Catherine Sweeney – Immigration Politics, Policymaking in the U.S.

Author: Catherine Sweeney

NY 15- The Bronx: District Demographics and their Impacts Results

May 14, 2019 / Catherine Sweeney / 0 Comments

The 15th Congressional District has consistently had a huge Hispanic population and a large foreign-born population. The Hispanic population has remained consistently high only fluctuating down .4 percentage points since 2017. The Foreign-Born population has grown in the past decade, gaining 5.5 percentage points since 2007. In light of prior research, it is likely that the relatively stable 67% Latino and 37% foreign-born populations in the Bronx bode well for new arrivals from Latin America. First, the primary Latino immigrants will likely have socially and politically integrative experiences and exposure to welcoming policies similar to Fernandez-Kelly’s findings in Trenton. Furthermore, the prevalence of immigrants in need, points to a high prevalence of immigrant organizations with make fora more positive context of reception. Immigrant advocacy interest groups will be major forces since they providing social services, advising on naturalization and legal problems, and, facilitating political participation (de Graauw 2008; Anderson 2008; Fernandez-Kelly 2018).

To examine the immigrant experience in the Bronx, I conducted semi-structured interviews with individuals who work for or with the Bronx Immigration Partnership (BIP). To recruit these individuals, I, first, reached out to the Bronx Immigration Partnership and requested interviews with staff members. Then, I reached out to each of their sixteen affiliate organizations to secure a second interview. In these interviews, I asked about them about their background and how they came to immigrant advocacy work, the challenges that immigrants face in the Bronx, how their organization impacts the lives of immigrants (context of reception), how their organization works in tandem with the local government, and how the immigrant experience or context of reception for immigrants is in the Bronx as compared to other Boroughs and other cities. These questions are pointed enough to gauge how immigrants are assisted by these organizations in becoming socially, politically, and economically integrated into society.

For my interviews, I spoke to the organization coordinator for the Bronx Immigration Partnership and an Immigration Attorney at the Bronx Defenders. In my interview with the BIP coordinator, they spoke to the difficulties of immigrants and the need for a “coordinated safety net of immigration services”. While the Bronx has over sixteen organizations involved in immigration advocacy work, many immigrants do not know where to go for assistance. They also discussed the importance of advocacy on different levels both by providing personal services and by advocating for immigrant policy changes in Albany. In my interview with an immigration attorney for the Bronx Defenders, they spoke about the importance of providing a holistic defense to their clients. They said a criminal case affects every aspect of a person’s life: “It can affect your family, your immigration status, your housing situation; it can impact all these different aspects of your life.” They said, “it’s not just about representing them on the immigration case, it’s figuring out whatever support they may need and referring them to the services that might be necessary.” The Bronx Immigration Partnership is a special system that connects all of these services together so that immigrants can be supported in a number of ways.

In conclusion, I first identified the struggles that immigrants face in the Bronx, then, the role of immigrant organizations in providing assistance to them, and lastly, how this all contributes to an overall positive context of reception for immigrants in the Bronx. In regards to immigrant struggles, the informants identified a high prevalence of poverty and crime, vulnerability to immigration fraud and difficulty being aware of assistance programs and navigating these services. There are over 16 organizations that provide assistance to immigrants in the Bronx and it is difficult to know about the services they provide. Overall, the work of immigrant organizations ensures smoother integration and a more positive context of reception for new arrivals. On the individual level, they provide legal defense and consul, social services like health care, housing assistance, and English learning programs, and provide immigrant status consultations. On a broader level, through impact litigation they fight injustices that affect groups of immigrants and through advocacy to local, state, and national government, they positively influence policy. As predicted, the nonprofit presence helps create a more positive context of reception for immigrants.

NY 15- The Bronx: District Demographics and their Impacts Results

May 14, 2019 / Catherine Sweeney / 0 Comments

Ramos using his platform to humanize immigrants

April 16, 2019 / Catherine Sweeney / 0 Comments

A Love Story at the Border

The Children of the Caravan

In this week’s discussion with Jorge Ramos, he said that he believes the only way to combat anti-immigrant sentiments is to humanize them by telling their stories. It is clear from a look on his news website that he certainly tries to do this. For precept this week, I chose two articles that Ramos has reported on: “A Love Story at the Border” and “The Children of the Caravan”.

The first article reports on a father migrating to the United States from Honduras to get his daughter with epilepsy and learning difficulties proper care. The pair joined a caravan of migrants traveling from Hondorus because they could not pay the price a smuggler would request. Fortunately, activists and lawyers persuaded American immigration agents to expedite their case and allowed them to cross the border upon arrival. The second article reports on the children of the caravan. He starts, “I’ve seen the ignorant, xenophobic rants on social media about the caravan. They’re terrorists in disguise. They’re Criminals. They’re invaders. They’ve been sent to invade and destabilize the United States. But in the main square of this small town in southern Mexico recently, all I could hear of the caravan were the children’s cries and their laughter.” He shares pictures and videos of the children to dispel the idea that the caravan is a threat.

Media coverage on Latino immigration has roughly paralleled actual rates of immigration from Latin America (Valentino et. al 2012). The reading by Utych this week suggests that dehumanization in media increases anger and disgust toward immigrants, which causes anti-immigrant sentiments. These articles are trying to counteract that narrative.

Discussion Questions:

To what extent can articles like these counter-act the effects of other media attention on immigration sentiment?
Do you think individuals with anti-immigrant statements will see these articles and if so how would they respond to them?

NY 15 Demographic Analysis

April 15, 2019 / Catherine Sweeney / 0 Comments

The 15th Congressional District has consistently had a huge Hispanic population and a large foreign-born population. Sonya Sotomayor, the first Latina, supreme court justice proudly comes from the South Bronx in this district. As of 2017, 61.9 % of the population identified as Hispanic ethnicity of any origin, 36.1 % were Black and 2.5% were white. Unfortunately, the demographic data for 2019 and 2018 was not available on the US Census website, so the graphs show the 10 year period from 2007-2017 with intermittent data from 2009, the starting year of interest, 2011, and 2013, the year after redistricting. Before 2012, this area was considered a part of the 16th Congressional District and the statistics presented in the slide come from that district. When the district lines were changed, Jose Serrano, the representative from the 16th district, followed the move becoming the representative of the newly drawn 15th district. As demonstrated on the slide, the Hispanic population has remained consistently high only fluctuating down .4 percentage points since 2017. The Foreign-Born population has grown in the past decade, gaining 5.5 percentage points since 2007.

Scholars have examined the role of local demographics in immigration integration, media coverage, and public opinion extensively. In regards to immigrant experiences, McDermott argued that larger immigrant populations correspond to stronger racial identities of native blacks and whites which makes for harsher contexts of reception for immigrants (2013). Contrastingly, in a case study of Trenton, Fernandez-Kelly found that the area’s high Latino population and high prevalence of Latino businesses were associated with more social and political integration for Latino immigrants (2018). As for media coverage, Brader and his team noted that the increased American media attention on immigration has paralleled the increased rates of immigration from Latin America (Brader et. al 2013). Specific to tone, Abarjano and Singh found that Spanish news sources were more likely to focus on immigration in articles and have pro-immigration sentiments (2008). Lastly, for public opinion, Enos found that increased intergroup contact between Latino confederates and White Anglo-Saxon subjects caused a shift towards exclusionary attitudes amongst whites ( 2014). More specifically, Hopkins argued that changes in local demographics in the context of national rhetoric politzies are associated with more anti-immigration attitudes (Hopkins 2010).

In light of prior research, it is likely that the relatively stable 67% Latino and 37% foreign-born populations in the Bronx bode well for new arrivals from Latin America. First, the primary Latino immigrants will likely have socially and politically integrative experiences and exposure to welcoming policies similar to Fernandez-Kelly’s findings in Trenton. However, it is important to note that the may simultaneously encounter hostile attitudes from native black locals. Second, the local media sources, probably offered in Spanish given the majority Hispanic population, will likely have a high frequency of immigration coverage and positive framing. Lastly, on average, public opinion would likely lean towards pro-integration and immigration attitudes manifested in support for higher immigration levels, DACA, and a pathway to citizenship, while the black subpopulation may have anti-immigrant attitudes.

To examine the immigrant experience in the Bronx, I will utilize a mixed methodology of both semi-structured interviews and Survey Report analysis. I will likely use data from the NYC Department of Urban Planning’s “The Newest New Yorkers 2013 Report”, the Mayor’s Office of Immigration “State of Our Immigrant City March 2018 Report” and perhaps the Cooperative Congressional Election Survey (CCES) for immigration attitudes. The city’s reports provide statistics on policies immigrants would encounter and the city immigrant population’s demographics, educational attainment, employment status, and income, which are common measures of integration. As for the semi-structured interviews, I plan to interview local bilingual Hispanic immigrants interacting with the Bronx Immigration Partnership similar to Fernandez-Kelly’s approach to the study of Princeton and Trenton Hispanic immigrants. To recruit these individuals, I intend to reach out to the Bronx Immigration Partnership and request permission to interview recent immigrants in their network or attend and volunteer at one of their BIP Clinics or Resource Fairs to meet potential informants. Lastly, in these interviews, I will ask demographic information, ask them about their interactions with and opinions of local natives, the city government, interest groups, and churches and foundations, and lastly, about their own trajectory and experience with jobs and school since being in the US. These questions are pointed enough to gauge the extent to which the informants socially, politically, and economically integrated into society, but also open-ended enough to capture the nuances of their experiences.