Migration Studies Commons^™

Migrant Farmworkers' Perceptions Of Pesticide Risk Exposure In Adams County, Pennsylvania: A Cultural Risk Assessment, Micaela S. G. Edelson, Salma Monani, Rutherford V. Platt

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Agricultural exceptionalism, a system in which regular labor laws and standards do not apply to farm labor, makes migrant farmworkers particularly vulnerable populations—economically, socially, and in terms of environmental health. To address inequities inherent in migrant farmworker margin­aliza­tion, studies advocate for actively engaging the migrant farmworker population in the conversation surrounding these issues. We conducted 40 semi­structured interviews with migrant farmworkers in Adams County, Pennsylvania, to understand pesti­cide risk exposure perceptions and practices. We employed the Health Belief Model as our cultural risk assessment frame, using it in combination with technical risk assessment, which uses government calculations (from the Environmental …

Banking On Remittances? How Bank Account Possession In The United States Affects Mexican Migrants Sending Money Home, Elizabeth Durden

Faculty Journal Articles

Data from 154 different Mexican communities, housed within the Mexican Migration Project (mmp), is used to explore the influence of U.S. assimilation on a Mexican migrant’s propensity to remit money back to Mexico. A migrant opening a U.S. bank account is employed as a proxy for assimilation. Sociodemographic, U.S. migration, and Mexican community control variables are included. It is found that a migrant opening a bank account during the last U.S. migration is associated with a reduced probability of remitting money back to Mexico, suggesting a shift in social and economic activity from Mexico to the U.S. for migrants abroad

The Southwest’S Unven Welcome: Immigrant Inclusion And Exclusion In Arizona And New Mexico, Elizabeth Durden

Faculty Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

From Bison To Cattle: The Ecology Of The Southern Plains 1500-1750, Jenni Tifft-Ochoa

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

Bison made their home on the Southern Plains for millennia. However, their migratory patterns began to shift in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. My research investigated what caused this drastic shift and how it had far reaching effects on the ecology of the Southern Plains. Using archives from two prominent Catholic priests, I began to piece together why the bison left the Southern Plains. Rather than focus on the Europeans as the main players, I instead focused on the Indigenous peoples, the animals, and the land as the centralized actors in this project. I discovered that the introduction …

Sigma: Journal Of Political And International Studies

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Who Is My Neighbor? Identifying Epistemic Peers Among Polarized Communities, Alex Hoagland

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

“We’Re All In This Together:” Exploring The Effectiveness And Responsiveness Of Nonprofits In Promoting The Socioeconomic Integration Of Refugees, Brittany Keegan

Theses and Dissertations

When a person is forced to flee their home due to violence or the fear of persecution, they must seek refuge elsewhere – either within the borders of their home country or in a new country. Those who travel to another country in search of safety and protection are known as refugees, and as world conflicts continue, the number of refugees around the world is steadily increasing. As refugees integrate into their new communities, they often receive support from nonprofit organizations once government assistance has ceased. This mixed method study uses 60 open-ended, first-person interviews with refugees and nonprofit service …

“The Problem With The Haitians Is Their Language”: Language As Color-Blind Racism, Ruthie Wienk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project explores the mechanisms of exclusion and oppression of a Haitian population in a rural community in South West Florida. The analytical approach taken is an analysis of the social field and habitus as dispositions and embodied culture. Language has been identified as a tool to marginalize the population in the general social order. Through this process, language operates as a form of color-blind racism which justifies the exclusion of the Haitian community but is insufficient in explaining their overall social outcomes. Qualitative data were collected for this project in the form of unstructured interviews, focus groups, photographs of …

A "Chinese Wall" At The Nation's Borders: Justice Stephen Field And The Chinese Exclusion Case, Polly J. Price

Faculty Articles

First, the sweeping implications of The Chinese Exclusion Case had as much to do with the Supreme Court's concerns about its relationship with both Congress and the President as it did with the Chinese as a disparaged racial group. There are other dimensions beyond race, and one of these was the Supreme Court's view of its role with respect to the other branches of government. Importantly, the Court did not decide the balance of authority between the President and Congress on matters of immigration, an omission that surely lessens its precedential value today.

Second, the Court's pronouncement in the Chinese …

Who Drives Diaspora Development? Replication Of Mexico’S 3x1 Program In Yucatán, Elizabeth Durden

Faculty Journal Articles

Migration and remittances are increasingly central to development plans and the search for best practices has driven convergence of diaspora development policies. Mexico is often considered a model, particularly its Tres Por Uno or 3×1 Program that offers matching grants to encourage migrant organizations to sponsor development projects in their origin communities. We employ a policy mobilities framework to ask how this program has been positioned as a model and exported from its original contexts. With replication in other high emigration countries possible, we examine internal replication within Mexico to evaluate the model’s possible external relevance. We focus on its …

Migration And Child Domestic Work: Evidence From Ethiopia, Annabel Erulkar

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Domestic work is frequently the initial survival strategy for rural Ethiopian girls migrating to urban areas. Following migration from rural areas, most girls enter the workforce as domestic workers, because it is a readily available form of work requiring little or no education. In 2015–16, the Population Council undertook a study of migrant, out-of-school girls in urban and rural areas in six Ethiopian regions which demonstrated that this is a common phenomenon. Originating from poor rural areas and armed with little in the way of education, domestic workers receive low pay and frequently work in abusive situations, including sexual abuse. …

Birds Of Passage No Longer? The Mexican Population Of New York City, 2000 - 2015, Guillermo Yrizar Barbosa

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report examines the Mexican origin population in New York City in 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015.

Methods: This report is based on US Census Bureau’s Public Use Microdata Series (PUMS) data for 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015 organized and released by IPUMS USA at the Minnesota Population Center of the University of Minnesota. The author is very thankful to Averi Giudicessi for providing research support and editorial assistance to complete this report.

Results: The Big Apple’s Mexican origin population increased consistently from approximately 195,000 in 2000 to 376,000 in 2015. Mexicans retained their position as the third largest …

Life Expectancies With Depression By Age Of Migration And Gender Among Older Mexican Americans, Catherine García, Marc A. Garcia, Chi-Tsun Chiu, Fernando I. Rivera, Mukaila Raji

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Background and Objectives: Prior studies examining depression among older Mexican Americans suggest both women and immigrants are at higher risk of depressive symptomatology than males and U.S.-born Mexican Americans. We use data from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly to examine whether life expectancy with depression and without depression varies by nativity, age of migration, and gender.

Research Design and Methods: Sullivan-based life tables were used to estimate depression life expectancies among Mexican Americans aged 65 years and older residing in the Southwestern United States. Depression is based on the 20-item Center for Epidemiological Studies …

“If You Wanted Me To Speak Your Language Then You Should Have Stayed In Your Country”: A Critical Ethnography Of Linguistic Identity And Resiliency In The Life Of An Afghan Refugee, Logan M. Amstadter

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Nasreen and her family had not wanted to leave their native Afghanistan, but when the Taliban’s violence forced them to seek refuge in Iran, Nasreen found herself a teenager on the outskirts of Tehran. Discrimination, lack of opportunity, and an unwelcoming environment compelled her to make the dangerous overland journey from Iran to Turkey along with her husband, her brother, and her two sons. Now, they have asylum in the United States, where Nasreen is thriving—earning a degree at a community college and translating for other members of her community. Refusing to dwell on the past and enduringly optimistic about …

Navigating Risks Across Borders: The Lived Experiences Of Central American Women Migrants, Carla Angulo-Pasel

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The journey for ‘unauthorized’ migrant women from the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA) through Mexico dangerous and violent. In hopes of achieving safe passage to the United States (U.S.), women migrants will have to navigate borders. In this dissertation, I use the concept of borders to reveal the gendered experiences of (im)mobility. I argue that navigating borders throughout the migratory journey is not simply about experiencing the risks and vulnerabilities associated with restrictive border enforcement policies and practices implemented by the nation-state. (Im)mobility for women migrants is equally about the boundaries and/or barriers that are created by oppressive systems …

Religion, Nationality, And Empathetic Responses To Refugees, Reed Rasband

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Ethnic Identity Development Of 1.5 Generation Filipino American Immigrants: A Qualitative Study, Catherine Welsh

Masters Theses

This qualitative study examines ethnic identity development of 1.5 generation Filipino American immigrants in U.S. The survey methods used in the study were a demographic questionnaire, and semi-structured interview. Two Filipino students, one from the Southwest and the other from the Midwest regions of the U.S. participated in the study. Two research questions guided this study; what factors influence the ethnic identity development of the 1.5 generation Filipino American immigrants, and what strategies educators can use to facilitate 1.5 generation Filipino American immigrant student success. The results of the study revealed six themes. Three themes emerged from research question one …

Embracing New Experiences: Young Adult Literature About The Immigrant Experience, Ashley Hoppenjan

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to identify themes in quality young adult realistic fiction about the immigrant experience in the United States. The researcher questioned which themes are evident in young adult immigrant literature. To pursue this information, the researcher analyzed highly recommended young adult realistic fiction published from 2000 to 2017. Twelve novels were selected, read, and coded. After the first reading, two novels were eliminated; therefore, ten novels are reported. Analysis revealed six themes including: causes of immigration, assimilation, perseverance, identity, socioeconomic status, and stereotypes.

Routes, Locations, And Social Imaginary: A Comparative Study Of The On-Going Production Of Geographies In Somali Forced Migration, Marnie Shaffer, Giulia Ferrato, Zaheera Jinnah

All Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Drawing on the thresholds approach, a model that incorporates geography and mobility studies to understand migration from the perspective of migrants, this article examines the importance of location and route(s) in determining the journeys of Somali migrants. We use the protracted displacement of Somalis to address the process through which actual and perceived geographies are produced and reconfigured by Somali migrants on the move. In doing so, we look at how different migration paths, connected through transnational networks, influence the geographical perception of migrants at the core of any cross-border experience. Employing ethnographic fieldwork with Somalis in South Africa and …

Implications Of The Second World War Us Refugee Resettlement Efforts Of Cecilia Razovsky And Varian Fry, Stacey Shaw

Faculty Publications

Despite anti-immigrant sentiment and severe restrictions on immigration to the us during the Second World War, many individuals and organisations fought to change attitudes and utilise the limited possibilities available. Cecilia Razovsky worked throughout this era to utilise quotas, increase awareness, and avoid negative attention that could hinder immigration. Varian Fry provided practical and legal assistance to refugees fleeing France until he was stopped by government officials. Razovsky has remained largely unknown but Varian Fry has drawn attention as an example of America’s best intentions. The Second World War is frequently invoked in contemporary discourse surrounding immigration and the stories …