Interorganizational governance of asylum seekers: Between human rights activism and political backlash

• In Event: 20862 - Section on International Migration Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 12: Immigration Policy and Politics

Abstract

This paper discusses the intergovernmental response to the influx of migrants in two exemplary Texas cities: Brownsville and San Antonio. It zooms in on the intergovernmental relations of local, state and federal governments and nonprofits organizations in managing and/ or caring for migrants. Torn between political upheaval from local residents in light of stretched public resources and state anti-immigration policy, local and county governments have resorted to a battery of practices to manage the migrant influx from 2021 to 2023. These included collaborations and partnership between local and nonprofit organizations to meet primary needs (food, clothes and shelter), facilitate migrants’ reunion with family members or sponsors across the country, and secure legal assistance. Many such decisions raised local resource-sustainability and capacity concerns, prompting political backlash by politicians, citizens, and groups of civil society.

Authors

• Bertha Alicia Bermudez Tapia, New Mexico State University

• Maria Veronica Elias, University of Texas, San Antonio