Citizenship studies have explored in detail the various forms of social and civic integration achieved by otherwise illegal residents in contemporary immigration countries. While a great deal of analysis has tended to rest on a dichotomy... more
Citizenship studies have explored in detail the various forms of social and civic integration achieved by otherwise illegal residents in contemporary immigration countries. While a great deal of analysis has tended to rest on a dichotomy between formal exclusion on the one hand and informal incorporation on the other, recent studies have begun questioning this dualistic model by examining the formal circuits of incorporation followed by unauthorized denizens at various geographical and institutional levels.
Taking cues from this emerging line of research, this article makes three interconnected arguments. First, in contemporary liberal democracies, the rising tension between the illegal status of new immigrants and their limited but effective incorporation does not always pit formal law against informal practices, but is often located within law itself. Second, as a dynamic institutional nexus, “illegality” does not function as an absolute marker of illegitimacy, but rather as a handicap within a continuum of probationary citizenship. An incipient moral economy sees irregular migrants accumulating official and semiofficial proofs of presence, certificates of reliable conduct and other formal emblems of good citizenship, whether in the name of civic honor, in the hope of lesser deportability, or with a view to future legalization. Third, such access to formal civic attributes is simultaneously being made increasingly difficult by the intensification of restrictions and controls from immigration, labor, and welfare authorities, thus confronting irregular migrants with the harsh dilemma of being framed as “more illegal” for the very documentary and economic features also assumed to improve their present and prospective civic deservingness.
Over the last two decades, research on unauthorized migration has departed from the equation of migrant illegality with absolute exclusion, emphasizing that formal exclusion typically results in subordinate inclusion. Irregular migrants... more
Over the last two decades, research on unauthorized migration has departed from the equation of migrant illegality with absolute exclusion, emphasizing that formal exclusion typically results in subordinate inclusion. Irregular migrants integrate through informal support networks, the underground economy, and political activities. But they also incorporate into formal institutions, either through policy divergence between levels of government, bureaucratic sabotage or fraud. The incorporation of undocumented migrants involves not so much invisibility as camouflage – presenting the paradox that camouflage improves with integration. As it reaches the formal level of claims and procedures, legalization brings up the issue of the frames through which legal deservingness is asserted. Looking at the moral economy embedded in claims and programs, we examine a series of frame tensions: between universal and particular claims to legal status, between legalization based on vulnerability and that based on civic performance, between economic and cultural deservingness, and between the policy level and individual subjectivity. We show that restrictionist governments face a dilemma when their constructions of “good citizenship” threaten to extend to “deserving” undocumented migrants. Hence they may simultaneously emphasize deservingness frames while limiting irregular migrants’ opportunities to deserve, effectively making deservingness both a civic obligation and a civic privilege.
This commentary contributes to the increasingly important work of analyzing and critiquing strategies to access "rights." Who benefits? –materially and ideologically– from legislation such as the DREAM Act? Who does not? What are the... more
This commentary contributes to the increasingly important work of analyzing and critiquing strategies to access "rights." Who benefits? –materially and ideologically– from legislation such as the DREAM Act? Who does not? What are the contexts (and histories) of militarization in the lives of young people of color today? What does it cost radical justice movements when individuals and immigration rights movements support legislation that includes militarization, even as a short-term strategy?
In this thesis I will consider whether immigration reform is needed in the United States. Immigration has changed profoundly over the last fifty years, and U.S. immigration law needs to reflect these developments. This thesis examines the... more
In this thesis I will consider whether immigration reform is needed in the United States. Immigration has changed profoundly over the last fifty years, and U.S. immigration law needs to reflect these developments. This thesis examines the history of the U.S. labor movement and the May Day protests of 2006, which stood out as an unprecedented mobilization that had not occurred in over 45 years. Undocumented immigrants participated in this mobilization and are continuing to change the labor movement in the United States through advocacy, new techniques, and changing demands.
In the past fifty years, there has been slow progress on immigration reform in the United States. Attempts at comprehensive immigration reform, such as U.S. President Barack Obama’s Executive Order on Immigration, fall short of the needs of the community.
I use the demographic shift argument to examine how female Hispanic immigrants to the United States are vital to the future of the country. Global shifts in the education of girls and women and increasing access to birth control have contributed to declining birth rates worldwide. Immigrants are vital to the future of the United States—not only as active participants in the U.S. economy and society, but also as newfound leaders of the U.S. labor movement.
For the stated reasons, I argue that comprehensive immigration reform is urgently needed in the United States.
A.B.D. Senatosu, bütün göçmenlik hukuku meselelerini kapsayan hem Cumhuriyetçiler hem de Demokratlar tarafından desteklenen torba yasa tasarısını 2013 yılında geçirmiştir. Kapsamlı göçmenlik reformu, A.B.D.’nin gelecekteki ekonomik ve... more
A.B.D. Senatosu, bütün göçmenlik hukuku meselelerini kapsayan hem Cumhuriyetçiler hem de Demokratlar tarafından desteklenen torba yasa tasarısını 2013 yılında geçirmiştir. Kapsamlı göçmenlik reformu, A.B.D.’nin gelecekteki ekonomik ve siyasi yapısını derinden etkileyecektir. Şu anda A.B.D.’ye gelen Türk göçü asgari miktardadır. Bu çalışma göçmenlik hukuku tartışmalarını Türk-Amerikan toplumunun bakış açısı ile genişletmeye çalışmaktadır. Kapsamlı göçmenlik reformunun geçişi ile birlikte Türkiye kaynaklı göçün ana yolu kesilmiş olacaktır. Türkiye yüksek teknoloji istihdamında kayıp yaşayacaktır. Son olarak bu Çalışma, Türk-Amerikan toplumunun lobi çabalarını artırmasını kuvvetle önermektedir.
In the immediate post-9/11 period, the concept of 'homeland security' subsumed former conceptions of border security. The emphasis was on ensuring that 'terrorists' were barred from entering North America, and border security measures... more
In the immediate post-9/11 period, the concept of 'homeland security' subsumed former conceptions of border security. The emphasis was on ensuring that 'terrorists' were barred from entering North America, and border security measures were oriented towards ‘security enhancement’, as it was broadly defined. Today, the issues facing countries in the Northern Triangle (Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador) have resulted in increasing northern immigration, which has forced a further re-orientation of border security policies. Aggressive rhetoric employed by the current U.S. administration has obscured the need to re-formulate border security policies in order to better respond to the influx of irregular migrants from Northern Triangle countries. While the Trump administration’s foreign policy stance regarding immigration reflects existing trends in American foreign policy, it is novel in its use of social media rhetoric that appeals to populist cleavages. Ultimately, the increase in northern immigration is an issue that is faced by all North American countries, demonstrating a breakdown in the North American asylum system. The Cartagena Agreement and the Safe Third Country Agreement are in need of review. Canada must see itself as part of the Americas in order to address the flawed asylum system.
People on the left, right, and center agree that America’s current immigration system is broken, and mounting evidence from academia, policy centers, religious groups, and chambers of commerce underscores the many benefits of bringing... more
People on the left, right, and center agree that America’s current immigration system is broken, and mounting evidence from academia, policy centers, religious groups, and chambers of commerce underscores the many benefits of bringing undocumented immigrants out of the shadows for good. The majority of U.S. citizens favor comprehensive immigration reform that includes an earned path to citizenship for most of the currently undocumented. Yet in Congress immigration reform remains at an impasse. Why? Are the reasons correct? What are some of the consequences?
Levinas did not write all that much about concrete political issues but he does write about hospitality, about welcome, about ethics, about the ethical responsibility of each of us for the other, for all the others. Levinas reminds us... more
Levinas did not write all that much about concrete political issues but he does write about hospitality, about welcome, about ethics, about the ethical responsibility of each of us for the other, for all the others. Levinas reminds us that this is what we are here for, that we are only here so that we might be here for the other, that this is our calling as human beings, that this is indeed what truly matters. For Levinas, the meaningful life is a life of service to the other. But must this service take a political form? In this paper I argue that, owing to the fact that each of us are unable to do perfect justice unto the singularity of all the others for whom each of us is ultimately responsible, it is ethically incumbent upon each of us to extend the range of our ethical praxis from the sphere of face to face interactions to the sphere of political action. Only by acting with others politically does the individual have any possibility of bringing about the changes in the totality’s laws, policies and practices, changes which are required if justice is to be done for each and everyone. Ergo, political engagement is ethically obligatory.
California has just become the first sanctuary state of the 21st century thanks to Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D) signing of Senate Bill 54, which limits state and local police cooperation with federal immigration authorities. This is good news... more
California has just become the first sanctuary state of the 21st century thanks to Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D) signing of Senate Bill 54, which limits state and local police cooperation with federal immigration authorities. This is good news because greater policing of immigrants by local law enforcement, it turns out, has not enhanced public safety and has resulted in significant human costs.
Religious conviction has played a prominent role in many activist movements throughout the United States. In this article, I detail one social justice organization’s enactment of activism called la fe en acción (faith in action). This... more
Religious conviction has played a prominent role in many activist movements throughout the United States. In this article, I detail one social justice organization’s enactment of activism called la fe en acción (faith in action). This approach was nuanced from being simply “activism” but one that, according to participants, was more strategic and longer lasting. La fe en acción served as the central strategy utilized by this organization in order to garner public and political support for comprehensive immigration reform. A crucial component within this approach included the sharing of testimonios (testimonials) of participants. While this form of activism was intended to garner the participation of all people—including undocumented immigrants—for some, structural vulnerability hindered their ability to participate. Overall, I explore the positive and negative aspects of this approach as elaborated from data gathered during attempts to garner support for comprehensive immigration reform in 2013.
