AN ANALYSIS of GUEST WORKER POLICIES in the UNITED STATES and CANADA by LAURIE DARIAN TRAUTMA

TEMPORARY WORKER, PERMANENT ALIEN: AN ANALYSIS OF GUEST WORKER POLICIES IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA by LAURIE DARIAN TRAUTMAN A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of Geography and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2014 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Laurie Darian Trautman Title: Temporary Worker, Permanent Alien: An Analysis of Guest Worker Programs in the United States and Canada This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of Geography by: Lise K Nelson Chairperson Alexander Murphy Core Member Susan Hardwick Core Member Daniel Tichenor Institutional Representative and J. Andrew Berglund Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded September 2014 ii © 2014 Laurie Darian Trautman iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Laurie Darian Trautman Doctor of Philosophy Department of Geography September 2014 Title: Temporary Worker, Permanent Alien: An Analysis of Guest Worker Programs in the United States and Canada Over the last several decades, economic globalization has presented many ‗advanced‘ economies with a dilemma between facilitating the flow of goods while simultaneously regulating the flow of labor. This contradiction has manifested itself in the immigration policies of Canada and the U.S., which have each pursued distinct strategies for importing foreign workers to maintain global economic competition. Such workers, whether legal ‗guest workers‘ or ‗illegal‘ immigrants, reside within the boundaries of the state, yet remain permanent aliens. This dissertation explores how guest worker policy specifically and immigration policy more broadly have been constructed and debated in national political discourse from 1990 to 2010. In addition, research in two rural case study communities reveals how labor markets and social geographies are re-shaped by the interaction between workers of varying legal and ‗illegal‘ statuses. This multi-scaled and comparative analysis of the understudied issue of guest worker programs reveals how different forms of exclusion, constructed at national and local scales, become deeply interwoven together to produce new labor market realities and reinforce national identities predicated on protecting the composition of the nation while actively promoting global economic competition. iv CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Laurie Darian Trautman GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Montana State University, Bozeman, MT Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, Geography, 2014, University of Oregon Master of Science, 2006, Montana State University Bachelor of Arts, 2001, Western Washington University AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Immigration Policy PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Director, Friends of Sawtooth Avalanche Center, 2013-2014 Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant, University of Oregon, 2009-2014 Education Write, National Geographic, 2009-2010 Education and Outreach Coordinator, Big Sky Institute, 2006-2009 Teaching Assistant, Montana State University, 2003-2005 Water and Energy Conservation Coordinator, City of Blaine, 2001-2002 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Graduate Teaching Fellowship, University of Oregon, 2009-2014 Graduate School Summer Research Award, University of Oregon, 2013 v Women in Graduate Sciences Parenting Award, University of Oregon, 2013 Enders Graduate Fellowship, Association for Canadian Studies in the United States, 2013 Ryoichi-Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund Research Abroad Award, Tokyo Foundation, 2013 Women‘s Network Travel Grant, Association of Pacific Coast Geographers (APCG), 2013 & 2005 President‘s Award for an Outstanding Paper by a PhD Student, APCG, 2012 Margaret Trussell Scholarship for Graduate Students, APCG, 2012 Ryoichi-Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund International Research Fellowship, Tokyo Foundation, 2012 Center on Diversity and Community Graduate Summer Research Award, Center on Diversity and Community Graduate Summer Research Award, 2012 Cultural Geography Fieldwork Scholarship, APCG, 2005 Montana State University Student Enhancement & Enrichment Award, 2006 & 2005 PUBLICATIONS: Nelson, Peter, Lise Nelson, and Laurie Trautman. 2014. Linked Migration and Labor Market Flexibility in the Rural Amenity Destinations in the United States. Journal of Rural Studies, 36: 121-136. Haverluk, Terrence and Laurie Trautman. 2008. The Changing Geography of U.S. Hispanics from 1990-2006: A Shift to the South and Midwest. Journal of Geography 107 (3): 87-101. Darian, Jean and Laurie Trautman. Developing Strategies for Household Water Conservation through Social Marketing: An Investigation of Consumers' Beliefs, Motivations, and Behavior. 2006. International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability 2 (2): 139-150. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 Historical Context .................................................................................................. 2 Research Value ...................................................................................................... 5 Dissertation Format ............................................................................................. 9 II. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................... 11 Guest Worker Scholarship ..................................................................................... 14 Globalization and Citizenship ................................................................................ 18 Precarious Labor Regimes ..................................................................................... 24 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 30 III. METHODS ............................................................................................................ 32 Research Questions ................................................................................................ 33 Phase 1: Policy Research ....................................................................................... 34 Phase 2: Case Study Fieldwork.............................................................................. 36 Research Challenges .............................................................................................. 41 Data Analysis ......................................................................................................... 43 IV. GUEST WORKER NARRATIVES AND THE CHANGING POLITICS OF IMMIGRATION REFORM ........................................................................................ 45 Discourse Analysis of Government Debates ......................................................... 48 Historical Overview of Immigration Policies in the U.S. and Canada .................. 50 V. UNITED STATES POLICY ................................................................................... 58 The Bracero Program ............................................................................................. 59 vii Chapter Page Contemporary Guest Worker Programs ................................................................. 63 The Changing Nature of Immigration Policy & Guest Worker Debates in Congress ................................................................................................................ 69 Select Commission on Immigration & Refugee Policy, 1978-1981 ............. 69 Immigration Reform & Control Act (IRCA), 1986 ...................................... 72 Debates of the 101st-106th Congress (1989-2000): Increasing Militarization, Enforcement, and Decreasing Benefits ................................ 77 Commission on Immigration Reform, 1990-1997 ........................................ 84 Debates of the 107th-111th Congress (2001-2010): Terrorism, Failed Efforts at Immigration Reform, and Rising Unemployment ........................ 87 Discourse Analysis & Congressional Narratives ................................................... 93 Narratives of Protection ................................................................................ 101 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 108 VI. CANADIAN POLICY........................................................................................... 110 Immigration Policy & Temporary Foreign Worker Programs in Canada ............. 113 Program Characteristics ................................................................................... 117 Provincial Role....................................................................................................... 123 The Changing Nature of Immigration Policy & Temporary Foreign Worker Debates in Parliament ............................................................................................ 125 The National Immigration Employment Authorization Program (NEIAP) . 125 Debates of the 34th-36th Parliament (1988-2000) ......................................... 128 Debates of the 37th-40th Parliament (2001-2011) ......................................... 133 Discourse Analysis & Parliamentary Narratives ..................................................

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