Southern Methodist University SMU Scholar Anthropology Theses and Dissertations Anthropology Fall 2021 Texas Hospitality: Pro-Refugee Activism, Volunteerism, and Coalition-Building in Xenophobic Times Sara Mosher smosher@smu.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.edu/hum_sci_anthropology_etds Part of the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Mosher, Sara, "Texas Hospitality: Pro-Refugee Activism, Volunteerism, and Coalition-Building in Xenophobic Times" (2021). Anthropology Theses and Dissertations.edu/hum_sci_anthropology_etds/17 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.
TEXAS HOSPITALITY: PRO-REFUGEE ACTIVISM, VOLUNTEERISM, AND COALITION-BUILDING IN XENOPHOBIC TIMES Approved by: ___________________________________ Prof. Brettell Professor of Anthropology ___________________________________ Prof. Cairns Assistant Professor of Anthropology ___________________________________ Prof. Recinos Professor of Church and Society ___________________________________ Prof.
Nicolas Sternsdorff-Cisterna Assistant Professor of Anthropology TEXAS HOSPITALITY: PRO-REFUGEE ACTIVISM, VOLUNTEERISM, AND COALITION-BUILDING IN XENOPHOBIC TIMES A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate Faculty of the Dedman College Southern Methodist University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy with a Major in Anthropology by Sara L., Music Performance, Ohio State University B., Anthropology, Ohio State University M., Ethnomusicology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign M., Applied Anthropology, University of Maryland M., Anthropology, Southern Methodist University December 18, 2021 Copyright (2021) Sara L. Mosher All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Caroline Brettell, who constantly amazed me with her breadth of knowledge and her inexplicably quick response time. Thank you to my committee— Dr.
Caroline Brettell, Dr. Nico Sternsdorff-Cisterna, Dr. Maryann Cairns, and Dr. Harold Recinos—who took the time to provide thoughtful feedback during the writing process.
They challenged my ideas and pushed me to improve. I would also like to thank my cohort and the rest of the faculty and graduate students in the anthropology department, who helped me in a thousand ways, both big and small. Thank you to the many, many people involved in pro-refugee work who answered my questions, let me tag along on their projects, tolerated my mistakes, and helped me become a better volunteer and activist. Last but not least, I would like to thank my family, without whom I would never have been able to finish.
iv Mosher, Sara L., Anthropology, Southern Methodist University M., Applied Anthropology, University of Maryland M., Ethnomusicology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign B., Anthropology, Ohio State University B., Music Performance, Ohio State University Texas Hospitality: Pro-Refugee Activism, Volunteerism, and Coalition-Building in Xenophobic Times Advisor: Professor Caroline B. Brettell Doctor of Philosophy conferred December 18, 2021 Dissertation completed August 18, 2021 This project employs ethnographic methods to explore the experiences of forty ordinary Texans of different social and religious backgrounds who were active in pro-refugee volunteer and advocacy work during the four chaotic years of the Trump administration. The goal of this research is to better understand people’s reasons for volunteering and advocating on behalf of refugees during a time of political upheaval, when prominent public figures in positions of leadership around the country have repeatedly framed refugees as a threat to American security and cultural identity. Despite the crucial roles that local volunteers typically play in the process of refugee resettlement and integration, relatively little academic work has been done to understand how and why people become involved in this work, especially if they themselves do not have a recent family immigration background.
These questions are particularly important during a time of rising xenophobia and political polarization. This study explores the interconnections between personal ethics, social identity, and civic engagement, and illuminates the unexpected social connections that can form across religious and other social boundaries when people unite in pursuit of a common goal. It v contributes to the “anthropology of the good” by adding a new moral / ethical dimension to theoretical concepts of citizenship and civic engagement. Finally, it lays out some general conclusions with regards to refugee supporters’ ideas about what it means to do (and be) “good”; the role of faith-based organizations mobilizing (and sometimes suppressing) support for displaced people; common narratives about refugee / immigrant “deservingness”; and the relationship between volunteerism and activism.
Key words: immigration, refugees, activism, volunteerism, ethics / morality, civic engagement vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………….x LIST OF APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………….xi CHAPTER 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………………….1 Pro-Refugee Volunteerism and Activism in North Texas……………………………………….3 Refugee Resettlement in the United States………………………………………………………6 The Role of International and Domestic Politics………………………………………………9 Practical Problems and Limitations of the US Resettlement Program……………………….10 Refugee Politics in Texas………………………………………………………………………13 Literature Review………………………………………………………………………………18 Citizenship, Civic Engagement, and Activism…………………………………………….20 Agency, Volunteerism, and Activism……………………………………………………….24 Religious Belief, Politics, and Pro-Refugee Work………………………………………….29 Refugee Politics and Deservingness……………………………………………………….35 Participant Observation………………………………………………………………………38 Interviews…………………………………………………………………………………….41 Research Ethics………………………………………………………………………………43 The Impact of COVID-19……………………………………………………………………44 On Definitions…………………………………………………………………………………. 45 Major Themes and Chapter Topics………………………………………………………………46 vii CHAPTER 2: Contesting the Muslim Travel Ban: Security, Religious Freedom, and the Questionable Limits of Presidential Power………………………………………………….49 Travel Ban Version 1………………………………………………………………………….52 Travel Ban Version 1: Justification………………………………………………………….53 Travel Ban Version 1: Immediate Consequences………………………………………….55 Travel Ban Version 1: Legal Challenges…………………………………………………….57 Travel Ban Version 2………………………………………………………………………….58 Travel Ban Version 2: Justification………………………………………………………….59 Travel Ban Version 2: Legal Challenges…………………………………………………….64 The US Supreme Court on Travel Ban Version 2……………………………………………….67 Travel Ban Version 3………………………………………………………………………….72 Travel Ban Version 3: Justification………………………………………………………….73 Travel Ban Version 3: Immediate Consequences………………………………………….75 Travel Ban Version 3: Legal Challenges…………………………………………………….78 Travel Ban Version 3 Goes to the Supreme Court………………………………………….83 Travel Ban Version 4…………………………………………………………………………. 97 CHAPTER 3: “This is what Dallas looks like”: Practicing Solidarity in Response to the Muslim Travel Ban……………………………………………….102 From Field Notes…………………………………………………………………………….102 Why Was the Protest at DFW International Airport so Important?.109 The Anthropology of Ethics, Activism, and “Becoming”………………………………….110 After the Rally……………………………………………………………………………….117 Nora: Volunteering as a Form of Activism…………………………………………………118 viii Maddie: Grassroots Organizing…………………………………………………………….121 Phillip: Building Interfaith Connections………………………………………………….123 Mayor Mike Rawlings: Building City-Wide Partnerships to Support Immigrants……….132 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………136 CHAPTER 4: “It’s just the right thing to do”: Becoming a Refugee Volunteer-Advocate in North Texas …………………………………………………………………………………….…139 Literature Review: Why Do People Volunteer?.141 Seeing is Believing………………………………………………………………………….145 Interpreting Carrie’s Story…………………………………………………………………. 150 Speaking the Local “Language"………………………………………………………….151 Refugee Issues in Evangelical Christian Politics……………………………………….152 Other Christian Perspectives on Refugee Issues………………………………………….152 Compassion as a Moral / Ethical Imperative……………………………………………….154 Repairing the World (and Keeping a Suitcase Packed, Just in Case)……………………….157 Remembrance in the Sukkah……………………………………………………………….158 Early Volunteer Experiences with Soviet Refuseniks…………………………………….164 International Experience……………………………………………………………………165 Former Refugees……………………………………………………………………………170 Volunteering and Activism………………………………………………………………….175 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………182 ix CHAPTER 5: Trump-Era Policy Chaos and the Dismantling of the United States Refugee Resettlement Program………………………………………………………………….187 Background on the US Refugee Resettlement Program…………………………………….191 The Role of the VOLAG………………………………………………………………….191 Dismantling the Refugee Resettlement Program…………………………………………….194 The Presidential Determination…………………………………………………………….195 Executive Actions Limiting Refugee Admissions………………………………………….200 Consequences for US Refugee Resettlement………………………………………………….210 Funding and Infrastructure………………………………………………………………….211 Local Consequences in North Texas……………………………………………………….214 Strategies for Survival and Renewal………………………………………………………….216 New Advocacy Efforts…………………………………………………………………….222 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………… 225 CHAPTER 6: Going Down to the Border………………………………………………….231 Border Policy Under the Trump Administration…………………………………………….233 Seeing With Your Own Eyes……………………………………………………………….237 Border Relief Work as the “Wild West”…………………………………………………….239 Bearing Witness………………………………………………………………………………244 Bringing the Border to Dallas……………………………………………………………….246 Social Justice Conversions………………………………………………………………….258 x CHAPTER 7: Lessons Learned……………………………………………………………….260 Lesson 1: Don’t be intimidated.
You can do more than you think you can………………….261 Lesson 2: Don’t reinvent the wheel. Do your homework and join up with an organization that already exists……………………………………………………………………………….263 Lesson 3: Check your ego. You’re not here to be anybody’s savior…………………………264 Lesson 4: Listen more than you speak……………………………………………………….268 Lesson 5: Take care of yourself. Social justice work is a marathon, not a sprint…………….270 Lesson 6: Always remember that those whose lives are most closely affected by the issue at hand should have the most say in what we do about it…………………………………….278 Limitations, Fallibility, and Self-Care…………………………………………………….278 Power and Representation………………………………………………………………….283 CHAPTER 8: Conclusion………………………………………………………………………284 Review of Major Themes…………………………………………………………………….284 Discussion…………………………………………………………………………………… 290 Doing (and Being) “Good”……………………………………………………………….290 Moving Toward an Applied Anthropology of the Good……………………………………294 Religion, Politics, and Social Networks………………………………………………….298 Volunteerism, Activism, and Civic Engagement……………………………………………302 Narratives of Differential Deservingness………………………………………………….307 Anthropology, Politics, and Activism………………………………………………….310 Limitations and Directions for Future Research…………………………………………….312 Limitations of This Study………………………………………………………………….312 Future Research in the Anthropology of Activism…………………………………….314 xi The Future of Refugee Resettlement in the United States…………………………….……316 The Future of Asylum in the United States……………………………………………….317 Final Words: Help and Hope………………………………………………………………….323 xii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: #GrandmaBan Social Media Campaign……………………………………….2: Travel Ban Waivers Granted (December 8, 2017 to March 31, 2019)…………….3: Percentage of Travel Waivers Granted for Each Country (December 8, 2017 to March 31, 2019)……………………………………………………………………………………….4: Tweet from ACLU, September 24, 2017…………………………………………… 79 Figure 2.5: Travel Ban Timeline………………………………………………………………… 96 Figure 2.6: Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Visas, FY2010-FY2019…………………………….2: When Were Refugees Officially Blocked from Entering the United States?.3: Refugee Admissions Timeline…………………………………………………….4: Refugees from “SAO” Countries as Compared to Total Refugees from All Countries…………………………………………………………………………………….5: Refugee Admissions from “SAO” Countries Compared to Refugee Admissions from Non-SAO Countries…………………………………………………………………….6: Refugee Admissions from “SAO” Countries Compared to Refugee Admissions from All Countries………………………………………………………………………………….205 xiii LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix 2.1 summarizes what restrictions were in effect for each of the affected countries, under each version of Trump administration’s travel ban.2 shows when visas for people from various countries were at least partially blocked, after taking into account various injunctions, appeals, and other court decisions.
xiv This work is dedicated to displaced people everywhere, and to those who welcome them. CHAPTER 1 Introduction First they came for the socialists—and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists—and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews—and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. (Martin Niemöller, as quoted by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2012) This quote, made famous in various forms by Martin Niemöller in the aftermath of the Nazi Holocaust (Marcuse 2016), was repeated over and over by pro-refugee activists in Dallas, Texas throughout the four years of the Trump presidency, in response to changes in immigration policy that they saw as an assault on human rights and civil liberties. It served as a rallying cry to bring together people of diverse social backgrounds in support of refugees, immigrants, Muslims, and others whose civil rights were under threat. I lost track of the number of times that I heard it at rallies, demonstrations, and candlelight vigils.
I saw it handwritten on protest signs. In interviews, people quoted it earnestly to explain why they devoted so much of their time, energy, and resources to causes whose outcomes did not necessarily have any direct effect on their own lives or families. All over the city, I watched new coalitions forming between people of disparate backgrounds in order to push back against anti-refugee, anti-Muslim, white supremacist sentiments that they saw taking root and becoming more mainstream. Around the city, new 1 volunteers of all colors and creeds flocked to support immigrant and refugee service organizations in ways that they never had before.
Jewish rabbis spoke publicly about the need to provide a safe haven for Syrian Muslim refugees. African Americans who remembered their own lives under segregation advocated policies that respected the dignity of displaced people. Palestinian-Americans called for the free movement of people across the Mexican border. LGBTQ people called for an end to discrimination against immigrants.
Muslim imams traveled to the southern border to protest the separation of Central American families while Latinx immigration activists rallied against Muslim travel bans. “It’s all the same fight,” said a young Latino activist onstage at a rally that I attended, where we were protesting the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the latest version of a ban on travel from several Muslim-majority countries. An Anglo-American speaker repeated the same sentiment for the cameras. “What we’ve learned is, when we get together, the coalition that we have of people of all races, religions, backgrounds, walks of life cannot be defeated unless we give up” (Fox 4 News 6/26/2018; Stelloh and Abdelkader 6/24/2018).
Over the course of my fieldwork, I watched similar scenes unfold over and over.