Drawing on observations and interviews with migrants from Turkey living in the open-air detention sites (OADS) located in Jacumba Hot Springs and Boulevard, the seminar presents preliminary findings and theoretical reflections on what are the reasons behind this migration trajectory and how it operates.
Friday, February 16, 2024
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM (Pacific Time)
Webinar
Co-sponsored with CCIS, CPS, and NextGenerationEU
Drawing on observations and interviews with migrants from Turkey living in the open-air detention sites (OADS) located in Jacumba Hot Springs and Boulevard, the seminar presents preliminary findings and theoretical reflections on what are the reasons behind this migration trajectory and how it operates. What has been problematized as “a new wave” of Turkish diaspora speaks to Turkey’s ongoing authoritarian turn and severe economic crises. However, it also signals the relevance of visa regimes and shifts in US migration and asylum policy on the global migration governance. The visa-free policy allowing to travel from Turkey to Mexico moves closer two transit and emigration countries which have respectively become essential to the EU and the US externalization of border control. The contributions of Al Otro Lado activist, Erika Pinheiro, and photographer Nicoló Filippo Rosso cast light on OADS as places where migrants who have just crossed into US territory wait before being identified and where local solidarity is providing critical services, including food, tents, clothing and aid to hundreds of migrants from around the globe.
Chiara Maritato is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Department of Cultures, Politics and Society at the University of Turin. She holds a MSCA "Seal of Excellence" grant for the ROADSIDE project investigating the multilevel governance of transit migration in partnership with the Istanbul Bilgi University European Institute. Her research interests include the controversial notion of "transit" migration and border management, transnational religious actors and diaspora communities, religion and gender issues in contemporary Turkey.
Erika Pinheiro holds both a JD and MPP from Georgetown University, and is trained in econometric analysis of immigration policy. As Litigation and Policy Director of the direct legal services non-profit Al Otro Lado, Erika Pinheiro leads her organization's efforts in filing class action lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's attacks on the US asylum system, as well as slave labor practices and severe medical neglect in immigration detention facilities.
Nicoló Filippo Rosso is an Italian documentary photographer living between South, Central, and North America. After graduating with a degree in Literature at the University of Turin, he moved to Latin America, living mainly in Colombia for the past ten years. Witnessing stories of trauma, inequality, and injustices that have shattered the region for generations, he chose to tell stories of abandoned communities, mass migration crises, conflict, and climate change.
Download file: Maritato-2-16-24-Event-Flyer-2-xe-ofx.pdf
Sponsor(s): Center for Comparative Immigration Studies (CCIS), NextGenerationEU, Culture Politica Societa (CPS)