Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1964. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical essay (leaves 419-435) and bibliographical references.

The dissertation analyzes and compares the responses of governmental policymakers in Mexico and the United States as they confronted a growing influx of Central American migrants in the 1980s. The study examines how two countries with contrasting political systems, economic capabilities, and international positions approached the issue of refugee policy relating to Central Americans. A central objective of the analysis involves identifying the set or sets of independent variables--domestic policy concerns, foreign policy interests, and international law considerations--that exert the most influence over the design of refugee policy and assessing how their influence changes depending on the characteristics of the refugee population, the capabilities of the two countries, and the degree of openness of their political systems. While the study shows that the process of designing refugee policy involves accommodating competing goals shaped by all three sets of independent variables, it concludes that national capabilities determine the set of independent variables dominating the process, with foreign policy interests exerting more influence over the United States and domestic policy and international legal considerations affecting Mexican policy to a greater extent. The set of variables that dominates shapes the generosity or restrictiveness of the policy and determines other features of the policy design. The degree of political openness further influences the policy design process by allowing for the participation of domestic interest groups. In the United States with its open political system, domestic opponents forced the government to adopt a more generous policy over time, although domestic interest groups affected policy implementation to a limited extent in Mexico as well. The study examines the relationship among the variables by comparing case studies that detail the policy responses of Mexico and the United States through the use of a policy design framework. This framework identifies the core elements of each country's policy--its goals, targets, agents, and instruments--and then traces the policy's development through its several implementation and revision stages. The use of a policy design framework facilitates a systematic comparison of the two cases and promotes an evaluation of policy outcomes both in terms of the fulfillment of goals and the impact of policy on the refugee population.

The Refugee Act of 1980 established the first comprehensive U.S. refugee policy. It codified a refugee definition and created the annual consultation process, which requires the president to consult with Congress before determining annual refugee ceilings and resettlement plans. While the Refugee Act of 1980 remains intact, the annual refugee admissions and resettlement plans have changed considerably. The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze this policy to explore its changes from 1980-2018 through the lens of social construction theory. According to this theory, the social constructions of target populations affect policy designs that are adopted with respect to these populations. Policy designs can create and legitimize divisions among different target populations causing some to be perceived and treated as more deserving than others. This dissertation uses a qualitative research design to analyze narratives within presidential proposal documents and congressional hearings that are held as part of the annual consultation process. These documents serve as the data for this dissertation. I undertake a detailed analysis of the documents of one annual consultation process and related congressional hearings for each president in the period between 1980-2018. In these documents and hearings, different policy actors (congressional members, representatives of the executive branch and state and local governments, and other experts) provide testimony and expert opinions on refugee admissions and resettlement. It is in this context that refugees as a target population are constructed and policies to deal with refugees are debated and discussed by various policy actors. To understand these constructions and the context in which they are created, the narrative analysis elements offered by the narrative policy framework are used as a method. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Ethnic and religious conflict, and the deepening of capitalism have led to global diaspora at unprecedented levels. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported that as of 2015, 1 in every 122 persons worldwide were either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum. The U.S. currently admits the largest number of refugees worldwide. However, policies fail to reflect the multitude of elements that constitute successful resettlement. Moreover, many refugees come from farming backgrounds and are forced to migrate to a landless urban environment, where their skill sets may not be utilized and farm land is not available. I argue that existing resettlement processes are embedded in logics and practices that alienate humans from nature and from each other through competition, isolation, and placeless environments. Through an exploration in concepts of urban agriculture, place-making, identity, and otherness, and illuminating the experiences of resettled refugees involved in a community gardening project in Fort Worth, Texas, show how the urban refugee garden provides the individual a space to narrate an identity, and to resist industrial agriculture and labor outside their industry. Exploring best practices in resettlement should be a priority to governments, politicians, and communities involved in the process and highlight the reasons to advocate these types of resettlement alternatives.

Soviet Evangelicals (a term inclusive of Pentecostals and other Christians of evangelical persuasion from former Soviet countries) are members of one of the most recent refugee-status groups to come to the United States. Being refugees, they are guaranteed, by the U.S. government, a degree of English language instruction. As a result, since 1989, adult ESL classes in the Pacific Northwest have had a large influx of Soviet Evangelical students. Because of the scant research as yet conducted on this student population, most ESL educators have had to rely on intuition and observations to interpret Soviet Evangelicals' needs, desires and behavior in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to discover and describe the cultural and educational values of Soviet Evangelicals that affect learning and impact student participation in ESL classes. Four questions were asked: 1) What are the Soviet Evangelicals' modes of learning? 2) What have been the Soviet Evangelicals' classroom experiences in teacher/student interaction patterns? 3) How do the Soviet Evangelicals view the teacher? 4) What are the cultural values of the Soviet Evangelicals that relate to teaching methods and classroom practice? Through a qualitative case study approach, two adult ESL classes were observed for a ten week period, using participant observation methodology. Ethnographic interviews were conducted with five students from one class and four students from a second class. And a survey, designed to elicit preferred modes of learning, was conducted with the students in both classes. With the data gathered from the research, a cultural framework was developed and implications for teaching were drawn; both of which can be used by ESL educators to make cross-cultural analyses of teaching methods and classroom activities.

Mode of access: World Wide Web. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 399-413). / Electronic reproduction. / Also available by subscription via World Wide Web / xiv, 413 leaves, bound 29 cm

Diasporas have been occurring for thousands of years, and today globalization has facilitated the quick rate at which diasporas occur on a global scale. Diasporas entail the mass movement of refugees across international borders, and diasporic peoples today now find themselves journeying across oceans and continents to the safety of host cities in a matter of weeks or days. My research analyzes the effects that Bosnian immigrants have had on the cultural landscape of Bowling Green, Kentucky. When people move, they bring their cultures with them, and this type of cultural diffusion impacts the landscape of the host cities. As geographic research on diasporas is limited, this study aims to fill the gap that exists. Bowling Green, Kentucky, was selected for this analysis due to its large refugee population. Some of Bowling Green’s refugee population is comprised of immigrants from Iraq, Burma, Cambodia, and Sudan. Bosnians comprise the largest population of refugees in the city. In addition to examining immigrant policies and theories, the impacts of the Bosnian diaspora on Bowling Green’s cultural landscape will also be identified. Understanding how those cultures modify landscapes is an important part of diasporic research. The data used for this study were acquired through surveys, census details, telephone directories, interviews, and the extant literature. The hypothesis of this study is that Bosnian immigrants have a stronger visual impact on Bowling Green’s cultural landscape than other immigrant ethnic groups due to their large representation in the city.