Doctoral Dissertation Research: Welcoming the Outsider: Variations in Local Construction of the Law toward Immigrants

美国的地方机构在移民执法和为移民提供服务方面发挥着越来越重要的作用。该项目将通过研究机构对移民的“欢迎程度”，研究当地有关移民的法律建设。2011年的一项试点研究显示，一些地方机构制定了有利于移民融入当地社区的全面政策;其他机构则几乎没有采取任何行动，或对融入持敌对态度。这项研究将调查当地执法机构和公共图书馆对移民的欢迎程度（或不欢迎程度）以及什么条件决定了移民的欢迎程度。该项目将评估有关移民融入社会的三种不同主张。 第一种方法假定，在社区经历更大的移民水平机构将不太欢迎;另一种方法假定，机构？政策将受到共同的专业做法的影响。 最后，一线员工可能会受到他们当前情况的特点和他们所面对的人的行为的影响。这项研究将包括一项两阶段的研究，利用对国家执法和图书馆抽样的组织调查，以及对领导人和一线雇员抽样的访谈，并辅以观察。这些机构通常与移民互动，但在管理机构或服务机构方面有所不同。国家样本将允许在移民人口，当地政治偏好和机构与专业网络的联系程度等广泛不同的水平之间进行比较。该项目将增进对当地建设移民政策的了解。此外，该项目还可以帮助当地机构制定政策和培训计划，以改善与移民的关系。 该项目还将建立两个数据库，一个是访谈记录，另一个是调查数据，供研究人员和专业人员使用。

Local agencies in the US increasingly play a key role in immigration enforcement and in providing services to immigrants. This project will study the local construction of law on the street regarding immigrants by studying the degree of agencies' "welcomeness" to immigrants. A 2011 pilot study revealed that some local agencies have comprehensive policies favoring integrating immigrants into the local community; others do little or are hostile to integration. The research will examine how widely local law enforcement agencies and public libraries are welcoming (or unwelcoming) to immigrants and what conditions shape the degree of welcomeness. This project will evaluate three different claims concerning the incorporation of immigrants. The first approach posits that agencies in communities experiencing greater immigration levels will be less welcoming; an alternative posits that agencies? policies will be influenced by shared professional practices. Finally, it may be that front-line employees are influenced by the characteristics of their immediate situation and the actions of the person they are addressing. The research will include a two-phased study using organizational surveys of national samples of law enforcement and libraries and interviews with a sub-sample of leaders and front-line employees, supplemented by observations. These agencies interact commonly with immigrants, but vary in whether they are regulatory-agencies or service-agencies. The national samples will allow comparisons across widely-varying levels of immigrant populations, local political preferences, and degree of agency connection to professional networks. The project will enhance understanding of the local construction of immigrant policy. In addition, the project may help local agencies develop policies and training programs to improve relationships with immigrants. The project will also produce two databases, one of interview transcripts and one of survey data that will be available to researchers and professionals.