Drawing on interviews with Salvadoran asylum applicants, observations of deportation hearings, and fieldwork within the Salvadoran community in Los Angeles, Susan Bibler Coutin describes these immigrants' efforts to negotiate immigration laws that have become increasingly restrictive. Though U.S. immigration laws have not been particularly effective in preventing illegal entry, they have profound effects on undocumented immigrants' hues. These immigrants seek to mobilize the laws for their own ends Regardless of their ultimate success or failure, immigrants' efforts to legalize command responses from policy makers; these legal contests illuminate how the line between "deservingness" and "illegitimacy" is being drawn and contested.

Rich in detail and broad in scope, Legalizing Moves describes the nuances of individual negotiations, the role of law within Salvadoran community activists' larger political goals, and the transnational political implications of Salvadorans' legal strategies.