Latina/o Studies Commons^™

La Maquiladora De Sueños Is Where The “American Dream” Ends: The Socio-Cultural Impact Of Hai(T)Ijuanenses In The United States-México Borderlands, Pedro Aleman Perfecto

Master's Theses

Historically, Tijuana has been the destination for migrants who have been left out from the United States, Mexico, and the rest of the world. The city is at the epicenter of globalization where many transit, leave, and arrive. Sometimes considered a “third country” due to its binational and bicultural identity with its sister city, San Diego, California. The growing number of Haitian refugees that arrived in Tijuana in the mid 2010s to seek asylum in the United States overwhelmed the city’s infrastructure and left the Haitian community vulnerable, yet it created new opportunities and reshaped new identities in the region. …

Flowing Borders: U.S. Border Externalization In Latin America And The Los Angeles Declaration On Migration And Protection, Magdalena Olvera Hernandez

Master's Theses

In recent years, Latin America has emerged as a central transit region for extracontinental migrants originating from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East who seek to reach North America through alternative routes. This thesis examines the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, among other regional migration governance frameworks that have reshaped migratory flows, state responsibilities, and protection outcomes in the Western Hemisphere. Focusing on the Darién Gap as a strategic chokepoint, the study analyzes the effects of coordinated migration policies, border externalization, and differentiated state roles on extracontinental mobility.

Drawing on official migration statistics from Panama, the United States, …

Impacting Queer Trans-Migrations In Mexico: A Case Study Of Civil Society Organization Casa Frida Refugio Lgbt+, Leticia Morales

Master's Theses

Mexico has historically been known as an emigration or transit country. In this context, civil society organizations have played pivotal roles in addressing the voids in support for migrants. Among these organizations, Casa Frida Refugio LGBT stands out as a significant service provider, specifically for LGBT+ migrants. This study engages in a qualitative case study analysis of the organization Casa Frida, drawing from interviews conducted with nine LGBTQ+ migrants and refugees, personal observations, and Casa Frida’s website and social media accounts. The research seeks to answer two central questions: Firstly, what role does an LGBT+ specific service provider like Casa …

Food & Cultural Entrepreneurship: Recipes For Upward Social Mobility Among Emprendedoras Inmigrantes In The Bay Area, Mariel Hernandez

Master's Theses

A qualitative research study explores the experiences of female immigrant entrepreneurs in the San Francisco Bay Area including their journey of self-employment and the challenges they have faced based on their sex, migration status and access to social capital and resources. Understanding existing knowledge on migration theory and labor economics, sustainable labor integration, as well as the gendered nature of labor migration, it is determined that female migrants can access upward social mobility through labor markets and entrepreneurship. The study identifies various commonalities between the participants including and their opportunities for social mobility. Based on five interviews with immigrant women, …

Beginnings Of The Nuevo South: Mexican Migration In 1970s And 1980s Mississippi, Isabel Loya

Master's Theses

Mexicans and Mexican Americans have been present in Mississippi since the early twentieth century with a large increase in the 1970s. The majority of the scholarship surrounding Mexican migration focuses on the 1990s leaving a historiographical gap concerning this earlier period of significant population growth. This thesis argues that Mexican migrants during the 1970s and 1980s were uniquely affected by Mississippi’s racial climate due to their ambiguous status in a Black and white society, where they fit in neither category. The examination of tactics by businesses, like B.C. Rogers Poultry plant, show the impact recruitment had on migrants’ living conditions …

Central Americans At A Crossroads: Asylum Seekers’ Testimonios Of Mental Health After Detention And Family Separation, Corie E. Schwabenland Garcia

Master's Theses

Though Central American asylum seekers are presently hypervisible in the U.S. consciousness, this population continues to be inadequately understood or cared for. Discussion of this population often presents them as a helpless and damaged population, in need of saving, fixing, or shelter -- beyond their trauma, they cease to exist. This qualitative study utilizes first-person testimonio methodology to understand the psychological experiences of Central American migrants seeking asylum in the United States, the stressors they face, and the mental health support that can and should be provided to them. Their stories speak to a space of sociopolitical precarity in the …

The Experiences Of International Graduate Students From Latin America In Their Transition Of Graduating And Finding A Job In The United States, Natalia Hernandez

Master's Theses

The purpose of this thesis project is to conduct a qualitative phenomenological study to understand the lived experiences of international graduate students from Latin America in the United States as they transition from their studies to finding a full-time job in the United States. The most common themes mentioned in the different sections of the interviews were: the different dynamics in their identity, the benefits, and limitations of their status in the American context, and how their professional development and economy are impacted while being international graduate students from Latin America. Student service departments such as the Career Service department, …

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 …

She Se Puede: Exploring The Career Development Of Latinas In The San Francisco Bay Area, Brittney Varela

Master's Theses

The professional identities of Latinas in the United States have undergone some major changes in recent times. As women and ethnic minorities, Latinas are a part of two underrepresented groups facing inequities in the workforce. This research focuses on the career development of ten Latinas in the San Francisco Bay area, with their stories and experiences publicized on a public podcast. She Se Puede podcast consists of ten episodes recorded at the University of San Francisco, discussing career development and major factors that limit the professional advancement of Latinas. This applied project was designed around scholarly research and in-person interviews, …

Centering Community Voices Through Children's Literature: Co-Authoring An #Ownvoices Picture Book For The Maine Migrant Education Program, Melanie Shelton

Master's Theses

Since its inception, the field of migrant education has been characterized by a tension between honoring the subjectivity of migrant families and positioning them as victims. This same tension exists in the analysis of children’s picture books that depict the daily lives of migrant farmworkers. In response to Eve Tuck’s (2009) call for a moratorium on damage-centered research in the field of education, this report describes the collaboration process between a representative of the Maine Migrant Education Program and a migrant

farmworker and her family to write, illustrate, and present an autobiographical picture book. Las aventuras, travesuras, y peligros del …

The Socio-Demographic Factors Influencing Ntca Immigrants’ Accessibility To Mexico’S Health Care System, Ken Nishikata

Master's Theses

Mexico’s geographical location has made the country play a centric role in trans-national migration from the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA) comprising Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. As a result, immigration has increasingly become a political issue for Mexico over the past decades^[1]. Before the eruption of the Central American crisis in the 1980s, Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala was recognized for its openness. However, such a tolerating status-quo changed as the number of NTCA immigrants entering Mexico increased upon the exacerbation of the crisis that placed thousands of individuals in exile. Indeed, the turmoil during the …

Indigenous Women's Bodies: Primer Territorio De Defensa, Ana Gabriela Avalos Tizol

Master's Theses

The teen pregnancy “epidemic” in Guatemala is a focal point when international and national NGOs demand that the government protect the civil and political rights of girls. In accordance, the state created laws (legal age for marriage - Ordinance 13-2017), implemented penal codes (statutory rape - Article 173) and created Programa Vida (conditional cash transfer of Q. 1,500 - $200 every two months) to address this ‘epidemic.’ Yet, only sixty-one teen mothers were involved in the program by the first year in 2018, indicating its inaccessibility. This thesis proposes to challenge the dominant narrative on teenage pregnancies, which blames “Mayan …

Now Hiring: Exploring Deportee Transnational Identities And Socio-Economic Reintegration In Baja California, Mexico’S Call Center Industry, Brenda Vargas

Master's Theses

The anti-immigrant rhetoric in the U.S. intensified deportation, including that of Mexican and Salvadorian migrants with some having served in the U.S. military. Despite weak social connections and explicit/structural barriers in Mexico, many deportees make the decision to stay in Mexico. The focus of this thesis is male deportees belonging to the “1.5 generation,” aged late 20’s-early 60’s, who, after spending their childhood and adulthood in the U.S., have undergone deportation and are faced with social and economic reintegration in the northern border area of Baja California, Mexico. Through 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews, I explore transnational identity negotiations that impact …

An Exploratory Study Of Acculturation Experiences Of Graduate Student Immigrants At The University Of San Francisco, Courtney Lamar

Master's Theses

This study explores the shared challenges during the acculturation process of graduate student immigrants pursuing higher education in the United States. 13 graduate student immigrants at the University of San Francisco discuss their experiences of cultural adjustment into U.S. culture. Through qualitative interviews and thematic analysis, this study seeks to understand the acculturation experiences of graduate student immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area of the United States. This analysis is based on the individual-level experience examining attitudes and acculturation strategies in the dominant society. Analysis, possibly policy implication for institutions of higher education, and possible directions for future research …

“Mexico, Public Policy And Obesity In A Global Context”, Daniela Carina Bermudez

Master's Theses

Mexico has one of the most obese populations in the world. A country known for its diversity of rich flavorful food is drowning in low nutritional food products. This thesis examines Mexico’s obesity epidemic within the larger global context of international economic trade policies, public policies and Mexico’s health policies. The key research questions are 1) why is there an obesity epidemic in Mexico? and 2) what remedies should Mexico implement to control it? This thesis contributes to a viable policy strategy for the Mexican government to control and prevent the further increase of this obesity epidemic. Reviewing both the …

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 …