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Description
From its founding, the United States has always claimed to be a nation of immigrants, yet in the past century the issue of immigration has become an even more contentious political issue surrounded by heated rhetoric filled with passion, but devoid of information. This thesis hopes to interrupt this rhetoric with a thorough analysis of immigration politics in Arizona through a legal lens, a theoretical lens and an empirical lens. While this thesis by no means looks at all facets of immigration politics, it informs in a manner that adds depth by providing information on the history behind, and legal arguments surrounding, the most contentious piece of immigration legislation in the United States at the moment. It then provides a theoretical analysis of how immigration legislation has created carceral networks and a panoptic gaze in Arizona specifically. It ends with a recommendation for further empirical research to partner with both the legal and theoretical frameworks. This thesis concludes that, fortified with over a century of case law, the plenary power doctrine is unwavering, and it makes federal immigration legislation an overly powerful tool in our political system from which the courts can offer little if any protection. Congress walks a fine line between preempting immigration regulation and devolving immigration regulation. SB 1070 and the 287(g) program are two contested areas of immigration regulation, which both exhibit and alter the power relationships of immigration politics in Arizona. Additionally, the application of the theories of Michel Foucault illuminates the power relationships at play in Arizona - from the power relationships among nation states in the broader political arena of geopolitics and colonialism to the face-to-face power relationship between a police officer and a stopped/detained/arrested person in a Foucauldian carceral network. This thesis ends with a call for empirical research that would yield an opportunity to analyze these relationships. This thesis discusses the importance of empirical study. It situates the study within the genre of surveillance studies and its theorists. It analyzes similar studies, and identifies the variables the most illuminating for this analysis. This thesis is written in the hope that a researcher will pick up where this thesis has left off.
ContributorsBycura, Marquette (Author) / Schweitzer, Nick (Thesis advisor) / Vargas, Perla (Committee member) / Simmons, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
As global warming increases, sea levels continue to rise and world populations continue to grow; the Earth is nearing its tipping point. Human action, such as deforestation, mining, and industrialization, has had a profound effect on environments destroying wetlands, and the natural infrastructure needed to absorb rainfall and maintain vegetation. Due to extreme changes in climate and temperature, people all over the world are increasingly affected by natural disaster. Unable to sustain their livelihoods, these individuals, become environmental refugees and are forced to flee their land and homes to obtain security in another region or country. Currently, there are approximately 25 million environmental refugees worldwide. Despite the soaring numbers, environmental refugees are not legally recognized or protected by the United Nations, and thus do not receive the same rights or assistance as a traditional refugee. This thesis analyzes definitions and interpretations of Environmental Refugees (ERs) through the frameworks of environmental justice and human rights law and identifies possible avenues of discourse available. Furthermore, this thesis examines the current United Nations definition of refugee and identifies the pros and cons to expanding the current definition to include those affected by natural disaster. Through the case study of New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA), it is demonstrated how ERs are not only an issue facing developing countries, but also exist within developed nations. Hurricane Katrina in NOLA is an ethnographic example that demonstrates how during a time of natural disaster, a variety of past and present structural factors may contribute to the violation of human rights. This thesis then concludes with a discussion of possible categorizations of ERs and the concrete benefits of each category, and how lessons from NOLA can and should be applied to other ER situations in order to avoid human rights violations.
ContributorsDawes, Chelsey E (Author) / Casper, Monica (Thesis advisor) / Klimek, Barbara (Committee member) / Simmons, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010