Are We Home Yet? The Uncertainties of Vulnerable Migrants’ First Encounters with the Host Country

Robert Barsky, Vanderbilt University

Location

Janet Ayers Academic Center, JAAC 4094

Presentation Type

Presentation

Start Date

20-9-2017 5:00 PM

Description

The legal and narrative dynamics of host country interactions with migrants is an urgent topic for investigation worldwide. With the ongoing crisis in Syria, mounting gang violence in Central America, and other regions such as Eritrea, Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, South Sudan and Afghanistan under continued pressure, there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for vulnerable migrants. And with the Trump administration’s approach to refugees and undocumented migrants, it’s clear that the issues surrounding the treatment, admission and policing of migrants and asylum seekers will remain at the top of the national agenda for years to come. In order to understand the impact of current debates and new legislation upon vulnerable migrants, I will discuss the narrative-law dynamic in the critical first encounters between forced migrants who have come to seek a new life in the United States and officials charged with making front-line decisions that determine whether these newcomers are coming “home,” or risking prison and deportation.

Comments

Featured Speaker

Convocation Credit: Global Citizenship, Leadership, Diversity and the Professions

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Sep 20th, 5:00 PM

Are We Home Yet? The Uncertainties of Vulnerable Migrants’ First Encounters with the Host Country

Janet Ayers Academic Center, JAAC 4094

The legal and narrative dynamics of host country interactions with migrants is an urgent topic for investigation worldwide. With the ongoing crisis in Syria, mounting gang violence in Central America, and other regions such as Eritrea, Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, South Sudan and Afghanistan under continued pressure, there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for vulnerable migrants. And with the Trump administration’s approach to refugees and undocumented migrants, it’s clear that the issues surrounding the treatment, admission and policing of migrants and asylum seekers will remain at the top of the national agenda for years to come. In order to understand the impact of current debates and new legislation upon vulnerable migrants, I will discuss the narrative-law dynamic in the critical first encounters between forced migrants who have come to seek a new life in the United States and officials charged with making front-line decisions that determine whether these newcomers are coming “home,” or risking prison and deportation.