Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

“Bad Hombres”: Trump Era Politics And Media In Shaping The Perceptions Of The Mexican Diaspora In The United States, Angelica Soria

Master's Theses

My research delves into the anti-Mexican immigrant rhetoric spread throughout the United States under Donald Trump’s presidency by himself, mainstream media news outlet Fox News, and the U.S. government. Furthermore, examining the social identity of ethnic Mexicans in the United States in response to and as a consequence of the negative rhetoric. This thesis analyzes discourse including the harmful rhetoric and its impact on policy formulation, public perception, and the lived experiences of Mexican immigrants and ethnic Mexican communities. By looking at existing discourse, this research provides a critical discourse analysis of political speeches, media coverage, and ethnic Mexican testimonios. …

Feeling Status: What Emotion Reveals About Immigrant Relationships With The United States, Faith Johanna Williams

Master's Theses

Traditional understandings of legal status focus on its role as a mechanism for state function without adequately acknowledging the emotional component of how it feels to navigate it, especially for immigrants. Drawing on the embodied wisdom of immigrants to better understand what legal status is and what role it plays in society, this study utilizes 13 semi-structured interviews conducted with immigrants now permanently documented in the United States as legal permanent residents or naturalized citizens, who previously lived undocumented in the country, to identify several patterns that highlight the limit of conventional notions of citizenship. By employing a person-centered approach …

Deported Veterans: The Unintended Consequences Of “Good Moral Character”, Jonathan Deras

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research is to argue that U.S. immigration policy, specifically the 1996 IIRIRA (also known as IIRAIRA), needs to change regarding the legal treatment of immigrant U.S. military veteran deportees due to the following concepts. The first concept is to articulate how the criminalization of immigration, and how the military system intersects to facilitate the Deportation of U.S veterans. A key concept in this analysis is the standard of “good moral character” set by the U.S. government that enlistees need to meet to be accepted into the military; this standard is also used against immigrant veterans during …

Investigating The Impacts Of Usaid In Honduras: Narratives From The Honduran People, Bentley Cornett

Master's Theses

The funds provided by the US Agency for International Development to Honduras may not be providing the humanitarian assistance that many Americans anticipate it to. In fact, in numerous instances that are outlined in this article, monetary aid distribution to governmental agencies in Honduras has proven to be one of the many factors that are counterproductive to the country’s development. The aim of this study is to expand knowledge on the impact of USAID allocation to Honduras and highlight its links to migration. In order to effectively present this research, I ground my argument within the “counter-storytelling” (Solórzano and Yosso …

Narratives Of Black Identifying Newcomer Youth, Saniyyah Lateef

Master's Theses

This study seeks to explore and understand the unique and individual experiences of Black identifying newcomer youth in the United States. Current research related to the experience of newcomers is limited in regards to Black identifying newcomers. Through narrative inquiry methodology, this study seeks to share the experiences of Black identifying newcomer youth. It does this while recognizing the omnipresence of racism in the United States, and acknowledging the influence of life prior experience on identity development. The intent of this study is to help educators and community members better understand the integration and assimilation processes of Black identifying newcomers. …

Food Systems Adverse Health Impacts On Latinx Immigrant Communities By Lisa Marquez, Lisa Marquez

Master's Theses

This thesis focuses on the adverse health impacts food systems have on Latinx immigrant communities. Marquez looks closely at emergency services programs using the food bank run by the Our Lady of the Pillar in Half Moon Bay, California, and interviewed five Latina immigrants from Mexico and Central America. While the food banks provided these families with fresh produce, the women expressed that it is substandard to the produce in their home countries. The interviews are supplemented with the analysis of three spoken word poems by youth who are second generation or whom have spent the majority of their lives …

Beyond The Economic: The Freedoms, Capabilities, And Social Capital Of Latin American Women Entrepreneurs In San Francisco, Melia M. Vilain

Master's Theses

In light of the scholarly debate surrounding the goals and mixed effects of development programs, particularly in recent years in relation to microfinance, this study investigates the effects of economic development programs on Latin American women entrepreneurs in San Francisco’s Mission District. It demonstrates that microfinance, when combined with education, can provide important non-economic benefits that contribute to increased freedoms and capabilities for immigrant women entrepreneurs. Drawing on qualitative interviews with ten business owners, as well as a review of the existing literature surrounding development, immigration, and gender, this research argues that owning a business in the US can produce …

Into The Red: A Look Into The Reasons Why Refugees Decide To Flee, Settle Or Migrate To And From Morocco, Fadeelah E. Holivay

Master's Theses

This research paper explores some of the main reasons why refugees and asylum seekers, particularly from sub-Saharan African countries, embark on a journey and decide to settle, flee or migrate to and from Morocco. Because of this phenomenon, Morocco has seen a 96% increase of refugees migrating to the borders of Morocco each year for the past three years. Many say that this astonishing increase of migrants choosing Morocco is due to such factors as: wars breaking out regionally across central African and Middle Eastern countries causing them to flee; Morocco being a culturaly diverse francophone country whose laws and …

Countering The Dreamer Narrative: Storytelling, Immigration Reform, And The Work Of 67 Sueños, Drew Schmenner

Master's Theses

Research question: How has the practice of storytelling been used in the current U.S. conflicts over immigration?

Telling an effective story is an essential part of a complex strategy to bring about social change, but storytelling as a part of collective action has not been extensively studied. For activists in the United States fighting for immigrant rights, especially the passage of the DREAM Act, storytelling has been an important tactic, but the nature of the narrative that was constructed has its drawbacks because it excluded some members of the immigrant community. In 2010, the Bay Area-based group 67 Sueños (“67 …

Imagining Integration, Bethany Keisner

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Immigration Policies & Integration Programs On Multicultural Identity In Germany, Laila Bernice Schneidergossens

Master's Theses

Discussed against the background of current political developments and attitudes in Germany, the following research examines what roles immigration policies and locally implemented integration programs play in the development of immigrant identity in Germany. Further, this thesis illustrates how these policies and programs can effectively lead to a new conscious understanding of multiculturalism. Germany has created a society where the cultures of immigrants and autochthonous Germans do not intersect, thus creating separate entities that exist in a parallel reality. Immigrants face the dilemma of maintaining their ethnic sense of identity while simultaneously adapting to the cultural and political norms in …