Theses and Dissertations Collection

This dissertation seeks to contribute to the literature on Policy Process, Multiple Streams Framework (MSF), Social Construction Policy Design (SCPD), U.S. Immigration Policy, and Race. It does so by marrying two Policy Process theoretical frameworks. The theoretical frameworks that have been joined are MSF and SCPD. They were joined to create three different Immigration case studies. Each case study results in an analytical contextualization. This dissertation asserts that the two theoretical frameworks are complementary and jointly they enhance our understanding of U.S. Immigration Policy. Moreover, it argues that jointly they are useful analytical contextualization tools, that help us better understand both a policy decision and design, at times revealing hidden messages. Further, their joint analysis revealed that race and or ethnicity were central to each case study and each policy discussed design. Together, they demonstrate inclusion or exclusion to and from the U.S, which was and continues to be dependent on politics and the biased values held by many in congress. This dissertation is novel as it produces some of the first case studies joining Herweg, Zahariadis, and Zohlnh⍥fer's (2018) contemporary conceptualization of MSF with both Schneider and Ingram’s 1993 SCPD typology and their 2019 extended SCPD framework focused on anticipatory and deceptive policy design.