https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085117691354 Feminist Criminology 2017, Vol. 12(3) 293–314 © The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: us.sagepub.com/en-us/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1557085117691354 journals.sagepub.com/home/fcx Article Neglected, Protected, Ejected: Latin American Women Caught by Crimmigration Katie Dingeman 1 , Yekaterina Arzhayev 2 , Cristy Ayala 3 , Erika Bermudez 2 , Lauren Padama 4 , and Liliana Tena-Chávez 2 Abstract The United States deported 24,870 women in 2013, mostly to Latin America. We examine life history interviews with Mexican and Central American women who were apprehended, detained, and experienced different outcomes. We find that norms of the “crimmigration era” override humanitarian concerns, such that the state treats migrants as criminals first and as persons with claims for relief second. Removal and relief decisions appear less dependent on eligibility than geography, access to legal aid, and public support. Women’s experiences parallel men’s but are often worsened by their gendered statuses. Far from passively accepting the violence of crimmigration, women resist through discourse and activism. Keywords deportation, crimmigration, Latinas, criminality, gender Deportations from the United States skyrocketed in recent decades. In 2014, the state expelled 414,481 persons—a 13-fold increase since 1990 (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services [USCIS], 2015). Throughout much of the 20th century, poor and working-class Latin American and Asian women were the most vulnerable to exclusion and deportation (Chavez, 2008; Hondagneu-Sotelo, 1995). In the 1990s, “lawmakers 1 California State University, Los Angeles, CA, USA 2 University of Denver, CO, USA 3 Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas, San Salvador, El Salvador 4 University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA Corresponding Author: Katie Dingeman, California State University, 5151 State University Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA. Email: mdingem@calstatela.edu 691354FCX XX X 10.1177/1557085117691354Feminist CriminologyDingeman et al. research-article 2017