Browsing by Subject "Undocumented immigrants"
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Item Dando voz a la comunidad : including undocumented immigrants in U.S. city planning(2009-12) Garcia, Dana Kathryn; Mueller, Elizabeth J.The purpose of this research is to better understand why undocumented immigrants do not typically participate in U.S. city planning processes, and present recommendations for improved inclusion. This report provides a brief background into the presence of undocumented immigrants in the U.S., their unique civic organization, and the need to include them in the planning of our cities and communities. The East Riverside Corridor Master Plan, (currently under the adoption process by the City of Austin, Texas) serves as a case study for the report. East Riverside is an area that is predominantly Hispanic and home to a large stock of immigrant workforce housing, yet the plan’s public participation phase saw little to no contributions from the zone’s lowincome immigrant residents. Austin city planners’ perspectives are presented in the report, as are the views and ideas of undocumented women who live in East Riverside low-income housing. Suggestions for re-conceptualizing the planning discipline are presented, as well as general tools for how city planners could better include undocumented immigrants.Item From la migra to el amigo : the INS' campaign to befriend undocumented immigrants during IRCA(2014-05) Romero, Luis Antonio Jr.; Rodriguez, NestorBefore the passage of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), the relationship between undocumented immigrants and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was highly antagonistic. Undocumented immigrants were distrustful of the immigration service due to its deportation mission that implemented deceitful tactics, which included using immigrant children to lure their undocumented parents and sending letters to immigrants promising legalization only to deport them once they arrived to INS offices among many others. However, this changed for a brief period after the passage of IRCA when INS transformed its image in the eyes of immigrants and became their amigo – their friend. INS accomplished this by engaging in a furious public relations campaign and training their staff to be supportive of immigrants as they applied for legal status – unprecedented measures for an agency that was set on deporting immigrants. Immigrants began to trust INS and went to them for help to get legalization during IRCA, something that experts thought would be impossible. While the literature on IRCA has studied its legislative history, short-term effects and long-term impact, it has overlooked the central question this study analyzes: why did INS implement unprecedented measures to help undocumented immigrants attain legalization? Using congressional hearings on INS, interviews and public statements made by INS officials, institutional evaluations of IRCA’s implementation, news articles and secondary data, I show that INS was going through a legitimation crisis, meaning that Congress and other overseeing institutions questioned INS’ effectiveness and management leading to stagnation in INS’ growth, something INS wanted to change. Implementing the legalization component of IRCA successfully was one way in which INS could regain its standing in the eyes of Congress, which meant helping immigrants attain legal status. In other words, the interests of immigrants and INS converged during IRCA leading to a change in INS’ behavior. To understand this process, this study shows how INS went from being la migra (immigration services) to el amigo of undocumented immigrants during IRCA.Item Luchando para salir adelante : economic migration, social ties and poverty resistance strategies of undocumented Latin American immigrants to Texas(2016-05) Scott, Jennifer Lauren; Padilla, Yolanda C.; Auyero, Javier; DiNitto, Diana; Gilbert, Dorie; Villarreal, MagdalenaIn the contemporary context of economic inequality, policies of immigrant exclusion have shifted focus to Latino immigrants, particularly the undocumented. Such policies and the prejudice inspiring them further marginalize undocumented people who are already excluded from formal employment and state resources. Still, over 6 million undocumented Latinos make the U.S. their home. In the face of this social and economic exclusion, how do they survive economically? Research on the ‘survival question’ has shifted over the last several decades from understanding survival as reliant on strong social ties, to weaker ties, to ties considered “disposable.” Is this pattern consistent among all economically excluded groups? This mixed-methods study investigated poverty resistance strategies of undocumented Latino immigrants. I analyzed nationally representative data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation to measure their economic wellbeing. Second, I used thematic analysis of 49 in-depth interviews with undocumented Latinos, informed by observation, to explore their survival strategies use of social ties. Undocumented Latinos were significantly more likely to face hardship measured by direct indicators (material hardship and food insecurity) than their documented counterparts. Social support reduced this likelihood of hardship. La lucha frames participation in economic life by connecting economic experiences to broader economic and sociopolitical forces, to a strategy for coping with life in an increasingly hostile socioeconomic context, and to a goal, salir adelante, to get ahead. Palancas, social ties defined by connections to resources, structure social networks. Their use strengthens access to resources and the connections themselves. Navigating la lucha, undocumented Latinos practice administration to maximize resources from formal sector work and informal sales in conjunction with social ties. The undocumented Latino experience suggests that the prior assessment of increasing reliance on weaker social ties may not be universal among the economically excluded. Although undocumented Latinos may face greater economic hardship, reduction in hardship with social support and reliance on social ties indicates a need for interventions that strengthen ties to reinforce economies of scale. Challenges they face to get ahead point to economic, immigration and social welfare policy reform necessary to ensure their ability to salir adelante out of the shadows.