As embodiments of the state, low- to mid-level "officials," such as bureaucrats, educators, and border guards, possess the power to regulate immigrant citizenship and belonging through their everyday actions. In the Mexico-Guatemala border city of Tapachula, Chiapas, the growing inflow of Central American immigrants and the subsequent creation of immigration policies have led to increased interactions between low- to mid-level officials and immigrants. Very little is known, however, about how these officials working on the ground interpret and implement their powers on an everyday basis; how their actions impact immigrant experience and exercise of social and political citizenship rights; and how immigrants respond to and negotiate interactions with these officials. Because of their power, low- to mid-level officials can affect immigrants' vulnerability to exploitation, domestic violence and other human rights violations that are increasingly prevalent in the region. This doctoral dissertation research project will describe low- to mid-level officials' everyday actions in implementing and interpreting migration policy, and it will demonstrate how low- to mid-level officials support or contradict official migration policies and understand the institutional norms that influence these actions. Additional objectives of this project are to understand and describe Central American immigrants' experiences with low- to mid-level officials, including how their experience varies across gender, ethnicity, race, and class, and to describe Central American immigrants' feelings of political citizenship and belonging as a result of their interactions with officials. The doctoral student will draw upon and contribute to theories on the micro-scale operations of state power in feminist geopolitics, feminist migration studies, and citizenship studies in geography. The project will employ a qualitative, multi-method approach based on in-depth interviews with officials and Central American immigrants; participatory workshops with immigrants; and participant observation of officials' interactions with immigrants in institutional spaces. All of these components will contribute to the construction of an institutional ethnography describing how officials and immigrants negotiate state power.
This project will broaden and deepen basic understanding regarding how migration policies are implemented and enforced on the ground as well as the resulting responses of immigrants. The project will contribute to academic theory and understandings of migration, and it will provide information and insights that will contribute to efforts to improve relationships between officials and immigrants. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.
Global immigration and the changing nature and role of the "nation-state" in an increasingly borderless world are topics that fuel debate in the news media, policy arenas and academia alike. Increased immigration has impacts in both sending and receiving societies. In countries of reception, immigrants grapple with the question of "belonging" and citizenship. Meanwhile service providers, educators, health care workers and other low-to-mid level officials are tasked with the challenge of attending to new and distinct populations. This project focuses on how these processes are reflected in the case of Central American immigration on Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala. Lately, the topic has received media attention because many Central Americans cross through Mexico to reach the United States, and because of the increased and brutal human rights abuses immigrants face in Mexico such as kidnapping, forced labor, state and gang violence, and rape. This migration flow is one of the largest in the North American system, yet few studies have attempted to understand its root causes and the impacts it has in sending and receiving societies. This research began in September 2010 with fieldwork in the Mexico-Guatemala border city of Tapachula in the Mexican state of Chiapas, where the growing inflow of permanent Central American immigrants and subsequent creation of immigration policies has meant increased and intensified interactions between low-to-mid level "officials" and migrants. As embodiments of the state, low-to-mid level officials such as bureaucrats, educators, and border guards possess the power to regulate (im)migrant citizenship and belonging through their everyday actions. However, we know little about how these officials working on the ground interpret and implement their powers to enact policy on an everyday basis; how this impacts the immigrant experience and exercise of social and political citizenship; and how immigrants in turn respond to and negotiate their interactions with officials. Because of their power, low-to-mid level officials can positively or negatively affect immigrants’ vulnerability to exploitation, domestic violence and other human rights violations for which the region is increasingly known. This project examines how low-to-mid level officials in Tapachula embody state power to regulate migration and the subsequent impacts these actions have on Central American immigrant integration, citizenship and sense of belonging. The main outcomes of this research further our understanding of how the immigrant experience is shaped by both adversarial and positive treatment by officials, and takes into account the effects of these experiences on the body, the psyche, immigrants’ sense of belonging, and resistance. By also including the perspective of the officials, it considers how the climate of fear surrounding immigration and crime, stress and pressure on the job shape their actions and opinions. Not only does the research highlight the impacts of adversity, discrimination and stress on Central American immigrants, but it also captures the root causes of these phenomena by studying how low-level officials develop their opinions, actually interpret policies and use their power over immigrants. The documentation of what happens in local spaces of bureaucracy as policies are implemented by officials is often absent from work on violence against Central American immigrants. Understanding the "big picture," will aid in the creation of more sound migration policy, grassroots action, as well as guidelines for better implementation of policies and curricula for capacity building for officials. Thus, the goals of this project include disseminating results beyond the academy, and working with community partners in Mexico and the United States to raise awareness of the consequences of unseen forms of violence against immigrants to hopefully influence international immigration debates.
