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UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Documenting the Undocumented: the Construction of Legal Residency as a Substantive Right under the Mercosur Residency Agreements Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6g22k8pd Author Del Real, Deisy Publication Date 2019 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California ! UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Documenting the Undocumented: the Construction of Legal Residency as a Substantive Right under the Mercosur Residency Agreements A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology by Deisy Del Real 2019 ! ! ©Copyright by Deisy Del Real 2019 ! ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Documenting the Undocumented: the Construction of Legal Residency as a Substantive Right under the Mercosur Residency Agreements by Deisy Del Real Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology University of California, Los Angeles, 2019 Professor Vilma Ortiz, Chair Why have the South American governments defied global trends towards immigration restriction and passed laws that expand immigrants’ access to entry, legal residency, and rights? To answer this question, this dissertation examines the case of the Mercosur Residency Agreements (2002), which are the first legislation to make legal status a substantive right. Even though Mercosur is an intergovernmental organization with non-binding policies, by 2009, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay had adopted the Residency Agreements as national policy. This study identifies the factors, actors, and mechanisms that shaped the wide adoption of these agreements. To achieve this objective, I draw on 130 in-depth interviews, data from organizational archives, and original compilations of immigration policies as well as trade, economic, and migratory flow indicators from 1970 to 2017. Chapter 2 uncovers the power dynamics that shaped the ratification of the Residency Agreements. I argue that state diplomats engage in political mobilization at multiple levels of decision-making within and across states to address resistance against the Residency ii ! Agreements and secure their ratification and diffusion within South America. Chapter 3 examines why governments in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, and Uruguay have completely internalized the Residency Agreements while those in Chile and Paraguay have not. In the four countries that fully internalized the agreements, the governments were committed to regional integration. These four countries also had established coalitions of state and non-state actors that supported immigration reform proposals that expanded immigrants’ rights. These coalitions successfully tied the bills to broader legal-bureaucratic reforms that sought to improve democracy. Although all six states have internalized the Residency Agreements to some degree, Chapter 4 assesses why many qualifying indigenous immigrants from Bolivia remain undocumented. I find that indigenous Bolivians migrate through unofficial channels and remain irregular because they either resist state legal logics, the Bolivian state does not provide many of them with the identification documents, and receiving states implement their immigration laws in a manner that imposes excessive hurdles to legal residency. Overall, this study expands our understanding of immigration governance in the Global South and identifies limitations to laws that omit indigenous practices. iii ! The dissertation of Deisy Del Real is approved. Carola E. Suárez-Orozco David Cook-Martín Lauren Duquette-Rury Rubén Hernández-León Vilma Ortiz, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2019 iv ! This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Estela Del Real and Leopoldo Del Real, who risked their lives to provide my siblings and me a better future. I also extend my dedication to all the other immigrants, refugees, and stateless people searching for a land to call home. v ! Table of Contents Figures.…….…………………………………………………………………….vii Tables.…………...………………………………………………………………viii Acknowledgements.……………………………………………………………...ix About the Author………………………………………………………………..xiv Chapter 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………..1 Chapter 2 Ratification.…………………………………………………………...21 Chapter 3 Internalization………………………………………………………....77 Chapter 4 Implementation……………………………………………………….148 Chapter 5 Conclusion……………………………………………………………212 vi ! Figures Figure 1. How Ratification and Power Relations Impact Policy Diffusion Figure 2. The Politics of Ratifying the Residency Agreements Figure 3. Argentine, Brazilian, Bolivian, Chilean, Paraguayan, and Uruguayan Global Emigration, 1990-2017 Figure 4. Intra-Mercosur Emigration, 1990-2017 Figure 5. Global Immigration in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, 1990-2017 Figure 6. Intra-Mercosur Immigration, 1990 and 2017 Figure 7. Gross National Income Per Capita (GNIPP current US$) Figure 8. Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) Figure 9. Sources of Irregularity Within a Welcoming Governmental Context of Reception vii ! Tables Table 1. Argentina Re-structures Migration Governance in South America Appendix A. Mercosur Member States Table 2. Comparison of Factors Between Countries that Completely versus Incompletely Internalize the Residency Agreements (RA) Table 3. Percent of Population who Supported Open, Mid-Restrictive, and Very Restrictive Immigration Policy Before and After the Signing of the Residency Agreements (RA) Table 4. Top 20 Trade Partners of Exports and Imports of Goods and Services Among Mercosur Countries, 2017 Appendix B. National Internalization of the Mercosur Residency Agreements (MRA), 1970 to 2017 Table 5. Bolivian Immigrants in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay Table 6. Level of Adaptation of the Residency Agreements in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay viii ! Acknowledgements I am eternally grateful to my family, committee members, colleagues, friends, and interviewees whose generous support and insights made this research possible. The struggles my family and I faced as undocumented immigrants and our ongoing fight to survive and thrive in a foreign land are the source of my inspiration and strength. This work is dedicated to you Estela Del Real, Leopoldo Del Real, Jorge Del Real, Mayra Del Real, and Rolando Del Real. This dissertation would have not been possible without the joyous experiences I’ve shared with my niece Olivia Cano and my nephew Logan Cano. I hope you both reap the fruits of your courageous ancestors. I have been blessed with a supportive committee. I am particularly grateful to Vilma Ortiz whose unyielding support, methodological rigor, and keen eye for detecting structural sources of social phenomenon have greatly helped me turn my ideas into concrete studies, concepts, and publications. Rubén Hernández-León has also been a great source of support. His insights have always pushed me to refine my research designs and explore the possible contributions of my research. I also owe much of my intellectual growth to Bill Roy. His comparative historical class changed the way I ask research questions and design studies. Furthermore, his thought-provoking insights have shifted the way I see the world and findings. I am also very thankful to David Cook- Martín who has helped me navigate graduate school and field research in South America. His own research and insights have shown me how to study immigration policymaking at multiple levels of analysis and with a critical lens. With great kindness, Carola Suárez-Orozco’s feedback has helped me sharpen my research designs and analytical strategies. Lauren Duquette-Rury’s interdisciplinary theoretical acumen and mixed-methods approach to study design have exposed me to new data sources and research possibilities. She has expanded my research toolkit in ways I am sure will continue to be beneficial. In sum, all of my committee members have played a unique and key role in my growth and development as scholar. ix ! There are many other scholars who are not formal members of my committee, but who have nonetheless supported and helped me develop this project. I am very appreciative of Fred Block, Mridula Udayagiri, and the participants of the Center for Engaged Scholarship 2018 conference. They provided very perceptive feedback on earlier drafts of this dissertation that I hope I have honored in subsequent revisions. I am also very grateful to Kevan Harris, who provided critical feedback at key stages of my graduate student career by generously sharing his insights, inviting me to present at the UCLA’s Theory and Research in Comparative Social Analysis, and hosting a mock job talk. I also want to thank the many other scholars who generously shared their insights at various stages of this study. These include (in alphabetical order): Abigail Saguy, Ann Tickner, Andreas Wimmer, Cecilia Menjivar, Celia Lacayo, Diego Acosta, Edward Walker, Francesco Duina, Jacob Foster, Leisy Abrego, Roger Waldinger, and Thomas Soehl. In South America, I am indebted to the 130 government officials, academics, and staff of NGOs, labor unions, and business associations who agreed to participate in this study. I hope to repay my debt by rigorously and accurately capturing the processes they experienced first hand. I am particularly appreciative of the people I met in Argentina and Uruguay, where I first visualized and implemented this project. I first envisioned this study in 2009 while living in the middle of the Andes near Aconcagua in Argentina.

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