Notes

Started in 2009, the Undocumented Migration Project [UMP] is a long-term anthropological analysis of clandestine border crossings between Latin American and the United States directed by UCLA Anthropology Professor Jason De León. The UMP is a research-arts-education collective that seeks to both raise awareness about migration issues globally while also helping to reunite families with their loved ones who have gone missing crossing the US-Mexico border.

The UMP uses a combination of ethnographic, archaeological, forensic, and visual anthropological approaches to understand various aspects of unauthorized border crossings including the many forms of violence and suffering that characterize the process, the distinct experiences of migrant sub-populations (e.g., women, children, LGBT, non-Mexican nationals), and the evolving material culture associated with crossing.

By combining ethnographic work in Mexico with forensic and archaeological research in Arizona, Mexico, and Honduras, the UMP has improved our knowledge of this highly politicized and poorly understood process and demonstrated how an archaeological approach can provide new insight into a contemporary social phenomenon. The research being conducted by the UMP is interdisciplinary, a fact reflected by the project’s diverse theoretical and methodological approaches, the wide range of venues where this work is being published, and the ethnographic-archaeological field schools that have been running in Arizona and Mexico since 2010.

Taxonomies

RPA Codes & Standards

• Appropriate Dissemination of Research
• Archaeologist's Responsibility to Employers and Clients
• Archaeologist's Responsibility to the Public
• Integrity of Research Methodology

CIfA Codes

• Principle 1: Adherence to ethical and responsible behaviour in archaeological affairs
• Principle 2: Responsibility for the conservation of the historic environment
• Principle 3: Responsibility for acquiring and recording reliable information of the past in archaeological research
• Principle 4: Responsibility for the availability of archaeological results within reasonable dispatch

Keywords & Terms

• Adequate and Responsible Reporting, Publication, and Dissemination
• Avoid, Discourage, and Report Unethical and Illegal Activity
• Burials and Human Remains
• Equity and Representation; Discrimination and Harassment
• Impact on Communities - Local, Descendant, etc.
• Integrity of Research Methodology and Field Procedures
• International Law
• Local, State, Federal, and Tribal Laws
• Migration
• Public Interest, Collaboration, Education, and Outreach
• Respect for and Responsibility to Affected Groups

Topics & Issues

• Archaeological Advocacy and Activism
• Archaeological Ethics - Other
• Biological Anthropology/Archaeology
• Descendant, Resident, and Stakeholder Communities
• Equity, Representation, and Diversity
• Ethical Case Studies
• Ethical Dilemmas
• Ethical Responsibilities of Archaeologists
• Ethnography
• Globalization and global perspectives
• Human Remains and Ethical Practice
• Human Rights and Social and Economic Inequalities
• ICE Detention Centers
• Interdisciplinary Research
• Legal Issues
• Politics and Archaeology
• Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, and Other Forms of Discrimination
• War, Violence, and Conflict