SGER: A Nation Divided: Immigration and Citizenship on the Border

SGER：一个分裂的国家：边境的移民和公民身份

• 批准号: 0841433
• 负责人: Miguel Diaz-Barriga
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: Swarthmore College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-09-15 至 2009-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0841433&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SGER; Nation; Divided; Immigration; Citizenship

In July 2008 in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, the United States government began construction on a section of the projected seven hundred mile border fence. This monumental project, combined with the U.S. presidential election further focusing already heightened national attention on the hot-button issue of "illegal" immigration, makes this an historic moment and the Lower Rio Grande Valley (South Texas) a unique field site. Anthropologists Miguel Diaz-Barriga and Margaret Dorsey, in their pre-investigative research, found a disconnect between local, Mexican American perspectives and national, policy-based perspectives on the twin issues of immigration and the construction of the border fence. The ethnographers plan to learn if this disconnect actually exists and if so, the extent to which it exists in addition to learning what Mexican Americans think about immigration policy, how they experience immigration, and the construction of the border fence. The research will be conducted starting in September 2008 in Hidalgo County for five months (September 2008-January 2009). The ethnographers will employ three methodologies: participant observation at a variety of grassroots forums; in-depth interviews; and analysis of immigration and border fence-related media such as television programs, news articles, pamphlets, and radio commentary in both English and Spanish. The researchers will conduct ethnographic fieldwork at a range of gathering spots in Hidalgo County such as popular, locally-owned taquerias, veteran's halls, and Democratic and Republican Party sponsored events. The researchers will conduct more extensive interviews with a range of relevant people: current state senators and congress members, candidates, participants in the political parties, and activists in border wall coalitions, an amalgam of business leaders, local residents, border land owners, and environmentalists. This project presents perspectives often missing in national and local debates over immigration--that of Mexican American border residents themselves. As such, it will also contribute to a more informed, nuanced, and multifaceted understanding of immigration and positively inform public policy.

2008年7月，美国政府开始在德克萨斯州格兰德河谷的下里奥格兰德河谷修建一段预计长达700英里的边境围栏。这一具有里程碑意义的项目，再加上美国总统大选进一步加剧了全国对“非法”移民这一热点问题的关注，使这成为一个历史性的时刻，而格兰德河谷(南得克萨斯州南部)是一个独特的实地考察地点。人类学家米格尔·迪亚兹-巴里加和玛格丽特·多尔西在他们的预调查研究中发现，在移民和修建边境围栏这两个问题上，墨西哥裔美国人的本地观点与基于政策的国家观点之间存在脱节。除了了解墨西哥裔美国人对移民政策的看法，他们对移民的体验，以及边境围栏的建设，民族志学者计划了解这种脱节是否真的存在，如果存在，存在的程度。研究将于2008年9月开始在伊达尔戈县进行，为期5个月(2008年9月至2009年1月)。民族志学者将采用三种方法：在各种基层论坛上进行参与者观察；深入采访；以及分析与移民和边境围栏有关的媒体，如电视节目、新闻文章、小册子和英语和西班牙语电台评论。研究人员将在伊达尔戈县的一系列聚集点进行人种学田野调查，如受欢迎的、当地拥有的塔克里亚、退伍军人会堂以及民主党和共和党赞助的活动。研究人员将对一系列相关人士进行更广泛的采访：现任州参议员和国会议员、候选人、政党参与者、边境墙联盟的活动家、商界领袖、当地居民、边境土地所有者和环保主义者。这个项目展示了在国家和地方关于移民的辩论中经常遗漏的观点--墨西哥裔美国人边境居民自己的观点。因此，它还将有助于更多地了解、细致入微和多方面地了解移民问题，并为公共政策提供积极的信息。