance and punishment. Theoretically nuanced and compellingly argued, this important book sheds new light on one of the most vexing issues in immigration studies today. A must-read.”—Roberto G. Gonzales (University of Pennsylvania), Author of Lives in Limbo: Undocumented and Coming of Age in America

“Engage and Evade is a terrific book that shows how undocumented immigrants carefully consider their many interactions with the authorities who surveil them each day. With clear and accessible writing, Asad beautifully illustrates the competing ambiguities and pressures of life as an undocumented immigrant striving to belong in the United States.”—Amada Armenta (University of California, Los Angeles), author of Protect, Serve, and Deport: The Rise of Policing as Immigration Enforcement

“Engage and Evade is a captivating sociological study that explodes the myth that unauthorized immigrants live in the shadows. Asad’s research deftly examines the ways in which those without formal immigration status nevertheless participate extensively in their communities, selectively engaging with authorities to build a better life here.”—Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Policy Director at the American Immigration Council