Doctoral Dissertation Research: A Geographic Analysis of U.S. Border Patrol Humanitarian Initiatives

Clark University, Worcester MA

Investigators

Abstract

Since the early 1990s, U.S.-Mexico border enforcement efforts have pushed unauthorized migration routes into the harsh terrain of southern Arizona, thereby unintentionally causing an exponential increase in unauthorized migrant deaths in this region. In response, humanitarian initiatives aimed at reducing unauthorized migrant deaths have been launched by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency and implemented by the U.S. Border Patrol. Despite these efforts and decreased migration flows, migrant mortality rates continue to climb, with mortality rates increasing from 1.1 persons per 10,000 migrants to 5.5 persons per 10,000 migrants between 2000 and 2008. Furthermore, there is a yet-to-be-explained gendered dimension of migrant mortality rates, with female migrants being 2.6 times more likely to die than male migrants. While research has pointed to a number of factors like migration routes, jurisdictional structure, and pre-crossing conditions that influence migrant mortality rates, little is known about the institutional policies and daily practices through which humanitarian interventions are implemented by the U.S. Border Patrol and how these factors may affect the efficacy of humanitarian initiatives. This doctoral dissertation research project will draw on scholarship in the fields of feminist and political geography to examine the gendered dimensions of the adoption and implementation of U.S. Border Patrol humanitarian initiatives in order to understand how state policies are put into practice and how they result in uneven and/or ineffective outcomes. The doctoral student will ask the following questions: (1) How have gender ideologies (i.e. belief systems) and discourses (i.e. systems of representation) influenced the integration of humanitarian objectives into border enforcement practices? (2) How does the gender of unauthorized migrants in need affect the daily practices of the U.S. Border Patrol as it engages in humanitarian interventions? A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods will be used to assess the complex ways in which gender shapes the development of state policies and their implementation. Document and legal analysis, key informant interviews, and participant observation with governmental and non-governmental organizations will provide data on the integration of humanitarian objectives into border enforcement efforts. A survey of Border Patrol agents in the Tucson sector will provide quantitative data on the degree to which the gender of unauthorized migrants shapes humanitarian interventions. This project will place Border Patrol responsibilities for humanitarian assistance in context with national border enforcement objectives, thereby contributing to understandings of how states negotiate national and transnational responsibilities in the transnational era. The project will contribute to theoretical understandings of the complex and paradoxical ways in which gender shapes state actions and their uneven effects while expanding knowledge of the process and effects of U.S.-Mexico border enforcement efforts in particular. The migrant mortality rates in southern Arizona landscape necessitate a better understanding of humanitarian interventions if they are to be more effective. By providing a more complete understanding of Border Patrol humanitarian efforts and their effects, this project will inform public debate and policies associated with U.S. border enforcement measures and contribute to the development of more effective border regulation policies. 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.