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

自20世纪90年代初以来，美墨边境执法部门的努力将未经授权的移民路线推入了亚利桑那州南部恶劣的地形，从而无意中导致该地区未经授权的移民死亡人数呈指数级增加。作为回应，美国海关和边境保护局发起了旨在减少未经授权的移民死亡的人道主义倡议，并由美国边境巡逻队实施。尽管作出了这些努力，移民流动减少，但移民死亡率继续攀升，2000年至2008年期间，死亡率从每10 000名移民中1.1人上升到每10 000名移民中5.5人。此外，移民死亡率的性别层面尚未得到解释，女性移民死亡的可能性是男性移民的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，但人们对美国边境巡逻队实施人道主义干预的机构政策和日常做法以及这些因素可能如何影响人道主义倡议的有效性知之甚少。这一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知识，研究美国边境巡逻人道主义倡议的采纳和实施中的性别层面，以了解国家政策是如何付诸实践的，以及它们如何导致不平衡和/或无效的结果。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)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？将使用定性和定量相结合的方法来评估性别对国家政策的制定及其执行形成影响的复杂方式。文件和法律分析、主要线人访谈以及对政府和非政府组织的参与者观察将提供将人道主义目标纳入边境执法工作的数据。对图森区边境巡逻人员的调查将提供关于非法移民的性别在多大程度上影响人道主义干预的量化数据。该项目将把边境巡逻的人道主义援助责任与国家边境执法目标联系起来，从而有助于理解各国在跨国时代如何谈判国家和跨国责任。该项目将有助于从理论上理解性别塑造国家行动及其不均衡影响的复杂和矛盾的方式，同时扩大对美国-墨西哥边境执法努力的过程和影响的了解。亚利桑那州南部的移民死亡率要求更好地了解人道主义干预，才能使其更有效。通过更全面地了解边境巡逻的人道主义努力及其影响，该项目将为公众辩论和与美国边境执法措施相关的政策提供信息，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.