Trump & the Mexican Border

Sociology of Migration -  Soc. 307 section 2

Final Paper

The final paper will involve writing a paper (5-7 pages min) that addresses one of four or five current essay topics below. The same rules apply as the response papers. But in these papers you are required to frame your paper around one of the prompts below. You will need to use at least two readings from each section of the course (pre-1965 immigration; Assimilation and Acculturation; Immigration Detention and Deportation) as well as the readings and discussions in the last few classes and must address the topic at hand through these readings. You should also bring in at least one additional reference (article, film, book) not discussed in the course as well.

You must write a paper on one of the five topics below:

1) During the 2016 election, President Donald Trump promised to build a wall between the United States and Mexico. As we have discussed in the course, the border between the United States and Mexico has been relatively porous with few changes in the 19th and 20th centuries in terms of Mexican adaptation in the United States and immigration policies around the border. Write an essay about the consequences of building the border wall, whether the wall is justified knowing what the readings suggest about criminality in the United States, and the consequences of a tighter border on migration between Mexico and the United States.

2) On January 27, Trump signed Executive Order 13769, titled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” commonly known as the Muslim ban or the travel ban. The policy restricted entry on the number of refugees from six countries into the United States, but more broadly provisionally revoked visas of lawful legal permanent residents to travel into the United States. Immigrants from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen faced harsh travel consequences. Because these were all countries where Islam was the dominant language, the ban was termed a “Muslim ban.” Analyze the impact of the ban on the first and second generation immigrants given what we’ve read from the sociological literature. What parallels can we make to the travel ban? Why did the travel ban take place? What are the major issues for racial and ethnic immigrants because of the ban?

3) The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order signed by President Obama allowed undocumented children and adults who entered the country as minors, and had either entered or remained in the country illegally, to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and to be eligible for a work permit. While President Trump has extended the tenets of DACA at the present time, the policy lacks long-term standing. After Trump’s election, New York City joined municipalities around the country in announcing itself as a “sanctuary city,” a place where law enforcement would refuse to help in the deportation of as many as 11 million undocumented residents. Trump threatened he would target while on the campaign trail, and appears to be making good on his promise with a 40 percent increase in immigration-related arrests by ICE through the beginning of May. Discuss the experiences of the undocumented (DACA and other undocumented immigrants) and how the readings inform our understanding of the different circumstances faced by undocumented immigrants. In your answer, consider the argument for and against programs like DACA for undocumented immigrants.