Doctoral Dissertation Research: A Geographic Analysis of U.S. Border Patrol Humanitarian Initiatives

自20世纪90年代初以来，美墨边境执法努力将非法移民路线推入亚利桑那州南部的恶劣地形，从而无意中导致该地区非法移民死亡人数呈指数级增长。作为回应，美国海关和边境保护局发起了旨在减少非法移民死亡的人道主义倡议，并由美国边境巡逻队执行。尽管作出了这些努力，移徙人数也有所减少，但移徙者死亡率继续攀升，在2000年至2008年期间，死亡率从每10,000名移徙者1.1人增加到每10,000名移徙者5.5人。此外，移徙者死亡率的性别层面尚未得到解释，女性移徙者的死亡率是男性移徙者的2.6倍。虽然研究指出了影响移民死亡率的许多因素，如移民路线、司法结构和过境前条件，但对美国边境巡逻队实施人道主义干预的体制政策和日常做法以及这些因素如何影响人道主义举措的效力知之甚少。这个博士论文研究项目将利用女权主义和政治地理学领域的学术研究来研究美国边境巡逻人道主义倡议的采用和实施的性别维度，以了解国家政策是如何付诸实践的，以及它们是如何导致不平衡和/或无效的结果的。博士生将提出以下问题：(1)性别意识形态（即信仰体系）和话语（即代表制度）如何影响将人道主义目标纳入边境执法实践？(2)有需要的非法移民的性别如何影响美国边境巡逻队从事人道主义干预的日常做法？将采用定性和定量相结合的方法来评估性别影响国家政策制定及其执行的复杂方式。文件和法律分析、主要线人访谈以及与政府和非政府组织的参与者观察将提供关于将人道主义目标纳入边境执法工作的数据。对图森地区边境巡逻人员的调查将提供定量数据，说明未经批准的移民的性别在多大程度上影响人道主义干预。该项目将把边境巡逻队在人道主义援助方面的责任与国家边境执法目标联系起来，从而有助于理解在跨国时代各国如何协商国家和跨国责任。该项目将有助于从理论上理解性别影响国家行为的复杂和矛盾的方式及其不平衡的影响，同时扩大对美墨边境执法工作的过程和影响的认识。要使人道主义干预措施更有效，就必须更好地了解亚利桑那州南部地区的移民死亡率。通过更全面地了解边境巡逻队的人道主义工作及其效果，该项目将为与美国边境执法措施有关的公共辩论和政策提供信息，并有助于制定更有效的边境监管政策。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究生涯。

Since the early 1990s, U.S.-Mexico border enforcement efforts have pushed unauthorized migration routes into the harsh terrain of southern Arizona, thereby unintentionally causing an exponential increase in unauthorized migrant deaths in this region. In response, humanitarian initiatives aimed at reducing unauthorized migrant deaths have been launched by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency and implemented by the U.S. Border Patrol. Despite these efforts and decreased migration flows, migrant mortality rates continue to climb, with mortality rates increasing from 1.1 persons per 10,000 migrants to 5.5 persons per 10,000 migrants between 2000 and 2008. Furthermore, there is a yet-to-be-explained gendered dimension of migrant mortality rates, with female migrants being 2.6 times more likely to die than male migrants. While research has pointed to a number of factors like migration routes, jurisdictional structure, and pre-crossing conditions that influence migrant mortality rates, little is known about the institutional policies and daily practices through which humanitarian interventions are implemented by the U.S. Border Patrol and how these factors may affect the efficacy of humanitarian initiatives. This doctoral dissertation research project will draw on scholarship in the fields of feminist and political geography to examine the gendered dimensions of the adoption and implementation of U.S. Border Patrol humanitarian initiatives in order to understand how state policies are put into practice and how they result in uneven and/or ineffective outcomes. The doctoral student will ask the following questions: (1) How have gender ideologies (i.e. belief systems) and discourses (i.e. systems of representation) influenced the integration of humanitarian objectives into border enforcement practices? (2) How does the gender of unauthorized migrants in need affect the daily practices of the U.S. Border Patrol as it engages in humanitarian interventions? A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods will be used to assess the complex ways in which gender shapes the development of state policies and their implementation. Document and legal analysis, key informant interviews, and participant observation with governmental and non-governmental organizations will provide data on the integration of humanitarian objectives into border enforcement efforts. A survey of Border Patrol agents in the Tucson sector will provide quantitative data on the degree to which the gender of unauthorized migrants shapes humanitarian interventions.This project will place Border Patrol responsibilities for humanitarian assistance in context with national border enforcement objectives, thereby contributing to understandings of how states negotiate national and transnational responsibilities in the transnational era. The project will contribute to theoretical understandings of the complex and paradoxical ways in which gender shapes state actions and their uneven effects while expanding knowledge of the process and effects of U.S.-Mexico border enforcement efforts in particular. The migrant mortality rates in southern Arizona landscape necessitate a better understanding of humanitarian interventions if they are to be more effective. By providing a more complete understanding of Border Patrol humanitarian efforts and their effects, this project will inform public debate and policies associated with U.S. border enforcement measures and contribute to the development of more effective border regulation policies. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.