Researcher ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0522-5542
Graduation Year
2024
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Politics and International Relations
Reader 1
Owen Brown
Reader 2
Sumita Pahwa
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2023 Eileen Rose E Linchangco
Abstract
This thesis examines the plight of undocumented Filipino immigrants, referred to as “TNT” or “tago nang tago” (hiding and hiding), within the context of an increasingly restrictive US immigration system. I argue that two key factors have driven more Filipinos to pursue unauthorized entry into the US since the 1980s despite heightened risks. First, US immigration policy changes enacted in the 1980s and 1990s implemented stricter numerical caps that severely limited available visas for Filipino immigrants to use legal immigration pathways into the United States. Second, enduring sociocultural constructs propagate the notion that Filipinos represent immigrant desirability for US citizenship. Caught between rising anti-immigrant legislation and persistent narratives lauding Filipino immigrant desirability, Filipino immigrants have increasingly turned to irregular and risker pathways, such as overstaying tourist visas, as a means to actualize their “American dream.” By analyzing immigration policy changes alongside ethnographic studies on Filipino immigrant discourse, I argue that conflicting forces of stricter immigration laws and enduring cultural narratives that promote Filipino immigrant desirability prompt more Filipino immigrants to opt for riskier unauthorized routes over recent decades, ultimately drawing attention to the resilience of Filipino TNTs amidst complex barriers in the US immigration system. I use this research as a platform to call out the broken system we live in, to advocate for immigration reform through policy change, and to bolster the need for community organizing efforts to foster a culture of resistance and empowerment for the undocumented Filipino TNT community.
Recommended Citation
Linchangco, Eileen, "Resilience Amidst Barriers: Understanding the Plight of Undocumented Filipino TNTs in the Broken US Immigration System" (2024). Scripps Senior Theses. 2370.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/2370
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