This thesis describes, conceptualizes and analyzes local reactions to the establishment of a refugee center in a small, remote mining community in Malmliden, rural Sweden, in the early 1990s. The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the local and wider contexts in which the reactions took place and to understand reactions in relation to these contexts. The study combined qualitative interviews, participant observation and the analysis of texts from different sources: daily press, historical and policy documents. Twenty-seven persons were included in the interview study (nineteen respondents and eight key infor-mants). Interviews with the nineteen respondents (nine men and ten women) were based on a semi-structured interview manual and were carried out during the winter of 1993 and the spring of 1994. Theo-retical frames and concepts were chosen in an elaborative way that was suitable for the empirical findings that gradually developed. In short, theoretical considerations that focus on social and political processes of inclusion and exclusion, ethnic relations and categorizations and the interplay between the social and the individual frame the analysis. The analysis is more closely informed by perspectives on how the atti-tudes toward the asylum seeker (as an immigrant but also as a welfare-state client), as a representation of “the other”, are socially produced. This study revealed that the inhabitants had dual reactions to the localized refugee center in Malm-liden. The reactions could neither be characterised as positive nor negative. They were summarized as ambivalent and were expressed spatially and socially. The spatial aspects include a number of inhabitants’ positive experiences of the refugee center as something that brought vitality to the slumbering neighbor-hood, while others thought of the refugee center as something disturbing and displaced. The social aspects involved a number of inhabitant’s embrace of the refugee center and the asylum seekers, whereas others distance themselves from the center and the refugees. While some inhabitants were enriched by the con-tact with asylum seekers, others dissociated themselves from the refugees and other inhabitants who were involved with the refugee centre. Some of the reactions were expressed as resistance. These reactions were mostly expressed latently, toward the authorities or local Policy makers and not directly toward the refugees or the refugee center The inhabitants blamed the establishment of the refugee center and those employed there for the poor state of things because they represented symbols of change and uncertainty. Therefore, initially the resistance could not be understood as rooted in emotional antipathy toward refu-gees as a (ethnic) group or as individuals, but rather as resistance against a perceived intrusion into the neighborhood autonomy. However, the strategies of the inhabitants were avoidance of contact with the refugee center and the stigmatization of the refugees. Therefore, the actions of resistance resulted in a racialization of place and ethnic segregation. The dual reactions of the inhabitants were contextual, and in which local as well as national circumstances played a considerable role in shaping the inhabitants’ experiences. At both national and local levels, the attitudes and practices directed toward asylum seekers and refugees were ambivalent. The reasons for the local acceptance of asylum seekers were ambivalent, and in which both actions of solidarity and economic considerations came into play. An external circum-stance influenced expectations and reactions to the refugee center was an ambivalent refugee policy which aimed to integrate the asylum seeker with a normalized habitat but with an institutional framing, which clearly made the asylum seeker into a client. Another external factor was the welfare state position of the asylum seeker, as he or she was positioned in an ambivalent juridical, social and political position. The overall conclusion is that the positions of the asylum seekers in the neighborhood of Malmliden were further stressed as welfare state clients and not as ordinary neighbors. A concluding image is that the contextual ambivalent positioning of the asylum seekers was reflected in the way the inhabitants regarded the asylum seekers as others in the neighborhood community.

Czech immigration to Latin America in the 20th century is relatively well-documented phenomena. Nevertheless it still opens up some areas that invites to detailed research. One of them is the Czech emigration to Chile in the first half of the 20th century. Due to the remoteness of the Chilean Republic immigration developed much later compared to the situation in traditional immigration countries that were mainly Argentina and Brazil. We can say it is the marginal area of the Czech migration although it is possible to find even in this small group of immigrants interesting life stories of Czechs that decided to try their luck in distant South America. This thesis aims to introduce main periods of the Czech immigration to Chile in the first half of the 20th century and to describe the life stories of Czechs who have left a significant legacy in Chilean society. Author also intends to focus on motives of choosing Chile as a final destination, Chilean migration policy in the particular periods and also to development of compatriots' activity in the areas of concentration of Czech citizens. Unfortunately there is not much literature related to this issue and that is why author will primarily derive from the archival sources of Chilean or Czechoslovak origin (Archive of the Czech Ministry of Foreign...

Master of Arts / Department of Economics / Tracy M. Turner / The report examines the fiscal impact of undocumented persons at the federal, state, and local levels in order to explain the likely effects of an amnesty program. The report first provides background on the population of undocumented persons in the United States and an overview of the laws which govern their status. Details of past and current amnesty legislation are given. The channels through which undocumented immigrants have a fiscal impact on the three levels of government in the United States are explained. The paper discusses the economic theory relating to immigration and its effect on economic growth. Published works on the fiscal impact of the undocumented on state and local budgets and on federal programs such as social security are reviewed. The research reviewed includes an analysis of the long-term fiscal impact of immigrants. Undocumented immigrants impose a net cost at the state and local levels in most cases. However, many undocumented immigrants make income and payroll tax payments and the population of undocumented immigrants imposes a net benefit at the federal level. These sources of information are then used to explain how an amnesty program might change the fiscal impact of the undocumented at the three levels of government. The recent executive order signed by President Obama, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), is an amnesty program that has a strong potential to help the U.S. economy retain young and highly educated workers, who have a positive fiscal impact on government finances. This report draws certain recommendations for the design of a successful amnesty and for implementing other immigration reforms from published research.

The research problem this dissertation addresses is how judicial practices generate administrative justice in asylum determination procedures. Previous research on immigration policies argues that when asylum determinations are processed in courts, principles of administrative justice are ensured and immigrants’ rights protected. In this dissertation, I challenge that argument by approaching administrative justice as an empirical phenomenon open for different types of interpretations. Instead of assuming that administrative justice characterizes courts, I assume that this concept acquires particular meanings through the practices of the courts. Empirically, this dissertation studies practices of assessing asylum claims at the Swedish migration courts. The migration courts are the result of a major reform of the Swedish asylum procedure that took place in 2006, with the motive to end inhumane rejections of asylum seekers by enhancing administrative justice in the asylum process. By interviewing and observing judges at the migration courts, litigators from the Migration Board and public counsels from different law firms, this interpretive and ethnographic study analyzes how administrative justice acquires meanings in the daily practices of assessing asylum claims at the migration courts. The main result is that a ceremonial version of administrative justice is generated at the migration courts. This version of administrative justice forefronts symbolic dimensions of justice. The asylum appeal procedure succeeds in communicating justice through rituals, building design and metaphors, which emphasize objectivity, impartiality and certainty on behalf of the judicial practices. However, these symbols of justice disguise several unfair aspects of the asylum appeal procedure, such as inequality in resources and trustworthiness between the state’s representative and the asylum applicants as well as the uncertainty inherent in both the factual and the credibility assessment of asylum claims. The implications of these findings are that immigration policy research needs to reconsider the relationship between the courts and immigrants’ rights by paying more attention to the everyday practices of ensuing administrative justice in courts than on the instances when courts oppose political attempts to restrict immigrants’ rights.

The thesis analyses the evolution of the common European immigration and asylum policy and its similarities or dissimilarities in comparison with the Spanish national immigration and asylum policy. This comparison has been made by using the theoretical base of Europeanization. This concept means bringing the European dimension down to the level of national states. I have come to the conclusion that the EU has an influence mainly on the external part of immigration policy which means above all the protection of the borders of Schengen area. On the other hand, there are areas such as granting permanent residence to the immigrants varies significantly in the EU member states. The process of europeanization does not have a clear and unified influence on domestic immigration and asylum and other domestic policies.

The freedom of movement is a human right concept that has always been confronted with some form of state regulation. I will focus on the international dimension of migration, especially immigration, which will be analyzed first on a general level and then on the example of Denmark. As this small European state is a typical activist in the field of human rights and a frequent participant in the humanitarian missions, one would say the Danish immigration policy can serve as an ideal example. However, this may not be true. My aim is to analyze the membership of Denmark in various international organizations dealing with immigration, EU in particular. Then, the relationship between the immigrants and Danish foreign policy with focus on Muslims will be considered. My research shows that the tendency of Denmark to restrict her immigration policy is a result of global development and has deep historical roots.

<p>Migration is a process that begins with the mere thought of moving, but it continues long after the individual arrives in her or his new home. The process is constrained by certain factors such as capital, immigration policy, and the existence of kinship networks. Individuals who are able to overcome these constraints and decide to migrate, must overcome a new set of challenges upon arrival in the host county. These challenges include the need to adapt to a new labour market, use of a new language, and integration with the rest of society. Human and social capital are important tools that allow immigrants to successfully meet these challenges. </p><p>Human and social capital play different roles in the migration process of these individuals. Human capital allows Mexican individuals to overcome the barriers to initial migration, but it does not ensure successful social or labour market integration. Social capital is a more effective tool in the resettlement process, and it also helps to strengthen transnational bonds. </p><p>The Mexican community in the Vancouver CMA does not rely on a complex set of kinship networks. However, this study found that there is an ongoing process to create social capital. This process simultaneously encourages the formation of nationality-based social capital (i.e. bonding social capital) and bridging social capital. These types of capital are important because they help the community to overcome the challenges of integrating into the labour market as well as the larger society. Furthermore, the person-to-person contact between Mexicans and the rest of society fosters mutual understanding. Since much of the Mexican community maintains strong ties to the source country, integration is an important point of reference for further engagement between Mexico and Canada.</p>

Migration is a process that begins with the mere thought of moving, but it continues long after the individual arrives in her or his new home. The process is constrained by certain factors such as capital, immigration policy, and the existence of kinship networks. Individuals who are able to overcome these constraints and decide to migrate, must overcome a new set of challenges upon arrival in the host county. These challenges include the need to adapt to a new labour market, use of a new language, and integration with the rest of society. Human and social capital are important tools that allow immigrants to successfully meet these challenges. Human and social capital play different roles in the migration process of these individuals. Human capital allows Mexican individuals to overcome the barriers to initial migration, but it does not ensure successful social or labour market integration. Social capital is a more effective tool in the resettlement process, and it also helps to strengthen transnational bonds. The Mexican community in the Vancouver CMA does not rely on a complex set of kinship networks. However, this study found that there is an ongoing process to create social capital. This process simultaneously encourages the formation of nationality-based social capital (i.e. bonding social capital) and bridging social capital. These types of capital are important because they help the community to overcome the challenges of integrating into the labour market as well as the larger society. Furthermore, the person-to-person contact between Mexicans and the rest of society fosters mutual understanding. Since much of the Mexican community maintains strong ties to the source country, integration is an important point of reference for further engagement between Mexico and Canada.

The primary purpose of this thesis is to analyse the Swedish Trade Union Confederation, the LO’s, mediated rhetoric, arguments and social and institutional practices in the process of forming the LO’s policy regarding the introduction, incorporation and participation of immigrants in Swedish society in general, the workplace and the trade union movement in the period 1945–1981. The theoretical purpose is to explore how power relations of superiority and subordination based primarily on the categories of class, ethnicity and nation, but also on gender and to some extent generation, have been formed through ideological processes of inclusion and boundary drawing in rhetorical speeches, texts and institutional practices within the framework of an explicit class-based community as the LO constituted. The results demonstrate that the LO had an ambivalent attitude towards labour immigration in an expanding post-war Swedish economy. On the one hand the trade unions accepted that industrial growth and general welfare reforms were dependent on the labour supply. On the other hand, the LO feared that uncontrolled labour immigration would be a disadvantage for indigenous workers, since wages could be kept low and obsolete industrial sectors could be maintained and the “solidarity wage policy” could be endangered because of the influx of migrant labour. Organising the immigrants was a central part of the union movement’s strategy, and the LO also insisted from the very beginning on equal wages and employment conditions between indigenous and immigrant workers to avoid wage pressures. During the second half of the 1960s and the 1970s, the LO repeatedly argued that the scale of immigration should be weighted against factors such as access to work, housing, social services, education and language teahcing. One major argument in the thesis is that within the LO, immigration policy measures were perceived to be a functional “adaptation” of immigrants to the already defined institutions, norms and national culture of the Swedish majority society. Accordingly, the immigrants were expected to adapt themselves to the “normal” Swedish and social democratic way of doing things in a rational and organised manner. During the 1970s, Swedish language training and company introduction with union attendance, translated information bulletins about the Swedish labour market and society, union courses and study circles could be seen as central means in a process of socialisation and “normalisation”. These policy measures were dimensions of a social democratic ideological identity project within the trade union movement, which was constructed as a symbol of the given national order and “the Swedish way of doing things”. The results also demonstrate how class, ethnicity, nation and gender have worked as structuring principles of power and status within the LO.

This dissertation investigates the labour migration from Southern Europe to Sweden, and the changes in Swedish immigration policy between 1960 and 1972. The first part of the dissertation examines the role of the state in shaping the migration streams from Southern Europe to Sweden. From the beginning of the 1950s to 1966, Sweden’s borders were relatively open, and this facilitated a significant amount of immigration. A system of unregulated individual labour migration developed, where foreign citizens could enter Sweden as tourists and thereafter look for work and obtain a work permit. For a significant period of time there doesn’t seem to have been any strong opposition to this laissez-faire system. This all changed during the 1960s, however, when the liberal immigration regulations were called into question. An important factor was that immigration increased dramatically in the mid-1960s. In addition, the national composition of the migration streams to Sweden changed during these years. Immigration from Yugoslavia, Greece and also from Turkey increased, while the number of immigrants from the Nordic countries diminished. In connection with the changing immigration pattern, certain actors, such as the trade unions and Sweden’s central employment authority, AMS, called for more restrictive immigration regulations. Demands from the trade unions and AMS led to a more stringent immigration control in 1966, and again in 1967, when a new Swedish immigration policy was introduced. Swedish research into changes in immigration policy during the 1960s often emphasizes the considerable influence of the trade unions on the policy shift. An argument put forward in this dissertation is that the intensification of immigration control not only reflected the demands of the trade unions, but that significant demands also came from within the state apparatus, and particularly from AMS. AMS was a relatively autonomous actor when the immigration regulations changed in 1966-1967, and its demands and knowledge regarding the influx of migrant labour made a significant contribution to the formation of the new immigration policy. The second part of the dissertation investigates how industrial companies have shaped the migration streams from Southern Europe to Sweden. Immigrants from Yugoslavia and Greece were often recruited in order to perform the heavy and subordinate work in the manufacturing industries that native workers had either avoided or left at that particular time. The dissertation attempts to explain this concentration of Southern Europeans in subordinate positions in the manufacturing industries. During the 1960s, Yugoslavs became the largest non-Nordic group in the migration streams to Sweden. How did Sweden become connected with this emigration country situated in the Mediterranean? A conclusion is that, to a great extent, the requirements and actions of industrial companies shaped the national composition of the migration streams to Sweden.