Koppelman, Carter

This study explores the strategies utilized by migrants under the visa regime of international student and their experiences throughout their time as non-immigrant temporary visitors. The concept of “visa regime” forwarded by Banerjee (2022), illustrates the mechanism of state power that controls immigrants and their families through limited legality (Banerjee 2022). Through the qualitative methods of in-depth interviews and ethnographic work, this study compares the experiences of 20 Brazilian international students in a geographical area known for its ethnic communities. South Florida is home to one of the two largest Brazilian communities in the United States, offering an array of opportunities and community support for Brazilian migrants. As demonstrated in this study the experiences of participants demonstrate how the status of international student becomes a waiting room for those hopelessly waiting for an opportunity to acquire permanent residency. With limited pathways to acquire a green card, the waiting room may seem endless for some with limited resources. Leaving both migrants and the educational institutions enabling this waiting room in a vulnerable position.

This thesis examines South Florida’s Brazilian community’ spatial organization in the region and its socio-cultural features in order to understand the nature of this immigrant community and the characteristics of its spatial structure. To do so, this study uses qualitative interviews with members of Brazilian community with the purpose of understanding how they make decisions of where to live, how they are connected to the broader community, how the community affects their individual experiences of living in the region and plan for the future. In addition, using secondary literature, it will compare the transformation of Brazilians ethnic community with that of the Cuban, Haitian and Russian communities located in South Florida. Situating this case within ongoing theoretical debates about immigrant incorporation in US cities, I will make the case that classical ethnic enclave or the spatial assimilation concept does not fit the spatial and social structure of Brazilian community.
The conclusion of this paper is that the US new immigrant ethnic groups may transform their shapes into a new multicultural ethnic web, as a result of the actual economic and social phenomena. The new ethnic web does not discard the disappearance of classical ethnic enclave, or the spatial assimilation processes, but given the actual international and local socio-economic processes, the three types of processes could overlap or be complementary.