Luisa Feline Freier, London School of Economics (LSE)
Abstract: There is broad consensus that immigration policies moved from prevalent negative ethnic selectivity towards widespread ethnic neutrality after World War II. This assessment is biased because it neglects visa policy-making. Travel visas are important immigration management tools, and overt selection by national origin persists in this policy field. The paper analyses the extreme case of recent Ecuadorian visa policy-making, from the annulment of all visa requirements in 2008 to the partial reintroduction of visas for ten African and Asian countries in 2010. The Ecuadorian government justifies the restrictive response to the increase …

Robbie Totten, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies
Abstract: What is the relationship between epidemics, national security, and U.S. immigration policy? This question is important because epidemics have posed perhaps the largest security threat to humankind through history, with several of them claiming lives at a faster pace than the even great wars of the twentieth century.  Extant literature in the area correctly and importantly brings attention to the danger of leaders misusing epidemic risk to justify xenophobic migration policies, but a greater understanding of the relationship between epidemics, national security, and U.S. immigration policy is required to protect against catastrophic events and …

Patrick Simon, Institut National d’Etudes Demographiques –National demographic institute
Abstract: This presentation assesses the normative model of integration, the so-called republican model, and what it means for the prospects of the second generation of immigrants in France.  It shows that the salience of race and ethnicity for minority members in contemporary France is challenging the expectations of a convergence in norms, values and practices among the second generation.  Data come from a new survey, Trajectories and Origins: a survey on population diversity in France, which is the largest survey ever done in France on immigrants and second generation. Promoted by INED …

Amada Armenta, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies
Abstract: This paper contributes to emerging literature documenting the devolution of immigration enforcement authority by focusing on the implementation of the 287(g) program in Davidson County, Tennessee. It outlines how deputized immigration officers do their work, as well as the ways they come to think about their roles in the larger immigration bureaucracy. Immigration officers see themselves as objective administrators whose primary responsibilities are to identify and process immigrants for removal, but who are not responsible for their subsequent deportation. While immigration officers never waiver about their obligation to uphold the rule of law, …

Alex Balch, University of Sheffield

Abstract: Since the late 1990s many European countries have embraced the concept of managing labour migration for their national economic benefit. The last 10 years have seen dramatic changes in patterns and flows of migration into and within Europe, where overall numbers have risen markedly. The UK and Spain – one ‘old’ and one ‘new’ country of migration – are examples of this trend, where new policies have led to a complete overhaul of systems of migration management since 2000. This paper is concerned with why such changes took place and why they occurred when they …

Derek Hum, University of Manitoba
Wayne Simpson, University of Manitoba
Abstract: We compare the retirement prospects of immigrant men with their native-born Canadian counterparts. Using data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), we show a substantial gap that is concentrated in the private portion of pension income and contributions. Furthermore, this gap is larger for more recently arrived immigrant cohorts. We link these findings to the now substantial evidence on earnings differences from Census microdata. We present new estimates of the lifetime earnings trajectories of immigrant cohorts and compare them to trajectories for both random and matched samples of …

Carmen Fernández Casanueva, Research Fellow, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (Mexico); Guest Scholar, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies
Abstract: This article explores the role gender plays on the development of migratory trajectories of Guatemalan, Honduran and Salvadoran labour migrants crossing the Guatemala-Chiapas border. It aims to assess the way gender influences the migration processes of those crossing either to work in the borderland of Chiapas and/or with the intention of travelling northwards to enter the United States of America. By using elements of structuration theory, it contributes to the study of migration by incorporating gender as a constitutive element in …

Scott Borger, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies
Abstract: This paper constructs estimates for the inflow of undocumented migrants to the United States using survey-based micro estimates of the probability of apprehension per attempt and aggregate apprehensions data reported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The robustness of the constructed data is considered by comparing the implied stock from the constructed series with previous estimates of undocumented migrants in the United States. The estimates are within the unenumerated-correction margin of error of the post-2000 Census estimates in the literature. Moreover, the estimated inflow implies a strong correlation with the  business cycle in …

Elizabeth Perry, University of California, San Diego
Abstract: Drawing on binational ethnographic research regarding Mixtec “social memory” of language discrimination and Mixtec perspectives on recent efforts to preserve and revitalize indigenous language use, this study suggests that language discrimination, in both its overt and increasingly concealed forms, has significantly curtailed the use of the Mixtec language. For centuries, the Spanish and Spanish-speaking mestizo (mixed blood) elite oppressed the  Mixtec People and their linguistic and cultural practices. These oppressive practices were experienced in Mixtec communities and surrounding urban areas, as well as in domestic and international migrant destinations. In the 1980s, a …

Saba Senses Ozyurt, University of California, Irvine

Abstract: Research on Muslim immigrants in Europe show that they often remain separated andmarginalized within their respective societies. Empirical research further indicates that Muslim immigrant women in Europe perform more poorly than Muslim immigrant men and Christian immigrant women on key indicators of integration. In this paper I explore whether identifying as ‘Muslim’ and/or having strong religious beliefs and practices slows down the cultural and civic/political integration processes for Muslim immigrant women in the United States. The findings indicate that high levels of religiosity may indeed slow down the cultural integration of Muslim women …