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Restricted by immigration laws, unauthorized immigrants in the United States face severe challenges, including the inability to visit family members left behind.

This "slow violence" becomes most painful during times of death, causing "transnational grief" as families are permanently separated and unable to reunite, mourn and bury their dead.

"Under the current system, unauthorized immigrants are denied freedom of mobility," said Kristina Fullerton Rico, lead author of a recent study on transnational grief and a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Racial Justice at the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy.

"For immigrants in this position, transnational death is the worst-case scenario because it means permanent separation. Unauthorized status not only complicates the grieving process but also exacerbates feelings of powerlessness, guilt and isolation among transnational mourners."

The six-year study, now published in the journal Social Problems, involving in-depth interviews with 20 participants, reveals the emotional and social toll of these restrictions on undocumented immigrants and their families. The study primarily focuses on Mexican families but is relevant to all individuals with undocumented status.

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