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The View from Ecuador: Security, Insecurity, and Chaotic Geographies of U.S

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The View from Ecuador: Security, Insecurity, and Chaotic Geographies of U.S Syracuse University SURFACE Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Geography - Dissertations Affairs 12-2011 The View From Ecuador: Security, Insecurity, and Chaotic Geographies of U.S. Migrant Detention and Deportation Nancy Ann Hiemstra Syracuse University Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/geo_etd Part of the Geography Commons Recommended Citation Hiemstra, Nancy Ann, "The View From Ecuador: Security, Insecurity, and Chaotic Geographies of U.S. Migrant Detention and Deportation" (2011). Geography - Dissertations. 68. https://surface.syr.edu/geo_etd/68 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Geography - Dissertations by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACT The central argument of this dissertation is that while the immigration enforcement policies of detention and deportation are politically positioned as critical strategies for protecting U.S. homeland security, these policies actually create insecurity at multiple scales. The project, grounded in both critical geopolitics and feminist political geography, endeavors to interrogate the ‗master narratives‘ behind these restrictive policies. First, the dissertation explores the historical, political, and cultural factors behind the United States‘ increased use of detention and deportation, as well as the deep- seated structural factors driving Ecuadorian migration to the United States. Then, drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Ecuador with deportees and family members of detained migrants, the study seeks to understand ways in which these policies are embodied both within and outside U.S. borders. It is suggested that the detention and deportation system engenders chaos – or the appearance of chaos – in numerous spaces and for various groups of individuals. Three ‗chaotic geographies‘ of the system are explored in order to scrutinize the enactment of immigration policy: the operation of the system itself, detainees‘ experiences, and reverberations of detention and deportation in Ecuador. Data show that inside U.S. borders, these enforcement policies interact recursively with processes of racialization and criminalization to generate insecurity for detained migrants and discipline employees to behave in particular ways. In addition, due to its inherent disorder and confusion, the detention and deportation system projects a cloak of impenetrability that hides the powerful actors behind its expansion, faults, and abuses. The dissertation then investigates how the chaos of detention and deportation extends transnationally to countries of migrant origin to produce insecurity precisely at the scale of the home for migrants‘ families, communities, and for returned migrants. In Ecuador, detention and deportation increase economic and ontological insecurity for family members and returned migrants in ways that spread throughout communities. Moreover, data from Ecuador illustrate that policymakers‘ objectives of deterrence do not play out as anticipated. In this project, the author joins critical scholars in calling for an expanded understanding of the concept of security, one which incorporates multiple scales and operates across political borders. THE VIEW FROM ECUADOR: SECURITY, INSECURITY, AND CHAOTIC GEOGRAPHIES OF U.S. MIGRANT DETENTION AND DEPORTATION By Nancy Hiemstra B.A. University of Virginia, 1994 M.A. University of Oregon, 2005 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography in the Graduate School of Syracuse University December 2011 Copyright 2011 Nancy Hiemstra All rights Reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE xiii CHAPTER ONE – Frameworks for Studying Immigration Policy Across Scales and Borders 1 Introduction 5 Epistemological Entry to Migration Policy Across Borders 9 Homeland (In)security and Migration 13 Feminist Geopolitics and Human Security 17 Contributions 21 Dissertation Outline 25 CHAPTER TWO – Genealogy of the Detention and Deportation System 31 Antecedents 34 Evolution of the Present-Day System 42 Setting the Stage: Social and Political Climate 43 1980s: Framework of the Contemporary Detention and Deportation System 45 1990s: Walls and Roof to the System 48 After September 11, 2001 52 Conclusion 61 CHAPTER THREE – Beyond Borders: The Geopolitics and Structures of Ecuadorian International Migration 66 Introduction 66 v The Development of Ecuadorian International Migration Patterns 68 The Commencement of Ecuadorian Emigration to the U.S. 69 International Debt, Domestic Austerity, and the Acceleration of Migration 72 “La Crisis” and Sharp Escalation of Ecuadorian Emigration 76 The Structural Embeddedness of International Migration in Ecuador 82 U.S. Immigration Policies and Ecuadorian Migration 87 The (Im)possibility of Documented Migration to the United States 88 United States’ Immigration Enforcement Efforts in Latin America 89 The Development of Human Smuggling from Ecuador to the U.S. 94 Conclusion 99 CHAPTER FOUR – Methodology for a Transnational Ethnography of Detention and Deportation 102 Introduction 104 Ethnography of a Policy 106 Periscoping as Embodiment 108 Research Design and Methods 114 Participant Observation 114 Interviews 122 Document and Media Review 128 Data Analysis 130 Expanding Ideas of Subjectivity 132 vi Tears, Guilt, and Responsibility 134 How My Family Did and Did Not Shape the Field 137 Meaningful Messiness 141 Conclusion 141 CHAPTER FIVE – ―With them a dog is treated better than a migrant‖: The D & D System, Employee Insecurity, and Governmentality 144 D & D System Structure, Operation, and Discipline 144 Ordering the Chaos: Searching for Detained Migrants 149 Periscoping In To the D & D System 152 Narratives and Structures in Determining Search Success 161 The Scripting of Migrants in Conditions of Detention 169 Homeland Security and the “Minutiae” of Detention 170 Conclusion 176 CHAPTER SIX – ―You don‘t even know where you are‖: Mapping Migrants‘ Experiences of Detention and Deportation 180 Introduction 180 Procedural Chaos Between Apprehension and Deportation 183 Step One – Receiving a Removal Order 185 Step Two – Obtaining Travel Documents 188 Step Three – Waiting for a Flight 190 “Undue” Processes 191 Isolation Through Control of Communication and Information 197 vii Space and Time Geographies of Detention Paths 202 Deciphering Transfer Patterns 205 Consequences of Detainee Transfers 207 Concealing Power, Profit, and Abuse 213 Conclusion 217 Figure 1 – Detention Transfer Path: Eduardo 219 Figure 2 – Detention Transfer Path: Remigio 220 Figure 3 – Detention Transfer Path: Hugo 221 Figure 4 – Detention Transfer Path: Marcelo 222 Figure 5 – Detention Transfer Path: Oscar 223 Figure 6 – Detention Transfer Path: Diego 224 CHAPTER SEVEN – ―You don‘t know how I suffer, waiting every day‖: Fear and Insecurity in Ecuador 225 Introduction 225 Chaotic Geographies of Detention and Deportation in Ecuador 227 Detention and the Tenor of Absence 228 Economic Insecurity 236 Ontological Insecurity 241 Failure of the Deterrence Paradigm 249 Conclusion 257 CHAPTER EIGHT – Conclusion 259 Chaos, Security, and the State 259 viii An Agenda for Future Scholarship 263 APPENDICES 268 Appendix A – List of Acronyms 268 Appendix B – Map of Ecuador 269 Appendix C – Table: Interviewed Functionaries 270 Appendix D – Table: Interviewed Deportees, Basic Data 271 Appendix E – Deportee Interview Question Guide 273 BIBLIOGRAPHY 275 VITA 310 ix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIALS LIST OF TABLES Table: Interviewed Functionaries (Appendix C) 268 Table: Interviewed Deportees, Basic Data (Appendix D) 269 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 – Detention Transfer Path: Eduardo 217 Figure 2 – Detention Transfer Path: Remigio 218 Figure 3 – Detention Transfer Path: Hugo 219 Figure 4 – Detention Transfer Path: Marcelo 220 Figure 5 – Detention Transfer Path: Oscar 221 Figure 6 – Detention Transfer Path: Diego 222 Map of Ecuador (Appendix B) 267 x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I greatly appreciate the financial support that made this project possible. The bulk of the research was funded by a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Fellowship (#0802801). The Syracuse University Department of Geography generously funded key components of my doctoral journey, as did a Syracuse University Fellowship. Additional funding was awarded by various SU sources: the Maxwell School‘s John L. Palmer Fund, a Goekjian Summer Research Grant, a Roscoe Martin Research Grant, and the Program on Latin America and the Caribbean. There are so many individuals who contributed to this dissertation in various ways. First, I deeply thank all research participants in Ecuador for their trust, candor, and time. Thank you, too, to the dedicated people at the Casa del Migrante in Cuenca, especially Carmen Alvarado, whose friendship and support was essential to the success of the research. I thank the administrative staff of the SU Department of Geography for always being pleasant and helpful. Special thanks to Christine Chapman, truly the Knower of All Things. The camaraderie, commiseration, and advice of many fellow grad students and other colleagues supported me throughout this project. In particular, Kate Coddington and Lauren Martin offered fantastic feedback at key times. Many thanks to Emily Billo for her support in Ecuador and her constant cheerleading and constructive input throughout the writing of the dissertation.
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