Digital Commons Network^™

Un País Invertido: The Current Immigration Regime Of Colombia, Magdalena Hendrickson

Honors Theses

Throughout its turbulent history, Colombia has seen drastic changes in structure and administration. From military coups to shaky coalitions, the country’s infamous instability has long forced its citizens to find better prospects elsewhere. However, with the rise of the Maduro administration in Venezuela, Colombia faced a massive new flow of migrants and was forced to rectify current circumstances without properly addressing its internal issues beforehand. Despite its historical status as a nation of emigrants, Colombia marks a new norm for the rest of the globe. As new issues like climate change and increased armed conflict grow worldwide, countries on the …

Liberty Lettuce, Fertilizer Bombs, And The End Of Civilization: The American Far-Right’S Strange Relationship With Europe, Jordan K. Matthews

Honors Theses

In 2016, the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville came to a violent end. American news outlets were left with scraps of rhetoric to piece together what would become a popular narrative going forward. Their conclusion was that the American far-right is heavily influenced by European ideas of civilization, race, and immigration. European nativist ideology is what inspired the people at Charlottesville as well as the numerous attacks on different racial groups that were carried out in the years to come. This thesis rejects all of that. The American far-right does not and has never had to be influenced by …

Como Si Nunca Hubieran Existido: Los Efectos Mortales De La Prevención A Través De La Disuasión En Sin Nombre Y 7 Soles, Lillian Friedrich

Honors Theses

ABSTRACT

FRIEDRICH, LILLIAN Como si nunca hubieran existido: Los efectos mortales de la prevención a través de la disuasión en Sin Nombre y 7 Soles

ADVISOR: Stephanie A. Mueller, PhD

This thesis analyzes two primary source drama films that center around the process of immigration that Hispanic migrants experience to enter the United States. Sin Nombre, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga in 2009, shows how Hispanic migrants utilize a train called The Beast to get from Central America to the U.S- Mexico border, facing the dangers of a moving vehicle and gang violence. 7 Soles, directed by Pedro Ultreras in …

How Immigration Policy Affects Migratory Flows And Immigrant Experiences: A Comparative Analysis Of Policy Impacts On Northern Triangle And Venezuelan Immigrants In The United States, Audrey Lynn Mcdonough

Honors Theses

In the past two decades, the US has experienced a large influx of immigrants from Venezuela and the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Due to these unprecedented increases, there has been numerous notable shifts in Immigration control policy between the presidencies of Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Generally, policies under Obama were favorable and reflected pro-immigrant rhetoric. Meanwhile, Trump took a drastic turn toward restrictionist, unfavorable policies. This study aims to examine the impact of immigration policy on migratory flows and the immigrant experience in the US. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, I examine data …

Triumphing Over Trauma: Addressing Past Experiences And Mental Health Following Resettlement In The United States, Tyler Greenwood

Honors Theses

Refugee populations are exposed to an unusually high number of traumatic events in their lifetimes that have the potential to cause long-lasting psychological harm. Millions of people are forcibly displaced by international conflicts, ethnic genocide, targeting of political dissidents, climate disasters, and countless other traumatic events. For the small fraction of refugees who are resettled in wealthy nations such as the United States, they are fortunate to leave behind the harmful and often violent places which they are fleeing from, but they are also leaving behind their families, friends, homes, and traditions. During and following resettlement, refugees continue to face …

Ethnicity And Education: College Attendance Patterns Among Early 20th-Century Maine's Immigrant Community, Jacob M. Nash

Honors Theses

I examine the college attendance patterns of second-generation Russian-Jewish immigrants in Maine in the early 20^th century relative to other ethnic groups using individual-level Census records. I employ the Abramitzky, Boustan, and Eriksson (ABE) algorithm to track second-generation Jewish, Italian, French Canadian, English Canadian and European immigrants from the 1910 Census to the 1940 Census. My logistic regression analysis indicates that second-generation Jewish immigrants in Maine attended college at significantly higher rates than their peers of similar background in every other ethnic group. While I cannot evaluate them, I also discuss potential explanations for the disparity in college attendance …

Power For The Powerless: How Donald Trump Used Voters’ Anxieties To Win In 2016, Nathaniel Stekler

Honors Theses

Previous research has attempted to explain the results of the 2016 presidential election, and has concluded that a jaded and anxious electorate propelled Trump to the White House. The current research examines what psychological processes might have been at play. When people feel powerless in their day-to-day lives but are made to feel powerful it leads to behavior that goes against standard moral beliefs (e.g., supporting a presidential candidate who makes offensive comments that one might not explicitly endorse). I hypothesize that a feeling of powerfulness among a subset of the population used to feeling powerless will increase their support …

Mississippi Immigration Raids: Implications For Social Workers, Amy Chance

Honors Theses

As immigration becomes a primary focus in legislation, social workers face the challenge of how to best serve their immigrant clients despite tough enforcement policies. Mass worksite raids have become a common tactic in the endeavor to limit undocumented immigration. However, there is much evidence showing that immigration raids can have a detrimental effect on individuals and communities. The purpose of this study was to compare the impacts of the most recent immigration raids in five cities throughout Mississippi in order to develop implications for social work practice. Interviews were conducted with key community organizers following the August raids. The …

Ulster, Georgia, And The Civil War: Stories Of Variation, William Loveless

Honors Theses

Ulster, Georgia, and The Civil War: Stories of Variation explores the lives of 13 men from Northern Ireland who immigrated to the American South and fought for the Confederacy. The author pursues the stories of each man’s life in order to have a more thorough understanding of what life looked like for Irish/Ulster immigrants in the South during the 19^th century. By looking at the lives of the men in Ulster, their first experiences in the United States, their experiences in the Civil War, and their lives following the war, the author identifies more variation than consistent trends.

“[Don’T] Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor...” A Study On The Trump Administration’S Unprecedented Reforms To The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program And Their Implications, Savannah Day

Honors Theses

From 2017 to 2020, the Trump administration cut United States refugee admissions tenfold. These reforms come unprecedented to the 40-year-old resettlement program (USRAP). By critically reviewing literature on this topic as well as conducting eight original interviews with five national nonprofits contracted by the Department of State to do refugee resettlement casework, this study sought to identify the implications of the Trump administration’s reforms to the program. Once implications were identified, I used the applied frameworks of program model as well as Michael Worth’s sociological and political science theories of American nonprofit-government relations to better inform and guide the study. …

Public Sentiment Toward Migration In A Globalizing World: The Case Of Spain And Its Distinctive Demeanor Toward Its Immigrants, Caroline Thompson

Honors Theses

This thesis discusses Spain's overall public opinion around immigration, exploring factors that contribute to the development of a country's attitude toward its immigrants. Spain exemplifies a particularly distinctive attitude in relation to its European Mediterranean counterparts, displaying an increased receptiveness toward its immigrant population. I examine economic factors, studying whether or not perceived economic competition can lead to significantly increased negativity toward immigrants. However, I find that, specifically regarding the Spanish case, economic competition does not determine the country's attitude toward immigration. Therefore, I focus on this element of authoritarian legacy and its contribution to public opinion around immigration. Following …

Why Families Flee: A Study Of Family Migration Patterns From The Northern Triangle Of Central America, Claire Williams

Honors Theses

The past decade has witnessed an unprecedented increase in migrant families from the Northern Triangle, the region of Central America comprised of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The mass influx in family migration has important consequences for destination countries like the United States and Mexico as well as the countries which they leave behind. This study aims to answer the question of how family migration patterns in the Northern Triangle of Central America have changed in the past decade and why. I outline the migration decisions of families through a qualitative and quantitative lens. I use newspapers and NGO reports …

Immigrants: A Threat To The Economy Or Cultural Identity? A Case Study Of Haitian And Venezuelan Immigrants In Chile, Erin Geist

Honors Theses

Historically, countries often faced the difficult task of favoring one immigrant group over another. Typically, this is in response to their inability to support those immigrants due to an unstable economy. However, some scholars argue that during times of economic prosperity, excluding immigrants may be the result of the group’s incapacity to assimilate to the nation’s “cultural identity”. Since Chile’s conception as a nation and as one of the most prosperous Latin American countries, they have received notably minuscule immigration rates. As a result, Chileans prides themselves as a relatively homogeneous country. Consequently, in 2018, President Sebastián Piñera differentiated visas …

The Impact Of Generational Experiences On Anti-Immigration Sentiments, Pedram Malakian

Honors Theses

Immigration is one of the most important issues in our increasingly globalized world. Every year, millions of people relocate to Europe and United States in an effort to improve the quality of life for themselves and their family. With this increase in immigration, there has been an emergence of anti-immigration sentiments which have in turn allowed far right political parties to gain more power, evident in the British referendum to leave the European Union and Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States. While most works of literature look at the current work status, education level and income of …

Welcome To Europe? Consequences Of The Eu-Turkey Deal For Refugees Contained On Lesvos, Julia Endicott

Honors Theses

In 2015, the world experienced the greatest flow of migrations since World War II. During that year, more than one million people entered Europe, the majority of whom werefleeing civil war and political unrest in the countries of Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Eritrea, aswell as many other places. The quantity of refugees was unprecedented and challenged theexisting borders of Europe. Some countries on the continent were willing to accept newcomers,while others acted to keep them out. One tactic developed by European Union (EU) policymakers to manage the migration flows was the EU-Turkey Deal, which was implemented onMarch 20, 2016. Under …

Globalization And Immigration: How A Changing Demographic Landscape Influenced The 2016 Presidential Election, Jacob Rusnock

Honors Theses

The 2016 presidential election results varied significantly from many forecasts. The media proposes that the radically atypical candidacy of Donald Trump motivated pockets of the electorate to support the Republican Party more so than they had in past elections. This paper examines the following questions: Which traditional predictors of the election failed to foresee a Republican victory? If the traditional predictors were unsuccessful, can the results be explained using county level economic and demographic data? Is there evidence to support the media’s proposed explanations of the results? By utilizing the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey data, this paper examines some …

German And The European Migrant Crisis: An Exploration Of German National Identity, Sarah Pollack

Honors Theses

Since 2014, conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East have brought large inflows of asylum-seekers streaming into Europe. Germany has not only accepted the greatest number of these asylum-seekers, but it has additionally pushed for other European Union member states to accept more asylum-seekers as well, thereby earning an international reputation as a leading proponent of human rights in the European Union. While images of German citizens crowding train stations in Munich and other cities to welcome refugees have dominated news cycles, there is an increasing anti-immigration sentiment in Germany, which at its most extreme has manifested itself in …

U.S. Immigration: The Origins And Evolution Of Contemporary Issues And The Architecture Of Future Reform, Andrew Beaule

Honors Theses

In 1965, the United States Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, attempting to remove racial, religious, and cultural discrimination from the immigration system. However, the infamous act and subsequent legislation have caused unintended consequences. Illegal immigration has skyrocketed despite a massive increase in border enforcement; and Central Americans, particularly Mexicans, have become the target of racial and cultural discrimination, much like the Southern European immigrants of the early 1900s. The current immigration system still relies on the framework passed nearly 50 years ago, proving to be insufficient for contemporary United States. This thesis investigates the historical patterns in immigration …

La Puerta A Europa: Percepciones De La Inmigración En Andalucía, Kristin Glasheen

Honors Theses

A lo largo de los últimos veinte años, España ha experimentado un incremento tremendo de inmigración, lo que ha contribuido a nombrar España “la puerta a Europa.” Esta tesis examinará la inmigración contemporánea, particularmente en la comunidad autónoma de Andalucía, y el impacto de factores como identidad nacional y regional, género y la actual crisis económica en las percepciones que tienen los españoles de la inmigración. El análisis se basa tanto en entrevistas personales con directores de varias organizaciones no gubernamentales en las ciudades de Córdoba, Sevilla y Almería como en obras literarias y cinemáticas.

Borderline Depravity: The Impact Of U.S. Immigration Policy On Human Smuggling At The Mexican Border, Chloe J. Gilroy

Honors Theses

Human smuggling at the southwest border has undergone a series of dramatic changes following the advent of militarized enforcement after 9/11. These changes have culminated in drug cartels becoming involved in the market for human smuggling as service providers. This role constitutes a massive departure from the traditional working dynamics of the market, and has created a human rights crisis with far-reaching implications. Accordingly, this thesis attempts to answer the following questions: Why are Mexican drug cartels entering into human smuggling? What part has U.S immigration policy had in incentivizing their involvement? When did their involvement begin? To answer these …

Generational Dream: First Generation American Citizens And Their Relationship To The American Dream, Anna A. Mintz

Honors Theses

The term the "American Dream" was coined in 1939 by James Truslow Adams and has undoubtedly become an integral part of the American ethos. This narrative has brought thousands of immigrants to American shores with the promises of prosperity and success for centuries. Yet in 2014, it must be questioned whether this dream still holds significance for the young people of this country. By studying first-generation American citizens, whose parents did not grow up here, it can be ascertained how relevant this narrative still is and the sort of power that it retains. The following research describes my interactions with …

Rates Of Obesity And Incidence Of Diabetes In Hispanics In The United States: An Examination Of The Epidemiological Paradox, Lucy Dean

Honors Theses

Using pooled data from the 2008-2011 National Health Interview Survey and employing multinomial and binomial logistic regression methods, this research examines disparities in rates of obesity and incidence of diabetes between individual Hispanic subgroups in comparison to non-Hispanic whites and blacks. Immigration status(including nativity, duration in the United States, and citizenship status) is hypothesized to play a central role in rates and obesity and incidence of diabetes. Unlike Cuban-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and other Hispanics were more likely to be overweight as well as obese when compared to non-Hispanic whites. Mexican-Americans had the only significance in prevalence of type 2 …

Daring To Dream, Michelle Carreon

Honors Theses

Many people are unaware of the DREAM Act and its benefits; however, many scholars agree that the DREAM Act at the federal level is potentially beneficial to those undocumented students and to the United States. These scholars have researched the various benefits of the DREAM Act, such as an increase in human capital, increase in education revenue, and increase in taxable income. The DREAM Act can potentially give students the opportunity to obtain a higher education and ultimately a job and a better life. Most likely, ignorance of the DREAM Act has obscured the benefits it provides. People are more …

From Victims And Villains To Protagonists: Immigration And Citizenship In Modern Italy, Rachel Gleicher

Honors Theses

The Italian media, political parties, and immigrant-related social service organizations on all sides of the spectrum have contributed to the creation of various one-dimensional perceptions of Italy’s immigrant communities which have functioned to deny immigrants’ formal citizenship status and consequently, attempted to impede their access to the basic rights and privileges national membership guarantees. While left-leaning media outlets, organizations, and individuals tend to portray immigrants as victims draining Italy of its social, economic, and material resources, the Italian right often characterizes Italy’s immigrant population as villainous intruders incapable of integration due to cultural difference and in some cases, a natural …

European Immigration In Argentina From 1880 To 1914, Sabrina Benitez

Honors Theses

Situated in the southernmost region of South America, encompassing a variety of climates from the frigid Antarctic to the warmest tropical jungles, lies a country that was once a land of hope for many Europeans: Argentina. Currently Argentina is a country of one million square miles-four times larger than Texas, five times larger than France, with more than thirty seven million inhabitants. One third of the people in Argentina live in Greater Buenos Aires, the economic, political, and cultural center. Traditionally having an economy based on the exportation of beef, hides, wool, and corn, Argentina transformed this pattern during the …