Imagining human rights for migrants in an evolving legal ecosystem: Intellectual, political, and public discourse in the United States, 1980-99

Author

Matthew Harris, University of North FloridaFollow

Year

2023

Season

Fall

Paper Type

Master's Thesis

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree Name

Master of Arts in History (MA)

Department

History

NACO controlled Corporate Body

University of North Florida. Department of History

First Advisor

Dr. Alison Bruey

Second Advisor

Dr. Juan Salinas

Third Advisor

Dr. Eulogio Romero

Department Chair

Dr. David Sheffler

College Dean

Dr. Kaveri Subrahmanyam

Abstract

During the 1980s and 90s, the domestic legal ecosystem in the United States wrestled with how to reconcile growing international support for universal human rights with internal concerns regarding migration. This thesis explores the legal development of human rights, both in theory and in practice, through discourse in intellectual, political, and public spaces, over time with respect to migrants and their families. It questions the role of human rights “talk” in a constantly evolving domestic legal ecosystem comprised of legislative and judicial institutions surrounded and shaped by scholarly discourse, political debate, and public reporting. Migrants to the United States contributed to this ecosystem by pushing for participation, often through allies, in legal processes that increasingly excluded and criminalized them.

Historical analysis of legislation, judicial opinions, and law review articles from the period suggests that legislators, jurists, and intellectuals struggled over how to define migrants and their rights. Political debates from the Congressional record demonstrate a growing partisan divide that reduced migrants to the sum of their economic impact. Local, regional, and national press coverage reveals that nongovernmental advocacy groups supported migrants in asserting human rights challenges and raising public awareness. Taken together, this thesis contributes to a large body of historiography and links interdisciplinary scholarship investigating wider concepts of human rights, labor, as well as international and domestic law.

Suggested Citation

Harris, Matthew, "Imagining human rights for migrants in an evolving legal ecosystem: Intellectual, political, and public discourse in the United States, 1980-99" (2023). UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 1243.
https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/1243