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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Attitudes Towards Immigration In The United States, Tianna M. Martinez Dec 2015

Attitudes Towards Immigration In The United States, Tianna M. Martinez

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The topic of immigration in the United States has been one of great contention for U.S citizens over the past year. Despite being a country built on immigrants, it seems that public attitudes towards the issue are changing. It is hard to pinpoint an exact reason for this change in opinion as there are so many factors playing a role. This paper will examine quantitative research data provided by the American National Election Survey to assess different factors that are actively playing a role in altering the public’s overall opinion on immigration levels. The data examined reveals how age, feeling …


All Americans Not Equal: Mistrust And Discrimination Against Naturalized Citizens In The U.S., Alev Dudek Aug 2015

All Americans Not Equal: Mistrust And Discrimination Against Naturalized Citizens In The U.S., Alev Dudek

Alev Dudek

Approximately 13 percent of the U.S. population — nearly 40 million — is foreign-born, of which about 6 percent are naturalized U.S. citizens. Given the positive image associated with immigrants — the “nation of immigrants” or “the melting pot” — one would assume that all Americans in the U.S.A., natural born or naturalized, have equal worth as citizens. This, however, is not necessarily the case. Despite U.S. citizenship, naturalized Americans are seen less than equal to natural born Americans. They are often confused with “foreign nationals.” Moreover, their cultural belonging, allegiance, English-language skills, as well as other qualifications, are questioned.


The Punishment/El Castigo: Undocumented Latinos And U.S. Immigration Processing, Ruth Gomberg-Munoz Jul 2015

The Punishment/El Castigo: Undocumented Latinos And U.S. Immigration Processing, Ruth Gomberg-Munoz

Ruth Gomberg-Munoz

For undocumented people who become eligible for a US immigrant visa, the pathway to lawful status bifurcates around one central question: how did you get into the USA? While most visa overstayers can adjust their status within the USA, undocumented border crossers must leave the USA to change their status. When they do, all but a few trigger a 10-year bar—often called ‘el castigo’ in Spanish or ‘the punishment’—on their return. This paper draws on a three-year ethnographic study to explore the process of legalisation for Latinos who entered and lived in the USA unlawfully. I pay particular attention to …


Deferred Action, Supervised Enforcement Discretion, And The Rule Of Law Basis For Executive Action On Immigration, Anil Kalhan Jun 2015

Deferred Action, Supervised Enforcement Discretion, And The Rule Of Law Basis For Executive Action On Immigration, Anil Kalhan

Anil Kalhan

In November 2014, the Obama administration announced the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) initiative, which built upon a program instituted two years earlier, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. As mechanisms to channel the government’s scarce resources toward its enforcement priorities more efficiently and effectively, both DACA and DAPA permit certain individuals falling outside those priorities to seek “deferred action,” which provides its recipients with time-limited, nonbinding, and revocable notification that officials have exercised prosecutorial discretion to deprioritize their removal. While deferred action thereby facilitates a highly tenuous form of quasi-legal recognition …


Vietnamese Migration Patterns And Public Policy, Johnny Nguyen, Binh Vo, Jennifer Treadway May 2015

Vietnamese Migration Patterns And Public Policy, Johnny Nguyen, Binh Vo, Jennifer Treadway

Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)

At the end of the Vietnamese War in 1975, South Vietnam natives sought to escape Vietnam from the communist reign of its North counterpart. Fueled by the former Communist revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh’s dream of uniting Vietnam under one communist ideal, the north cemented their occupation in the Fall of Saigon in 1975 and the retreat of all American soldiers. Along with the retreat of thousands of American troops, came the many waves of Vietnamese immigrants to steadily make their way to various parts of the world including the United States, Canada, Australia, and France. The research will also …


State Of Memory: National History And Exclusive Identity In Contemporary Denmark, John Terrell Foor May 2015

State Of Memory: National History And Exclusive Identity In Contemporary Denmark, John Terrell Foor

Masters Theses

Increased rates of immigration to Western European states over the past three decades have yielded a wealth of literature in the social sciences, much of which has focused on cases of individuals from so-called ―non-Western‖ countries of origin. Immigrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia often bring with them cultural and religious traditions that are unfamiliar to the citizens of states which receive them. Tensions between majority populations and growing minorities in Western Europe have resulted in skepticism—and, increasingly, hostility—toward immigrants, particularly those regarded as ―"Islamic."

But is this type of tension inevitable? Are difference and …


Perceptions Of Immigration In America, Manuel Cardoza May 2015

Perceptions Of Immigration In America, Manuel Cardoza

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Throughout history the United States as a nation saw many waves of immigrants who collectively shaped and helped build the America we see today. Today immigration has become a prevalent issue that is impeding progress and potentially facilitating the rise of new conflicts in a country plagued by civil injustices toward minority groups who are feeling marginalized and discriminated. Immigration desperately needs the attention of the U.S government in order to reach a solution and stop a community from being ostracized. Much of this great nation has been formed and built on the fundamental idea of immigrant forces coming together …


The Hear.Us Project - Reducing Anti-Immigrant Sentiment And Myth Through An Online Awareness Intervention, Douglas J. Epps Apr 2015

The Hear.Us Project - Reducing Anti-Immigrant Sentiment And Myth Through An Online Awareness Intervention, Douglas J. Epps

MSW Capstones

The following is an online awareness intervention designed to reduce anti-immigrant sentiment and myth throughout the greater community by means of an educational toolkit. The foundation of this toolkit was designed using macro level theoretical intervention frameworks. The content is grounded in empirically based interpersonal communication strategies specialized in addressing anti-immigrant sentiment. The goal of this toolkit is to provide a source for humanizing and factual education especially for those who are unfamiliar with immigrant community members. The intervention achieves this goal by means of three specific elements: 1) Humanizing and inspiring personal stories from immigrants in the local community …


What Is Driving Immigrants From El Salvador To Las Vegas? (2000-2010), Jeffrey Gonzalez, John P. Tuman Jan 2015

What Is Driving Immigrants From El Salvador To Las Vegas? (2000-2010), Jeffrey Gonzalez, John P. Tuman

McNair Poster Presentations

The purpose of this study is to examine if death rates due to crime or unemployment drove immigrants from El Salvador to migrate to Las Vegas between the years of 2000 to 2010. This study will be most directly based on the research conducted in the study Unauthorized Immigrant Population: National and State Trends, 2010, conducted by the Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center’s study focuses on finding an estimation on the number of undocumented immigrants that have entered the United States, the number of immigrants that are in the United States workforce, and the trends regarding what states and …


President Bush And Immigration Policy Rhetoric: The Effects Of Negativity On The Political Landscape At The State Level, C. Damien Arthur Phd, Joshua Woods Jan 2015

President Bush And Immigration Policy Rhetoric: The Effects Of Negativity On The Political Landscape At The State Level, C. Damien Arthur Phd, Joshua Woods

Political Science Faculty Research

The attention paid to immigration since September 11th has become more pronounced. We maintain that the increases in attention are due to a significant critical juncture: the Republican Party Platform of 2004 and President Bush’s subsequent reelection. The rhetoric has become more negative and exclusive, creating a pervasive immigrant narrative. What are the ramifications, if any, of this shift in discourse from such central political figures for immigrants? Attempts to change immigration policy, despite the rhetoric, have not materialized nationally. President Bush recognized the limitations of ‘going public’ and, instead, took his immigration policy proposals to state legislatures, wherein ideological …


The Patterns And Impacts Of Turkish Immigration To The European Union, Elie Katzenson Jan 2015

The Patterns And Impacts Of Turkish Immigration To The European Union, Elie Katzenson

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

Since the early 1960s, Turkish nationals have immigrated to the European Union in large numbers. Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium have the highest Turkish populations in the European Union and have managed differing models of incorporation. A number of motivating factors have contributed to the unflagging numbers of Turks such as the implementation of guest-worker programs, the reunification of families, and microstructures within migratory chains. Though the likelihood of Turkey gaining membership to the European Union has dimmed as of late, the mere possibility of its joining warrants the analysis of Turkish immigration to the EU, as it could shed …


"Assessing The Efficacy Of Integration Strategies For Immigrant Communities: A Case Study Of The United States And France", Andres E. Gallo Jan 2015

"Assessing The Efficacy Of Integration Strategies For Immigrant Communities: A Case Study Of The United States And France", Andres E. Gallo

Dissertations and Theses

The movement of peoples across borders has often been a prominent issue in the context of international relations, both historically when looking at the mass waves of European immigration throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and even more so in the current context of our globalized society with its increasingly complex migration patterns. As present-day crises and hardships continue to force individuals to flee their home countries, receiving states must address the various ramifications associated with granting entrance to the new influx of migrants. Regardless of the causal factors that prompt immigrant groups to leave their home countries, they are …


The Cuban Adjustment Act Of 1966: Politics & Perception In Cuban Migration To The United States, Hannah Mackenzie Brown Jan 2015

The Cuban Adjustment Act Of 1966: Politics & Perception In Cuban Migration To The United States, Hannah Mackenzie Brown

Senior Projects Fall 2015

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.


Love Thy Neighbor? Trust In Foreigners And Support For Transnational Policies, Sergio Wals, Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, Frank J. Gonzalez, Tess Gosda Jan 2015

Love Thy Neighbor? Trust In Foreigners And Support For Transnational Policies, Sergio Wals, Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, Frank J. Gonzalez, Tess Gosda

Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications

This study assesses the extent to which individual levels of trust in foreigners relate to preferences about regional transnational policies. We use a nationally representative survey from Mexico (2003), an emerging democracy with relatively high levels of nationalism and several multinational trade agreements. We argue that clarifying the target of social trust is essential for understanding the attitudes of citizens of less powerful countries toward the international policy realm. Statistical analysis strongly suggests that in fact trust in foreigners, above generalized trust, is key to understanding such attitudes. Our results indicate that trust in foreigners among Mexican respondents is positively …


Easing The Heavy Hand: Humanitarian Concern, Empathy, And Opinion On Immigration, Benjamin J. Newman, Todd K. Hartman, Patrick L. Lown, Stanley Feldman Dec 2014

Easing The Heavy Hand: Humanitarian Concern, Empathy, And Opinion On Immigration, Benjamin J. Newman, Todd K. Hartman, Patrick L. Lown, Stanley Feldman

Todd K. Hartman

The bulk of the opinion research on immigration identifies the factors leading to opposition to immigration among the American public. In contrast, we identify a key factor and condition under which citizens embrace more permissive and supportive positions on immigration. Past research indicates that humanitarianism is a core value orientation promoting support—albeit limited—for social welfare policy. Extending this research into another highly salient policy domain—immigration—we find that humanitarian concern serves as a significant source of support for permissive positions on government immigration policy. Relying upon secondary analysis of national survey data and an original survey experiment, we demonstrate that humanitarian …


The Myth Of The White Minority, Andrew Pierce Dec 2014

The Myth Of The White Minority, Andrew Pierce

Andrew J. Pierce

In recent years, and especially in the wake of Barack Obama’s reelection, projections that whites will soon become a minority have proliferated. In this essay, I will argue that such predictions are misleading at best, as they rest on questionable philosophical presuppositions, including the presupposition that racial concepts like ‘whiteness’ are static and unchanging rather than fluid and continually being reconstructed. If I am right about these fundamental inaccuracies, one must wonder why the myth of the white minority persists. I will argue that by re-envisioning whites as a minority culture struggling against a hostile dominant group, and by promoting …


Canadian Multiculturalism And The Absence Of The Far Right, Cas Mudde Dec 2014

Canadian Multiculturalism And The Absence Of The Far Right, Cas Mudde

Cas Mudde

The far right has never been a prominent force in Canadian politics or society. Traditionally, they more resembled the North American than the West European model: ideologically dominated by right-wing populism and white supremacy, organizationally characterized by factionalism and sectarianism. The extreme right seems an almost negligible force today, in part reflecting a similar decline in the United States, while the radical right has so far been unable to build upon the recent upsurge of Islamophobia, as in Western Europe. We argue that the failure of the Canadian radical right is primarily the result of Canada's unique multiculturalism policy, which …