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Research on transnationalism often considers transnational actors as those who actively and frequently engage in cross border activities such as sending remittances and cross border movement. In this paper we argue that part of transnational life also involves more hidden aspects of social life, such as sustaining connections with kin who stay behind, and emotionally being connected to the home country. We argue that in addition to looking at the traditional outcomes of immigrant incorporation such as income, education, and language use, there are key emotional outcomes resulting from being embedded in transnational social fields, such as one's emotional well-being. Using data from a random survey of South Florida immigrants (n=1253), we test these assumptions. Our findings reveal that the hidden dimensions of transnationalism have important explanatory capacities when it comes to examining emotional well-being as an outcome of incorporation. We discuss the implications of these findings for the literature that examines the relationships between transnationalism and immigrant incorporation. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from a study of South Florida immigrants, this paper focuses on the confluence of Island-born and mainland-born Puerto Ricans in Miami. I examine how Miami Puerto Ricans' diversity of origins shapes their settlement patterns. Findings reveal that the South Florida cultural environment facilitates feelings of emotional embeddedness and greater cultural citizenship than what was experienced in other parts of the United States. The growing inequalities related to Miami's positioning as a global city, however, affect these experiences. Moreover, findings reveal that social class, race, and citizenship statuses shape Puerto Ricans' experiences of incorporation in what is traditionally considered to be a "Latino" friendly city. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I examine patterns of labor market incorporation of two samples of middle-class Puerto Ricans that include Puerto Ricans who migrated and settled in the mainland U.S. and those who returned to settle in Puerto Rico. Findings illustrate that Puerto Ricans' social class origins impact the conditions under which they move the United States. For those from middle or upper- middle class families, educating themselves in the U.S. was often a product of the intergenerational transmission of class. For all Puerto Ricans, particularly those from working-class or poor backgrounds, their political mode of incorporation resulted in political capital, or advantages garnered through U.S. citizenship (e.g. student loans, scholarships; affirmative action policies). This political capital facilitates not just migration to the mainland, but more broadly, access to educational and occupational opportunities that pave the way for the entry of Puerto Ricans into a transnational middle-class. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using interview and focus group data with immigrants from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Peru and Puerto Rico who have settled in South Florida, this paper examines some of the recent debates regarding transnational patterns of living among immigrants. Formal and informal connections to immigrants' home countries are examined for how they relate to patterns of assimilation and incorporation to U.S. society. Findings reveal that informal manifestations of transnationalism often lie at the heart of cross border activities and the maintenance of transnational linkages, resulting in patterns of transcultural embeddedness among the immigrant generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to widen the scope of how we conceptualize immigrant incorporation and adaptation to include the emotions associated with transnational migration. At what point in circular migration cycles do immigrants "feel" like they are home, and that they belong? This paper locates the role of emotions in examining adaptation to one's status of transnational migrant, and explores how the study of emotions can be a tool to illuminate how adaptation impacts integration, identity construction and international mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]