Sociology professor recognized for border research

A College of HEST assistant professor’s research on the lives of residents along the United States-Mexico border in Texas has been recognized with a 2024 Emerging Scholars award from the college.

Bertha A. Bermúdez Tapia said her research involves the use of photography and intensive interviews, as well as observing participants in the Mexican border cities of Reynosa and Matamoros. Reynosa is located south of McAllen, Texas, while Matamoros is located just south of Brownsville, Texas. Her focus is on how federal policies have restricted and shaped the asylum process along the U.S.-Mexico border.

She says her research looks into four policies that make it harder for people to seek asylum in the U.S. Those policies include metering policy, which limits how many people from Central America and the Caribbean can apply for asylum each day at U.S. border entry points; Migrant Protection Protocols, which from 2019 to 2021 required people who arrived at the U.S. border without prober documents to be sent back to Mexico to await immigration hearings; Title 42 Expulsions, which was introduced in response to COVID-19 and allowed the U.S. to send back asylum seekers based on public health law; and the CBP Mobile One App, which asylum seekers must use to schedule appoints to request asylum. 

“Asylum seekers expelled to Mexico by programs like Migrant Protection Protocols, Title 42, and Customs and Border Protection appointments often live on the streets, in public plazas, migrant shelters, temporary camps or cheap hotel rooms,” Bermúdez Tapia says. 

Bermúdez Tapia will observe those sites to understand social interactions among asylum seekers, their survival strategies, and how they and humanitarian aid works experience various immigration policies and the violent environment. 

A native of Matamoros, Bermúdez Tapia says she was drawn to the topic because she witnessed how immigration policies can dramatically affect the lives of people living on either side of the border. Her research and teaching focuses on international migration, race and ethnic relations, the social dimensions of immigration policies, U.S.-Mexico border relations and undocumented migration.

“Before the events of Sept. 11, 2001, crossing the border was a routine part of life,” she says. “My mom often reminisces about how she used to cross the border every day, sometimes just to buy milk.”

Following the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. implemented a number of strict security measures that made crossing the border much more difficult. 

“My research aims to uncover the human stories behind these policy changes, shedding light on the struggles faced by migrants, particularly those from marginalized racial, gender and social backgrounds,” Bermúdez Tapia says. “By exploring these narratives, I hope to contribute to a greater understanding of the complexities surrounding migration and asylum policies at the border.”