Date of Conferral

8-1-2024

Date of Award

August 2024

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Lynn Wilson

Abstract

Despite legal entitlements to protections under the International Bill of Human Rights, legal immigrants in Minnesota face human rights violations, including discrimination, harassment, and denial of essential services. These violations hinder their well-being, social integration, and economic stability, exacerbate existing disparities, and their ability to provide for their families and secure legal representation. The purpose of this study was to provide information that could be used in considering policy reforms to improve the treatment of immigrants in Minnesota. This was achieved by exploring how Mexican, Somali, and Hmong legal immigrants experienced human rights violations in Minnesota as a vulnerable population and using the knowledge gained from participants’ responses to propose policy recommendations. Fineman’s vulnerability theory served as the theoretical framework of the study. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 20 participants, all in Minnesota: three focus groups of five Somali, Mexican, and Hmong immigrants and five individual interviews with two immigration advocates and three human rights experts. The study was conducted using qualitative phenomenological methodology, and inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The results included (a) experiences of educational discrimination, (b) experiences of workplace discrimination, (c) experiences of racial profiling and negative stereotyping, (d) experiences of housing discrimination, (e) culture and language barriers make immigrants vulnerable to human rights violations, (f) legal system complexity and lack of awareness on how to navigate the complex legal environment, and (g) fear of reporting abuses and violations. The findings aimed to inform immigration policy reforms in Minnesota.

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