Date of Graduation

Spring 5-21-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Migration Studies

College/School

College of Arts and Sciences

Department/Program

Migration Studies

First Advisor

Professor Bill Hing

Abstract

For the past decades, immigrants and immigration policies in the United States of America are significant debates. During campaigns, politicians describe their immigration opinion and their immigration solutions. Media coverage also illustrates the fervor on immigration discourse. Immediately, one can argue that immigration discourse has extreme depictions of immigrants. Politicians use polarizing language that can be damaging for the immigrant community in the United States. The criminalization of immigrants was illustrated within the discourse and immigration policies.

This research will analyze the implication of immigration discourse from political actors on the creation of crimmigration policies. Crimmigration policies are defined as the merger of criminal and immigration law (Stumpf, 2015). Crimmigration is a framework that argues immigration law and procedures have intertwined with criminal practices. This research will connect the framing of immigrants from politicians and the development of crimmigration policies. Using, membership theory I argue speeches describing immigrants and crimmigration policies criminalize immigrants and exclude them from society. For this research, critical discourse analysis will be utilized to connect negative immigration discourse and crimmigration policies. Above all, understanding how crimmigration has impacted the immigrant community is analyzed using literature, participant observation, a case study on the Eloy detention Center, and reviewing psychological reports.

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