Introduction rewrite

International migration among women has grown at a higher rate than male migration over the last 20 years. In Latin America, women now represent 50.5% of migrants, a new historical marker in which female migration assumes a more important economic role in the global economy (Ramirez, Dominguez, and Morais 2005:4). Previous analyses of immigrant labor market outcomes in the U.S. have focused on the economic performance of men. In contrast, this study examines female Latin American immigrants as they perform childcare in American homes, while maintaining strong ties of reciprocity and solidarity with families and communities of origin. Through their monetary, social, and collective contributions, remittances, I will link US migration policy, security doctrine, and global capitalism to the experiences of transnational nannies in Southern California, and prove that they now function as primary economic providers for their families.