Migration Studies Commons^™

Seashells Lost In The Desert: The Syrians Exodus Through Sudan To Egypt, Waseem Khattab Shahla

Theses and Dissertations

The Syrian conflict of 2011 resulted in a significant number of Syrians fleeing their homes in search of safety and stability. After the Syrian conflict in 2011, Syrians were allowed access to many countries, including Egypt. However, after the prolonged conflict, access to numerous nations was severely restricted. This thesis examines the challenges faced by Syrian refugees in their journey through Sudan to Egypt, where they hoped to find a better life. The study specifically focuses on the irregular migration route taken by Syrians through Sudan and Egypt, with a focus on the period of 2016 to 2021. This period …

The Sidelined Front-Liners: Eritrean Cbos In Greater Cairo, Nada Hegazy

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the recognition of the important role that community-based organizations play, among international actors concerned with refugee issues, as well as UNHCR’s adoption of a community-based approach to protection; community-based organizations continue to be sidelined by these actors. This thesis explores the role that Eritrean CBOs play in improving the lives of Eritrean refugees and asylum-seekers living in Greater Cairo. It also investigates the challenges that they face while trying to operate in Egypt. Using a multi-scalar lens, the research examines the relationships between Eritrean CBOs and Eritrean refugees and asylum-seekers, the State, UNHCR and its partner organizations, in addition …

Choosing To Come Back: Second-Generation Egyptians Returning As Social Change Agents, Hajar Khalil

Theses and Dissertations

Research has found that upon visiting their parents’ homeland, second-generation immigrants were able to gain a better understanding of where they came from, allowing them to reflect upon their own lives in respect to their family history (Marschall, 2017). Some researchers call this journey the ‘self-awakening’ or ‘searching-self’ journey (Christou, 2003). The aim of this research is to understand the process of second-generation Egyptians return journey to their parent(s)’ homeland in order to create social change. The two main questions posed are: 1) How do second-generation Egyptians construct their narrative identity, and 2) How do they conceptualize themselves as social …

Intersectionality In Canada's 'Caregiver Program': The Impact Of Race, Class, And Gender On Filipina Women In The 'Global Care Chain', Taylor Simsovic

Culture, Society, and Praxis

This paper explores the experiences of migrant Filipina caregivers in Canada under the Live-in Caregiver's Program (LCP) and the subsequent Caregivers Program (CP), focusing on the intersecting factors of race, class, and gender. Through a literature review, the study investigates the distinct and precarious position occupied by Filipina migrant caregivers, who face marginalization by the Canadian government. The framework of the 'global care chain' proposed by Aggarwal and Das Gupta (2013) and the concept of the 'international transfer of caretaking' presented by Parreñas (2000) are employed to illuminate the devaluation of 'women's work,' particularly that performed by migrant Filipina and …

Liquid Border, Yingfan Jia

Masters Theses

A River is a mighty and constantly-evolving force, leaving behind an intricately designed and constantly changing system. Not just a river, the Rio Grande stretches all the way from Colorado before intersecting with the US-Mexico Border in southern Texas - a point where the powerful forces of nature now merge with a clearly-defined political boundary. The outcome of this is a unique ecological niche, which may often go unnoticed despite its distinctiveness.

Texas is famous for its farms and ranches, and the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas was once an agricultural hub. However, urbanization and the depletion of water …

Refugee Resettlement: Assessing The Quality Of Reception In The Southeast U.S., Adrian Laudani

Master's Theses

When faced with dire situations, refugees are forced to migrate without choice. As a new reality is forced upon them, many don’t have much say in what their futures hold. One option that only the fortunate bunch are presented with is resettlement in a third country. Addressing complexities within the refugee resettlement system consists of various dynamics including integration processes, cultural transitions, multilingualism, among much more. The purpose of this thesis is to address the quality of the current reception services in the United States in order to more effectively assist refugees throughout this general transition period. My main thesis …

Ambigú Trashumante Barra De Café Ambulante Ambigú Trashumante Barra De Café Ambulante, Augusto Martin Rivero

Master's Projects and Capstones

Ambigú Trashumante Barra de Café Ambulante is an applied research project which took shape over the course of a calendar year from May 2022-2023. A six-person team evolved including the personified project itself, united as one communal entity in collaboration. The project entailed creation of a bicicargo, or cargo bike–useful art becoming a mobile coffee bar and literal vehicle embodying justice through coffee offered freely in México, as facilitated through decolonized ethnography and Mesoamerican Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR). The project’s theoretical framework centers on Bruguera’s (2012) arte útil conceptualization. Five core patterns emerged, including the right to thrive in …

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 …

Unaccompanied Migrant Children And Adolescents’ Rights In Colombia: Between Invisibility And Incapacity, Linda María Urueña Mariño

Master's Theses

This thesis centers on an analysis of the situation of unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents transiting through and settling in Colombia, from a children’s rights perspective. These children are being invisibilized, which is causing their unprotection and multiple violations of their rights. Through a critical policy analysis, with a review of Colombian migration and child protection policies, and interviews with governmental and nongovernmental representatives working with migrant children in the country, the study aimed at contrasting policies with the real practices of migrant children protection.

The analysis recurred to Bauman, Butler, Crenshaw, among other authors to show how the Colombian …

Preparing To Engage Migrant-Origin Students Through Culturally Responsive Teaching: A Handbook For Teachers, Grayson E. Briggs

Master's Theses

Students of migrant-origin currently represent approximately 25% of the total student population in the United States. As immigration to the U.S. continues, the proportion of migrant-origin students in public schools is only expected to grow. Despite the growing representation of migrant-origin youth amongst the K-12 student population, current schooling approaches have not expanded to address the diversifying needs of the student population. Because public school systems are struggling to adapt to the needs of migrant-origin students, these students’ educational attainment is suffering. The presence of implicit bias, microaggressions, and stereotypes in all aspects of schooling is a significant factor that …

Calladitas No Nos Vemos Más Bonitas: Testimonios Of Mexican Migrant Catholic Mothers’ Resistance To Marianismo, Jessica Guadalupe Ornelas

Master's Theses

The purposeful killing of women due to their gender (feminicide) is an atrocious global act that has been ascending at an alarming rate, over the past couple of years. Specifically, last year in México and in the duration of six months, there were close to 3,000 victims of gender based killings in México, which is about 10 casualties daily (ONU Mujeres, 2022). While most studies have centered their attention on systemic causes that lead to gender based violence, the amount of research that closely analyzes the ways these causes are interwoven with womens’ everyday lived experiences of social and personal …

Invisibility: Bringing Statelessness To The Forefront Of U.S. Political Advocacy, Claire G. Green

Master's Theses

Currently, an estimated 218,000 stateless persons are living in the United States. With no legal structure specifically addressing statelessness, stateless persons are left in a perpetual state of legal ambiguity. This project explores current research on statelessness in the United States, examines general awareness and attitudes towards the stateless population, and seeks to further understand how to increase empathy and engagement in the push for stateless rights. Guided by the lens of feminist political theory, I attempt to answer the following research question: Can autobiographical works of art be utilized as healing tools of empowerment and catalysts for political recognition …

Spouse And Unmarried Partner Choices Among Largest Latino Nationalities In The New York Metropolitan Region, 1980 – 2021, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report examines the married and unmarried partner choices among the largest Latino nationalities in the New York metropolitan region by race/ethnicity and nationality among household heads by sex.

Methods: This report uses the American Community Survey PUMS (Public Use Microdata Series) data for all years released by the Census Bureau and reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa, (https://usa.ipums.org/usa/index.shtml). See Public Use Microdata Series Steven Ruggles, J. Trent Alexander, Katie Genadek, Ronald Goeken, Matthew B. Schroeder, and Matthew Sobek. Integrated Public Use Microdata Series: Version 5.0 [Machine-readable database]. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, …

Complainte De Hadjila Azem, Aknine Arab

Journal of Amazigh Studies

Cette contribution nous offre la présentation d’une longue complainte (20 strophes) chantée par Ḥaǧila Azem, sœur de Slimane Azem. Ḥaǧila est restée dans son village natal qu’elle n’a jamais quitté, coupée de sa nombreuse fratrie aspirée par un exil définitif. Les circonstances authentiques, rapportées ici, où fut recueillie cette complainte ainsi que la personnalité de l’interprète donnent à l’évènement une densité qui renvoie à la figure du clair-chantant de Jean Amrouche.

Immigration Kabyle En France, Entre Contraintes Et Engagements, Mustapha Harzoune

Journal of Amazigh Studies

Résumé :

Cette contribution s’applique à mettre en miroir l’immigration kabyle au regard des figures et des stéréotypes de l’immigration algérienne nées de l’Histoire, des pensées d’État et des idéologies, coloniale (« mythe kabyle ») ou nationalistes. Elle s’appuie, de manière non exhaustive et parcellaire, sur une approche de la structuration, associative notamment, des Kabyles de France après l’année 1979 qui voit naître la première association berbère de France qui inscrit son projet et son devenir dans la société française. En s’appuyant sur des repères historiques, le poids des représentations coloniales et postcoloniales, sur le militantisme associatif, le dynamisme artistique, …

Book Review: Under The Weather: Reimagining Mobility In The Climate Crisis., Raymond Murphy

Critical Disaster Studies

Under the Weather: Reimagining Mobility in the Climate Crisis is an insightful, important book that reports on a fine-grained investigation Sodero made of the consequences and response to the disasters resulting from Hurricane Juan in Nova Scotia in 2003 and Hurricane Igor in Newfoundland in 2010, with comparisons to Hurricane Sandy in New York, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, the 1998 ice storm in northeastern North America and the Icelandic ash cloud. One original feature is the focus on mobility, how indispensable it is in modern societies, how it is disrupted by extreme weather, and …

Whose Nation Is It? A Critical Analysis Of The Impacts Of Conservative Nationalism And Migration Security On Marginalized Groups In America, Joshua Jackson

International Studies (MA) Theses

This research aims to examine the effects of migration securitization on marginalized citizens in the United States of America by examining it through a conservative nationalist lens. While the securitization of migration is “the process through which the phenomenon of migration is framed as a threat to the survival of a certain referent object” (von Rosen, 2019, p. 36), the byproduct of that framing extends beyond the initially constructed threat (von Rosen, 2019). The framing of immigration and migrants as a threat to the United States is not a new occurrence and has served to bolster conservative politicians and construct …

Urbanization Against Gentrification, Cody Ellerbrock

Honors Projects

This study investigates the relationship between urban development and gentrification within communities. This is done through the analysis of case studies where urban development processes have taken place and many were displaced in return. By looking into problems and solutions offered up throughout these studies, a guide can be created to be used as a foundation in the process of an urban redevelopment project.

The Legacy Of Colonization And Civil Societies In South Africa, Erika Frydenlund, Melissa Miller-Felton, Bolu Ayankojo

Modeling, Simulation and Visualization Student Capstone Conference

This research analyzes the unique ways that civil societies operate in Sub-Saharan Africa in the context of post-apartheid Cape Town, South Africa. Decades after the demise of apartheid, remnants of inequality remain without the promise of actionable change. We used a computational modeling approach to understand the dynamics of migrants in the receiving community as derived from qualitative interviews conducted with 24 stakeholders in Cape Town, South Africa between 2020 and 2021. Our findings show that the presence of NGOs can promote access to resources and reduce xenophobia if they can have the right influence on government policies.

Behind Derogatory Migrants' Terms For Venezuelan Migrants: Xenophobia And Sexism Identification With Twitter Data And Nlp, Joseph Martínez, Melissa Miller-Felton, Jose Padilla, Erika Frydenlund

Modeling, Simulation and Visualization Student Capstone Conference

The sudden arrival of many migrants can present new challenges for host communities and create negative attitudes that reflect that tension. In the case of Colombia, with the influx of over 2.5 million Venezuelan migrants, such tensions arose. Our research objective is to investigate how those sentiments arise in social media. We focused on monitoring derogatory terms for Venezuelans, specifically veneco and veneca. Using a dataset of 5.7 million tweets from Colombian users between 2015 and 2021, we determined the proportion of tweets containing those terms. We observed a high prevalence of xenophobic and defamatory language correlated with the …