Laurie Trautman

I am doing a comparative analysis of immigration policy in the United States and Canada, focusing specifically on guest worker programs.  I will be comparing how these policies are negotiated at the national scale with their implementation and impacts at the local scale.  

My OUS-Sylff award will be used to fund fieldwork in two case study communities, one located in Canada and the other in the United States. By understanding the connection between policy formation and implementation, as well as the changing guest worker policies in both countries, I hope to provide valuable insight into this controversial policy, contributing to successful comprehensive immigration reform in the North American context. 

Laurie Trautman is a doctoral student in the Department of Geography and a 2012-13 recipient of an OUS-Sylff Graduate Fellowship for International Research.