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Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3752-6754

AccessType

Campus-Only Access for Five (5) Years

Document Type

dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Program

Sociology

Year Degree Awarded

2023

Month Degree Awarded

May

First Advisor

Moon-Kie Jung

Second Advisor

Cedric de Leon

Third Advisor

Fareen Parvez

Fourth Advisor

Boone Shear

Abstract

This dissertation examines the relationship between Latinx immigrants and the neocolonial US carceral state. In the Introduction, I use neocolonialism as an analytic for understanding the relationship between the US and Latin America, contextualizing Latinx immigration to the US amidst neocolonial globalization. In Paper 1, I compare the implicit racialization of Latinx 'unskilled' temporary workers and Asian 'high-skilled' specialty occupation workers through the US visa system. In Paper 2, I argue that Trump’s immigration policies represented an extension of rather than a departure from the Obama era. Even prior to the pandemic, Trump struggled to reach Obama’s high bar for deportations. In Paper 3, I examine U-Visas, which are granted to survivors of gender-based crimes. I argue that immigration agencies exploit survivors by disciplining them into receiving pain and using them to fuel carceral capitalism. In the Conclusion, I coin the term ‘carceral governmentality’ to show how the state uses governmental techniques to enact violence against Latinx immigrants.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/35126079

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