Thesis advisor: Timothy Duket / The United States of America's official seal is inscribed with the quote “E Pluribus Unum.” Translated from the Latin, this phrase means “From Many, One.” Modern America is in fact one nation, built from many; many cultures, religions, and citizens from many different origins comprise the American polity. America is a nation of immigrants. The first immigrants to this country were fleeing religious persecution. Others have come escaping a life of poverty or political repression. Whatever the reason, immigrants come to America in hope of a better life. Despite America's strong immigrant tradition, the issue of membership in the American polity has been a contentious issue throughout our history. Chinese Exclusion, and the National Origins Quota System are merely two policies implemented with the express purpose of keeping foreigners out of America. Over time, anti-immigrant sentiment in America has been fueled by nativism and the desire to allow economic prosperity to benefit American citizens. While nativism has played an important role in determining American immigration policy, many modern-day arguments for a restrictive immigration policy are based on economic considerations. It is often claimed that immigrants take jobs away from citizens. Economic research has shown that modern-day immigrants tend to be lower skilled and have a lower economic performance than natives. As a result, the presence of a large number of immigrants does create greater job competition and lower wages for citizens in low-paying jobs. The desire to keep jobs available for American citizens has been a primary cause of existing restrictions on immigration. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2003. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

A Argentina é o principal destino migratório da América do Sul, com uma população estrangeira estimada pela ONU em mais de 2 milhões em 2017. Após a aprovação de uma nova lei de migrações em 2004, a Argentina promoveu políticas direcionadas a dar maior proteção aos imigrantes e diminuir a incidência de irregularidade. Estes ideais foram exportados ao Mercosul, e a política migratória da Argentina se vinculou ao bloco. Entretanto, desde que Mauricio Macri chegou à presidência em 2015, a política migratória argentina tem sido reorientada para uma perspectiva de segurança. Esta mudança pode ser explicada não somente pelas diferenças ideológicas que este governo traz em relação aos antecessores, mas também pela observação das condições impostas pelo contexto político doméstico e internacional. Assim, este artigo tem dois objetivos: caracterizar e analisar a política migratória do governo Macri; e explicar quais fatores domésticos e internacionais criam incentivos para uma política migratória orientada para a segurança. Dentre estes, incluem-se, de um lado, demandas da autoridade migratória, o lugar que a coalizão governista ocupa no sistema partidário argentino; e de outro, as preferências de Macri em política exterior, e a tendência regional pela busca de modelos mais flexíveis de integração. / Argentina is South America\'s main immigrant receiving country, with a foreign population estimated by the UN at more than 2 million in 2017. After the approval of a new immigrant law in 2004, Argentina has promoted policies aimed to protect immigrants\' rights and promote their regulation. These ideals were exported to Mercosur, and the country\'s immigrant policy became attached to the block. However, since Mauricio Macri assumed the presidency in late 2015, Argentine immigrant policy has been reoriented towards a security perspective. This move can be explained not only by ideological differences between administrations, but also by observing how both domestic and international contexts pose constraints. Thus, this article has two goals: describing and analyzing immigrant policy under Mauricio Macri; explaining domestic and international factors that create incentives to a more security-oriented immigrant policy. These include, on the one hand, demands from the migration authority and the place of the ruling coalition within the party system; and on the other hand, Macri\'s on foreign policy and the regional trend for searching a more flexible model of integration.

A Argentina é o principal destino migratório da América do Sul, com uma população estrangeira estimada pela ONU em mais de 2 milhões em 2017. Após a aprovação de uma nova lei de migrações em 2004, a Argentina promoveu políticas direcionadas a dar maior proteção aos imigrantes e diminuir a incidência de irregularidade. Estes ideais foram exportados ao Mercosul, e a política migratória da Argentina se vinculou ao bloco. Entretanto, desde que Mauricio Macri chegou à presidência em 2015, a política migratória argentina tem sido reorientada para uma perspectiva de segurança. Esta mudança pode ser explicada não somente pelas diferenças ideológicas que este governo traz em relação aos antecessores, mas também pela observação das condições impostas pelo contexto político doméstico e internacional. Assim, este artigo tem dois objetivos: caracterizar e analisar a política migratória do governo Macri; e explicar quais fatores domésticos e internacionais criam incentivos para uma política migratória orientada para a segurança. Dentre estes, incluem-se, de um lado, demandas da autoridade migratória, o lugar que a coalizão governista ocupa no sistema partidário argentino; e de outro, as preferências de Macri em política exterior, e a tendência regional pela busca de modelos mais flexíveis de integração. / Argentina is South America\'s main immigrant receiving country, with a foreign population estimated by the UN at more than 2 million in 2017. After the approval of a new immigrant law in 2004, Argentina has promoted policies aimed to protect immigrants\' rights and promote their regulation. These ideals were exported to Mercosur, and the country\'s immigrant policy became attached to the block. However, since Mauricio Macri assumed the presidency in late 2015, Argentine immigrant policy has been reoriented towards a security perspective. This move can be explained not only by ideological differences between administrations, but also by observing how both domestic and international contexts pose constraints. Thus, this article has two goals: describing and analyzing immigrant policy under Mauricio Macri; explaining domestic and international factors that create incentives to a more security-oriented immigrant policy. These include, on the one hand, demands from the migration authority and the place of the ruling coalition within the party system; and on the other hand, Macri\'s on foreign policy and the regional trend for searching a more flexible model of integration.

This thesis consists of three empirical case studies, originally published as MERGE- papers ('Papers on transcultural studies' published at MERGE, Centre for Studies on Migration, Ethnic Relations and Globalisation at the Department of Sociology, University of Umeå), brought together and framed by a lengthier introduction. The empirical studies examine Swedish refugee reception activities, including the experiences of refugees themselves, with a focus on organisational and inter-organisational matters, and, in this context, the suitability as well as problems, mechanisms and issues, of implementation. According to Swedish policy aims since the mid-70s, immigrants are guaranteed equality, freedom of choice and partnership in relation to social, political and cultural rights. Based upon this background, an ambitious institutionalisation of refugee reception and integration policy was initiated in 1985, implicating the setting up of a new reception system involving almost every Swedish municipality. However, this political reform came to meet with fundamental problems, such as the absence of clear political goals and a remarkably low priority in the work of local political bodies. As a consequence, the ability and the ambitions of civil servants to apply an integrated approach to the reception process, and to foster growing co-operation among relevant local institutions to improve services and opportunities for integration, have not materialised as intended. These deficiencies of local integration policies appear to be connected with implementation problems, issues and obstacles, such as a lack of developed inter-organisational co-ordination mechanisms, lack of a clear division of labour and responsibility among concerned parties, economic obstruction etc. In addition to this, the resources that local refugee receptions have had at their disposal have been a high degree varying and unstable, with the consequence that the reception's organisation, e.g. as immigrant bureaus, has been subjected to constant remoulding. Continuous initiatives for restructuring the reception procedures seem seldom have been well suited, and in addition to this, there has been a lack of opportunities for influence by the refugees themselves concerning conditions of reception and inroads into integration. The conclusion is, somewhat paradoxical, that many of the refugee reception's political-administrative problems are fabricated by and within the refugee reception system and immigrant policy itself. In the thesis, a general background for necessary improvements of the service for refugees is outlined, making possible a lot of reformistic suggestions. While the thesis lays bare the problems with refugee reception, its policy and implementation, it also acknowledges important positive achievements of Swedish refugee reception and its political-administrative ambitions and framework. The reason that the effects of these positive efforts and achievements haven't materialised in successful integration to a higher degree, is also due to 'external' factors, like exclusion from the labour market, social exclusion through segregation, marginalisation and discrimination, processes of racialisation etc. These kinds of ramifying 'external' factors can only to a limited extent be influenced by local actors alone. The conclusion is that a successful integration cannot be achieved solely through measures within the practical institutional setting of the local refugee reception system itself, but must be underpinned and enforced by a more generalised inclusionary or anti-exclusionary politics, a generally more decided political will and over-all more purposeful measures securing a higher degree of suited implementation. / digitalisering@umu

This thesis examines Switzerland’s conflict around the integration of non-citizens in the context of the Swiss system of direct democracy. Through a case study on three recent referendum initiatives on immigrant policy, my research sought to answer the question: How does the use of referenda on immigrant policy impact public discourses on the social and political integration of non-citizens in German-speaking Switzerland? In exploring this question, I focused on how public discourses addressed the link between direct democracy, immigrant policy and non-citizen experiences. I analysed political advertisements, newspaper articles, and data collected in an interview with Swiss resident author Dragica Rajčić. My research findings showed that the use of referendum initiatives to make decisions on immigrant policy has had a significant impact on integration discourses. In particular, it has provided the conservative nationalist Swiss People’s Party with the opportunity to move their political agenda to the forefront of public debates. My findings also demonstrated that non-citizen perspectives were marginalized in the public discourses under examination. I therefore concluded that the process of transforming the Swiss conflict around the integration of immigrants will require Swiss governments to re-imagine how the political participation of non-citizens can be institutionalized. Granting non-citizens a more active political role would promote cross-cultural dialogue and understanding, making Switzerland’s direct democracy more democratic. / Graduate

The research highlights Salvadoran migrants’ identities within the United States since their departure from El Salvador during its Civil War. The purpose of this research is to provide a historical context of the Civil War and an analysis of the transitions of documentation that occur upon arriving to the United States. In doing so, I demonstrate how physical documentation builds an influential and detrimental power over the Salvadoran migrants’ participation within the community. It is important to mention the Civil War because of two reasons: one, for its introduction to various stages of enduring violence, and two, for its impact on migration laws towards Salvadoran refugees. This research not only portrays the various shifts of aggression, but it also distinguishes documentation as a juxtaposition between legality and classism. More importantly, the findings reveal a correlation between these dynamics of violent documentation and the Salvadorans’ distorted, misguided, and inconclusive perceptions that they hold about the concepts of belonging and identity.

Due to a steady increase in the number of asylum-seekers in Sweden over the past few years, the topic of immigration has generated increased attention. As a consequence, the political parties have recently presented a range of policy changes. Several of the policy proposals addressed the current housing situation for asylum-seekers and refugees. The aim of this master’s thesis is to highlight the areas of asylum immigration policy and housing policy, in an attempt to reveal overlaps and interrelationships which influence the establishment of asylum-seekers and refugees in their host society. By using a comparative discourse analysis, the thesis investigates the concepts of migration and domestic immigrant policies in a European context, focusing on Italy, the United Kingdom and Denmark. This is followed by an in-depth study of Sweden. The Swedish perspective is enriched by qualitative expert interviews and statistical data on migration and housing. The results from the gathered research emphasises the great influence of domestic housing policies have on asylum-seekers and refugees’ establishment. Each analysed country has structural barriers that restrict asylum-seekers and refugees from becoming established on the housing market. These policy barriers operate on different governance levels, which mutually affect each other. In turn, this situation complicates a holistic approach to create an effective immigrant housing policy.