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41. Factsheet: Sebastian Kurz

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Sebastian Kurz is the current Federal Chancellor of Austria and Chairman of the centrist-right New Austrian People’s Party (Neue ÖVP). He previously served as State Secretary of the Interior Ministry for Social Integration and was the Foreign Minister of Austria from 2013 to 2017. Under his leadership, the ÖVP has swung to the far-right, adopting anti-immigrant and Islamophobic views and policies.
Topic:
Immigrants, Islamophobia, Far Right, Xenophobia, Political Parties, and Sebastian Kurz
Political Geography:
Austria

42. Mitigating the Effects of Trauma among Young Children of Immigrants and Refugees: The Role of Early Childhood Programs

Author:
Maki Park and Caitlin Katsiaficas
Publication Date:
04-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
A child’s early years are a time of exceptional growth, and ones that can be profoundly affected by traumatic experiences. Research has firmly disproven the idea that infants and toddlers are “too young” to be affected by such experiences, leading to an increased awareness of the need for trauma-informed services for children. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs have the potential to play a central role in identifying and addressing the effects of trauma, with lifelong benefits. Discussions of how to build a trauma-informed approach into ECEC programs, however, generally do not take into account the unique experiences of children of refugees and other immigrants. For example, children who are themselves refugees may have experienced persecution and flight, while U.S.-born children with refugee parents may be affected by such experiences secondhand. Other postmigration stressors, such as chronic exposure to discrimination or, among families with unauthorized immigrant members, fear of deportation can also affect young children’s socioemotional and cognitive development. This issue brief explores the types of trauma that may affect young children in immigrant families, what the effects of those experiences may be, and what can be done to protect children against them. Among these opportunities: promoting the systematic use of mental health screening tools that are appropriate both for young children and for use across cultures, and boosting collaboration between ECEC providers, health services, and organizations that work with immigrants to ensure that young children and their families are referred to needed services in a timely fashion.
Topic:
Education, Children, Refugees, Immigrants, and Trauma
Political Geography:
Global Focus

43. Leveraging the Potential of Home Visiting Programs to Serve Immigrant and Dual Language Learner Families

Author:
Maki Park and Caitlin Katsiaficas
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
A child’s first years are ones of exceptionally rapid growth, a period that can lay the foundation for school readiness and healthy socioemotional development. Growing awareness of the importance of investing in infants and toddlers is reflected in the spread of home visiting programs—family-focused social services provided in the home on a regular basis to expectant mothers and new parents alongside their young children. The federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program, for example, has seen its funding rise since it was created in 2010, and many states and counties have launched or expanded their own programs. Children with immigrant parents and those exposed to a language other than English in the home (known as Dual Language Learners, or DLLs) are important target populations for such early childhood programs. As of 2013–17, one-fourth of U.S. children ages 5 and under were children of immigrants, and nearly one-third were DLLs. Young children of immigrants are also more likely than their peers to live in low-income households—a priority service population for many home visiting initiatives. Yet studies show that DLLs and children in immigrant families are underserved by home visiting services. This policy brief examines the characteristics that make these children and their families important targets for such programs and barriers that may hinder their participation. It also highlights opportunities to address them, including by making these groups visible in MIECHV needs assessments, improving program data collection, and strengthening partnerships with community-based organizations.
Topic:
Education, Health, Children, Immigrants, Family, and Welfare
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

44. On the Brink: Prospects for UK Nationals in the EU-27 after a No-Deal Brexit

Author:
Meghan Benton and Aliyyah Ahad
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
In the run-up to the original March 2019 Brexit date, the European Union saw a flurry of activity as the remaining 27 Member States quickly put together contingency plans for what would happen should the United Kingdom crash out of the bloc without a deal. By necessity, many of these plans were skeletal. The extension of the Brexit deadline to the end of October 2019 bought the EU-27 additional time, but, as this policy brief discusses, few countries have undertaken significant additional planning for how to register and secure the rights of their resident UK nationals. This could spell major difficulties ahead for the nearly 1 million Britons living in the EU-27, who in a no-deal Brexit would become third-country nationals overnight, with implications for their residence status, employment rights, health-care access, and more. The United Kingdom, with its larger EU-national population of 3.6 million, has already rolled out a pilot program to enable these residents to adjust their legal status. Still, the challenges coming to light with this program hint at what could be in store for UK nationals facing untested systems in the EU-27. This policy brief looks at the major gaps in contingency plans across the EU-27 and the groups likely to be hit hardest by a no-deal Brexit, including mixed-nationality families, same-sex partners, and pensioners. It also recommends strategies the EU-27 and the United Kingdom could adopt to smooth the landing—from dropping some official criteria to register residence and making documentation requirements more flexible, to moving ahead with discussions of future social security coordination.
Topic:
European Union, Immigrants, Brexit, and Integration
Political Geography:
United Kingdom and Europe

45. Health Insurance Coverage of Immigrants and Latinos in the Kansas City Metro Area

Author:
Randy Capps and Ariel G. Ruiz Soto
Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Latinos and immigrants are at least twice as likely to lack health insurance coverage as the overall population in the Kansas City metropolitan area. This gap that has significant implications for the region, as Latinos and immigrants will form an ever-growing share of the area’s labor force and tax base amid anticipated declines in the native-born, non-Latino population. This brief offers a demographic profile of the immigrant and U.S.- and foreign-born Latino populations in the three Kansas City-area counties with the largest immigrant populations: Missouri’s Jackson County and Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas. The brief also examines these populations’ health insurance coverage and gaps. Overall, 161,000 residents in the three Kansas City metro counties with the largest immigrant populations—Johnson County; Jackson County, Missouri; and Wyandotte County, Kansas—are uninsured, with immigrants of all origins and Latinos accounting for 38 percent (61,000) of the total. MPI’s analysis draws on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, county health departments, and local safety-net health-care providers. “Given the important role immigrants and their U.S.-born children play in Kansas City-area communities and the future of the regional economy, it makes economic sense to maximize health insurance coverage for immigrant and Latino families,” the authors find.
Topic:
Employment, Immigrants, Health Insurance, and Latino Issues
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

46. Kasitsiz Hakaret (Microaggressions) Ve Türki̇ye’de Sik Görülen Örnekleri̇ | Unintentional Insult (Microaggressions) and Its Common Examples in Turkey

Author:
Feride Aslı Ergül and Mesut Özcan
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Academic Inquiries
Institution:
Sakarya University (SAU)
Abstract:
Bu çalışmanın amacı Türkiye’deki yabancı uyruklu bireylerin “mikroagresyonlar”a (microaggressions) ilişkin tecrübelerini ve sorunlarını ortaya çıkarmaktır. Bu bağlamda Türkiye’ye eğitim, daha iyi bir hayat için göç ya da savaştan kaçış gibi değişik sebeplerle gelen bu bireylerin mikroagresyonların değişik çeşitlerinden hangilerine ne sıklıkla maruz kaldıkları belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Araştırma beş farklı ilde yapılan görüşmelerle gerçekleştirilmiştir. İlkokuldan üniversiteye kadar eğitimin her kademesinden öğrenci, öğretmen, öğrenci velileri ve doktorlar ile görüşülmüştür. Verileri toplamak için katılımcılara “Türkiye'de sizin kültürünüze ve etnik farklılığınıza yönelik kasıtlı ya da kasıtsız kırıcı, incitici söz ve davranışlara maruz kalıyor musunuz?” sorusu yöneltilmiştir. Çalışmanın sonuçları mikroagresyonların ülkemizde çok ciddi bir sorun olduğunu göstermektedir. Araştırmaya göre Türk insanı yabancılara karşı eskisi kadar anlayışlı değildir ve yabancı uyruklu kimselere kendilerini ikinci sınıf vatandaş gibi ve dışlanmış hissettirecek davranışlar çok yoğundur. Yabancılara hep olumsuz şeyler yakıştırılmakta, burada istenmedikleri sezdirilmekte hatta ülkemizdeki birçok sıkıntının nedeni olmakla itham edilmektedirler. Ayrıca araştırmanın bulguları yabancı uyruklu kişilerin kültürleri ile ilgili önyargılardan muzdarip oldukları ve özellikle ırkla ilgili açık, doğrudan hakaretlere de yoğunlukla hedef oldukları yönündedir. | This study aims to investigate the experiences and problems of foreign nationals in Turkey, concerning microaggressions. Thus, it was aimed to find out which types of microaggressions -and at what frequency- are experienced by people who come to Turkey for different reasons like education, pursuit of a better life or escaping from war. The study was conducted in five different cities of Turkey. Students from primary school to university, teachers, parents and doctors took part in the study. The participants were asked the single question “Do you ever experience deliberate or undeliberate insults, whether verbal or behavioral, targeting your ethnic identity and diversity in Turkey?” The results of the study show that microaggression is a very serious problem in Turkey. It can be gathered from the findings that Turkish people are not as tolerant to foreign people as they used to be. Behaviors that make people of foreign origin feel like second-class citizens and alienated take place quite often. Foreigners are usually connected with negative occurrences and they are reminded that they are not welcome in this country. These people are also accused of causing many misfortunes in the country. The study also exhibits that foreign nationals suffer greatly from prejudices about their cultures and they become the target of explicit and direct insults particularly regarding their race.
Topic:
Immigrants, Society, and Microaggression
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

47. The Effects of Immigration Enforcement on Faith-Based Organizations: An Analysis of the FEER Survey

Author:
Donald Kerwin and Mike Nicholson
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal on Migration and Human Security
Institution:
Center for Migration Studies of New York
Abstract:
The effects of US immigration enforcement policies on immigrants, US families, and communities have been well-documented. However, less attention has been paid to their impact on faith-based organizations (FBOs). Faith communities provide a spiritual home, and extensive legal, resettlement, social service, health, and educational services for refugees and immigrants. This report presents the findings of the FEER (Federal Enforcement Effect Research) Survey, which explored the effects of US immigration enforcement policies on immigrant-serving Catholic institutions.[1] Many of these institutions arose in response to the needs of previous generations of immigrants and their children (Kerwin and George 2014, 14, 74-75). Most strongly identify with immigrants and have long served as crucial intermediaries between immigrant communities and the broader society (Campos 2014, 149-51).[2] Over its first two years, the Trump administration has consistently characterized immigrants as criminals, security risks, and an economic burden. Among its policy initiatives, the administration has supported major cuts in family-based immigration, attempted to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, reduced refugee admissions to historic lows, instituted admission bars on Muslim-majority countries, attempted to strip Temporary Protection Status (TPS) from all but a fraction of its beneficiaries, erected major new barriers to asylum, and proposed new rules regarding the public charge grounds of inadmissibility that would make it more difficult for poor and working class persons to obtain permanent residence. US immigration enforcement policies have separated children from their parents, criminally prosecuted asylum-seekers, expanded detention, increased arrests of non-citizens without criminal records, and militarized the US-Mexico border. These policies have failed to stem the flow of migrants and asylum-seekers: instead these flows have increased dramatically in recent months. These policies have succeeded, however, in devastating children, instilling fear in immigrant communities, blocking access to the US asylum system, and undermining immigrant integration (Kerwin 2018).[3] The FEER survey points to a paradox. On one hand, US enforcement policies have increased the demand for services such as legal screening, representation, naturalization, assistance to unaccompanied minors, and support to the US families of detainees and deportees. Many Catholic institutions have expanded their services to accommodate the increased demand for their services. On the other hand, their work with immigrants has been impeded by federal immigration policies that effectively prevent immigrants from driving, attending gatherings, applying for benefits, and accessing services for fear that these activities might lead to their deportation or the deportation of a family member. Among other top-line findings, 59 percent of 133 FEER respondents reported that “fear of apprehension or deportation” negatively affected immigrants’ access to their services, and 57 percent of 127 respondents reported that immigrant enforcement very negatively or negatively affected the participation of immigrants in their programs and ministries.
Topic:
Migration, Religion, Border Control, Immigrants, and Catholic Church
Political Geography:
United States, Central America, and North America

48. Transitory Legality: The Health Implication of Ending DACA

Author:
Marie L. Mallet and Lisa Garcia Bedolla
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
California Journal of Politics and Policy
Institution:
Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
Abstract:
This paper examines the effects of the rescission announcement of the DACA program on the health outcomes of Latino DACA recipients in California. Research shows that undocumented immigrants face poorer health outcomes than their documented counterparts and U.S. citizens, and that being offered legal status (e.g. DACA) considerably improves their health outcomes. Even though studies have examined the impact of shifting legal status on incorporation, to our knowledge no studies have considered the effects of announcing the rescission of the DACA program on its recipients. However, this is important because it may have implications on their health outcomes. This study addresses this gap by using in-depth interviews with 43 Latino DACA recipients living in the California San Francisco Bay Area in 2017 and 2018. Our findings suggest that rescission announcement of DACA has led to worsening health outcomes for DACA recipients. Specifically, we find that it created what we call a state of transitory legality among the 1.5 generation, which causes DACA recipients to experience health outcomes that are worse than those before DACA. Our results are important in the field of sociology, public policy and heath care because they show the negative effects of reversing inclusionary immigration policies on the health outcomes of undocumented Latino immigrants.
Topic:
Health, Immigration, Citizenship, Immigrants, and Public Health
Political Geography:
United States and California

49. Examining Racist Nativist Microagressions on DACAmented College Students in the Trump Era

Author:
Valerie Gomez and Lindsay Perez Huber
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
California Journal of Politics and Policy
Institution:
Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
Abstract:
Within public discourses of immigration, immigrant Communities of Color are increasingly targeted by expressions of racist nativism—a form of racism that has historically targeted Latinx communities that is based upon real or perceived immigrant status that in turn, assigns a foreign identity that justifies subordinating practices and policies. Beginning with his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has advanced racist nativist discourse that framed undocumented Latinx immigrants as “invaders” and “criminals.” This paper examines how these discourses impact Latinx DACAmented college students through their experiences with racist nativist microaggressions within and beyond their college campuses. Findings indicate these students are targeted by this type of microaggression, shaped by the anti-immigrant and anti-Latinx political discourses that the Trump administration advocates. Analysis of 10 in-depth interviews with Latinx DACAmented college students reveals that as a result of Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, students are becoming more fearful and uncertain of their future. Even still, we found students felt empowered to resist this racism, remain resilient, and maintain a sense of hope.
Topic:
Political Violence, Immigrants, and Far Right
Political Geography:
United States and California

50. Exploring Undocumented Students' Understandings of the Role of Higher Education during the Trump Era

Author:
Karina Santellano
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
California Journal of Politics and Policy
Institution:
Institute of Governmental Studies, UC Berkeley
Abstract:
Law pertaining to immigrants is conceptualized as legal violence (Menjívar and Abrego 2012). Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is an executive policy with an uncertain future under the Trump administration. In California, many DACA beneficiaries are students at public colleges and universities. This paper conceptualizes DACA as another form of legal violence and draws from 30 in-depth interviews with undocumented students to explore the ways in which undocumented students believe the role of their college/university is to mitigate the legal violence stemming from the liminality of DACA. Some participants believe their colleges/universities should provide safety, specifically via the designation of sanctuary campus status for its symbolic importance, others believe their colleges have a responsibility beyond intellectualism sharing they should be progressive leaders against xenophobia, while others expressed cynicism, describing institutions of higher education as corporations interested in their brand rather than in being immigrant rights advocates on behalf of their students. This study serves as a way for institutions of higher education to learn how undocumented students perceive their roles and duties. At the end of this paper, the author suggests how colleges and universities can work towards mitigating legal violence in the lives of undocumented students.
Topic:
Human Rights, Immigration, Law, Immigrants, and Higher Education
Political Geography:
United States and California