Jane Lilly López

Assistant Professor of Sociology, Brigham Young University

Specializing in Immigration, Citizenship, Law & Social Policy, Social Inequality, and Latinx Studies

About Dr. López

Jane Lilly López is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Brigham Young University. Dr. López is motivated professionally by an interest in identifying and addressing the inequalities that create, perpetuate, and exacerbate unearned (dis)advantage within and across society. Her research centers on the legal and social identity of (non)citizenship, its social construction, and the processes by which one comes to “belong” to a country. In her research, Dr. López critically approaches (non)citizenship from different angles, examining the experience of citizenship and belonging from within and outside of its legal bounds. In her teaching and service, Dr. López focuses on identifying and addressing social and structural inequalities to promote diversity, equity, and belonging in the university setting.

Unauthorized Love: Mixed Citizenship Couples Negotiating Intimacy, Immigration, and the State

Stanford University Press, 2022

For mixed-citizenship couples, getting married is the easy part. The US Supreme Court has confirmed the universal civil right to marry but denies that this right to marriage includes couples’ right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness on US soil. This creates a challenge for mixed-citizenship couples, whose individual-level rights do not translate to family-level protections. While US citizens can extend legal inclusion to their spouses through family reunification, they must prove the worthiness of their love before their relationship will be officially recognized by the state. In Unauthorized Love, Jane Lilly López offers a comprehensive, critical look at US family reunification law as experienced by fifty-six mixed-citizenship couples. Their stories—of integration and alienation, of opportunity and inequality, of hope and despair—make tangible the consequences of current US immigration laws, which tend to favor Whiteness, wealth, and heteronormativity. In examining the experiences of couples struggling to negotiate intimacy under the constraints of immigration policy, López argues for a rethinking of citizenship as a family affair.

Praise for Unauthorized Love

  • “This deeply moving portrayal of (un)authorized love stories combines analytical clarity with ethnographic insight to illustrate the repercussions of US immigration law. I have yet to read a book that so deftly—and with such grace—captures the intimate costs of the US immigration system on marital relationships. If this does not convince you of the inequality perpetuated by current immigration policies, I am not sure if anything can.”

    Joanna Dreby, author of Everyday Illegal

  • “This remarkable study of mixed-citizen unions exposes the difficult terrain couples encounter in their attempts to earn the right to love and live together. Theoretically compelling, empirically rich, and cogently reasoned, Unauthorized Love sheds important light on the family-level consequences of reunification success, failure, and uncertainty. Powerful and enlightening.“

    Roberto G. Gonzales, author of Lives in Limbo

  • "While Americans may believe that love conquers all, this important, beautifully written book shows how our citizenship and immigration laws function to sever married couples, affecting children, extended families, and communities. Grounded in the lives of everyday people, it contributes to our understanding of immigration, gender and the family, and points us toward sensible and fair policy changes that could protect these vulnerable families."

    Mary C. Waters, Harvard University

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Select Media and Public Outreach

Education

  • MA and PhD in Sociology

    University of California San Diego, 2013 & 2018

  • MSc in Evidence-Based Social Work

    Oxford University (St. Edmund Hall College), 2006

  • BA in Urban Studies

    Stanford University, 2005