Uncharted Terrains: New Directions in Border Research Methodology, Ethics, and Practice

Chapter Five. Methodological Challenges and Ethical Concerns of Researching Marginalized and Vulerable Populations: Evidence from Firsthand Experiences of Working with Unauthorized Migrants

101 chapter five Methodological Challenges and Ethical Concerns of Researching Marginalized and Vulnerable Populations Evidence from Firsthand Experiences of Working with Unauthorized Migrants Daniel E. Martínez, Jeremy Slack, and Prescott Vandervoet Being located in the most active U.S. border patrol enforcement sector (U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services 2010) has led to a substantial focus on the study of unauthorized migration among a group of scholars at the University of Arizona. The authors of this article were involved in two different projects that helped them gain a better understanding of unauthorized migration in the Arizona–Sonora region. The projects, which utilized different methodological approaches, raised comparable concerns regarding the sensitivity of conducting research with unauthorized migrants. Despite the obvious difficulties of researching the events surrounding an activity that is essentially “illegal” (i.e., unauthorized border crossings), we also struggled knowing that our respondents were either about to attempt a potentially dangerous journey or had just undergone a strenuous and unsuccessful crossing attempt. This chapter serves to combine our experiences and highlight some of the challenges associated with researching a vulnerable and often already highly marginalized population such as unauthorized migrants. We begin by providing examples of some of the contextual factors related to increased border enforcement that have directly 102 • The Border as an Unstable Place contributed to the heightened vulnerability of unauthorized migrants. Next, we outline and connect some of the extant literature on marginalization and vulnerability to the case of unauthorized migration. We follow by describing the methodological designs of the two studies that gave us our insights. We conclude by discussing how issues of marginalization and vulnerability influenced the selection of our research sites, participant recruitment , incentives to participate, and the general data collection process. In our experiences, we found that recognizing and being attentive to the needs of a marginalized and vulnerable population while also maintaining high methodological standards is challenging, yet possible. Background Recent increased border militarization efforts have played a significant role in redistributing migratory routes into remote and dangerous areas along the border (Andreas 1998; Dávila, Pagán, and Soydemir 2002; Eschbach , Hagan, Rodriguez, Hernández-León, and Bailey 1999; Cornelius 2001, 2005; Rubio Goldsmith, McCormick, Martínez, and Duarte 2006). As a result of these efforts, the overall proportion of U.S. border patrol apprehensions that occur in the Tucson Sector have increased drastically. In the early 1990s, roughly one of every twenty border patrol apprehensions occurred in this sector (U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services 2010; Martínez forthcoming). This ratio has narrowed substantially over the past 10 years. On average, one in every 2.7 border patrol apprehensions has occurred in the Tucson Sector since 2000 (U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services 2010; Martínez forthcoming), making southern Arizona the single most traversed unauthorized crossing corridor along the entire U.S.–Mexico border. Border enforcement efforts have not only shifted unauthorized crossing routes into southern Arizona (Rubio Goldsmith et al. 2006), but have also completely changed the nature of the unauthorized crossing experience. In addition to geographical location, the unauthorized crossing experience has changed in recent years in terms of the greater amount of time a typical crossing requires, the treacherous terrain where crossings occur, the increased risks and fees associated with the journey, and the elevated possibility of encountering thieves who prey on migrants in remote areas while crossing. These factors have all certainly increased the vulnerability of unauthorized migrants who continue to attempt to cross despite intensified border enforcement efforts. In the end, researchers working with this Researching Marginalized and Vulnerable Populations • 103 population or others like it must be aware of this increased vulnerability and take it into consideration when planning and executing their research designs. The ever-present possibility of death is well understood by many migrants and is perhaps one of the most salient issues related to unauthorized border crossings, as the number of known deaths has increased exponentially since the implementation of the border militarization efforts. The remains of over 2,200 unauthorized migrants have been recovered from southern Arizona alone; a majority of these deaths have occurred since 2000. This underlying theme and notable public health concern not only makes research on unauthorized migration and with unauthorized migrants important, but also extremely sensitive. The rugged terrain of the Arizona–Sonora borderlands is harsh for migrants, as many of their movements take place at night and/or through...