Immigration Law and the U.S.–Mexico Border
Immigration Law and the U.S.–Mexico Border

Author: Kevin R. Johnson

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Published: 2011-11-01

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 0816505594

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Americans from radically different political persuasions agree on the need to “fix” the “broken” US immigration laws to address serious deficiencies and improve border enforcement. In Immigration Law and the US–Mexico Border, Kevin Johnson and Bernard Trujillo focus on what for many is at the core of the entire immigration debate in modern America: immigration from Mexico. In clear, reasonable prose, Johnson and Trujillo explore the long history of discrimination against US citizens of Mexican ancestry in the United States and the current movement against “illegal aliens”—persons depicted as not deserving fair treatment by US law. The authors argue that the United States has a special relationship with Mexico by virtue of sharing a 2,000-mile border and a “land-grab of epic proportions” when the United States “acquired” nearly two-thirds of Mexican territory between 1836 and 1853. The authors explain US immigration law and policy in its many aspects—including the migration of labor, the place of state and local regulation over immigration, and the contributions of Mexican immigrants to the US economy. Their objective is to help thinking citizens on both sides of the border to sort through an issue with a long, emotional history that will undoubtedly continue to inflame politics until cooler, and better-informed, heads can prevail. The authors conclude by outlining possibilities for the future, sketching a possible movement to promote social justice. Great for use by students of immigration law, border studies, and Latino studies, this book will also be of interest to anyone wondering about the general state of immigration law as it pertains to our most troublesome border.

The INS on the Line
The INS on the Line

Author: S. Deborah Kang

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 0199757437

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"For much of the twentieth century, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) officials recognized that the US-Mexico border region was a special case. Here, the INS confronted a set of political, social, and environmental obstacles that prevented it from replicating its achievements at the immigration stations of Angel Island and Ellis Island. In response to these challenges, local INS officials resorted to the law--amending, nullifying, and even rewriting the nation's immigration laws for the borderlands, as well as enforcing them. In The INS on the Line, S. Deborah Kang traces the ways in which the INS on the US-Mexico border made the nation's immigration laws over the course of the twentieth century. While the INS is primarily thought to be a law enforcement agency, Kang demonstrates that the agency also defined itself as a lawmaking body. Through a nuanced examination of the agency's admission, deportation, and enforcement practices in the Southwest, she reveals how local immigration officials constructed a complex approach to border control, one that closed the line in the name of nativism and national security, opened it for the benefit of transnational economic and social concerns, and redefined it as a vast legal jurisdiction for the policing of undocumented immigrants. Despite its contingent and local origins, this composite approach to border control, Kang concludes, continues to inform the daily operations of the nation's immigration agencies, American immigration law and policy, and conceptions of this border today"--

Porous Borders
Porous Borders

Author: Julian Lim

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2017-10-10

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 146963550X

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With the railroad's arrival in the late nineteenth century, immigrants of all colors rushed to the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, transforming the region into a booming international hub of economic and human activity. Following the stream of Mexican, Chinese, and African American migration, Julian Lim presents a fresh study of the multiracial intersections of the borderlands, where diverse peoples crossed multiple boundaries in search of new economic opportunities and social relations. However, as these migrants came together in ways that blurred and confounded elite expectations of racial order, both the United States and Mexico resorted to increasingly exclusionary immigration policies in order to make the multiracial populations of the borderlands less visible within the body politic, and to remove them from the boundaries of national identity altogether. Using a variety of English- and Spanish-language primary sources from both sides of the border, Lim reveals how a borderlands region that has traditionally been defined by Mexican-Anglo relations was in fact shaped by a diverse population that came together dynamically through work and play, in the streets and in homes, through war and marriage, and in the very act of crossing the border.

Race, Immigration Law, and the U.S.-Mexico Border
Race, Immigration Law, and the U.S.-Mexico Border

Author: Brandon Salvador Luna

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 149

ISBN-13:

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This thesis interrogates notions of race and the history of immigration law to investigate the history of the U.S. Border Patrol. What were the historical developments that contributed to the establishment and maintenance of the Border Patrol, and how was race influential in this development? This thesis critically engages the theme of race in regards to the creation and development of the United States Border Patrol at the U.S.-Mexico border. In particular I concentrate upon the history of the Mexican-origin population in the U.S. and how the racialization of this population, combined with the emergence of the Border Patrol, helped equate "Mexican" with the terms "illegal", "alien" and "wetback". From this perspective I ask "How have notions of race in the Southwest U.S. shaped the creation and maintenance of the U.S. Border Patrol and contributed to the 'illegalization' of the Mexican-origin population?" I argue that the United States Border Patrol uses racially discriminatory enforcement tactics, such as interrogating persons based solely upon their racial "appearance", that have disproportionately impacted the Mexican-origin population since its founding to the present. This thesis serves as a social history of the Border Patrol in the Southwest, looking at how the emergence of the agency and its development since 1924 has impacted the Mexican-origin population. By focusing on early conceptions of race in the Southwest and immigration law I discuss how the Border Patrol emerged as an agency that uses discriminatory enforcement measures, from its establishment up to the present.

Immigration and the Law
Immigration and the Law

Author: Sofía Espinoza Álvarez

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Published: 2018-04-10

Total Pages: 393

ISBN-13: 0816538123

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In the era of globalization, shifting political landscapes, and transnational criminal organizations, discourse around immigration is reaching unprecedented levels. Immigration and the Law is a timely and significant volume of essays that addresses the social, political, and economic contexts of migration in the United States. The contributors analyze the historical and contemporary landscapes of immigration laws, their enforcement, and the discourse surrounding these events, as well as the mechanisms, beliefs, and ideologies that govern them. In today’s highly charged atmosphere, Immigration and the Law gives readers a grounded and broad overview of U.S. immigration law in a single book. Encompassing issues such as shifting demographics, a changing criminal justice system, and volatile political climate, the book is critically significant for academic, political, legal, and social arenas. The contributors offer sound evidence to expose the historical legacy of violence, brutality, manipulation, oppression, marginalization, prejudice, discrimination, power, and control. Demystifying the ways that current ideas of ethnicity, race, gender, and class govern immigration and uphold the functioning and legitimacy of the criminal justice system, Immigration and the Law presents a variety of studies and perspectives that offer a pathway toward addressing long-neglected but vital topics in the discourse on immigration and the law. Contributors Sofía Espinoza Álvarez Steven W. Bender Leo R. Chávez Arnoldo De León Daniel Justino Delgado Roxanne Lynn Doty Brenda I. Gill Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz Peter Laufer Lupe S. Salinas Mary C. Sengstock Martin Guevara Urbina Claudio G. Vera Sánchez

World of Walls
World of Walls

Author: Said Saddiki

Publisher: Open Book Publishers

Published: 2017-10-09

Total Pages: 121

ISBN-13: 1783743719

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"We’re going to build a wall.” Borders have been drawn since the beginning of time, but in recent years artificial barriers have become increasingly significant to the political conversation across the world. Donald Trump was elected President of the United States while promising to build a wall on the Mexico border, and in Europe, the international movements of migrants and refugees have sparked fierce discussion about whether and how countries should restrict access to their territory by erecting physical barriers. Virtual walls are also built and crushed at increasing speed. In the post-9/11 era there is a greater danger from so-called "transnational non-state actors”, and computer hacking and cyberterrorism threaten to overwhelm our technological barriers. In this timely and original book, Said Saddiki scrutinises the physical and virtual walls located in four continents, including Israel, India, the southern EU border, Morocco, and the proposed border wall between Mexico and the US. Saddiki’s detailed analysis explores the tensions between the rise of globalisation, which some have argued will lead to a "borderless world” and "the end of the nation-state”, and the rapid development in recent decades of border control systems. Saddiki examines both regular and irregular cross-border activities, including the flow of people, goods, ideas, drugs, weapons, capital, and information, and explores the disparities that are reflected by barriers to such activities. He considers the consequences of the construction of physical and virtual walls, including their impact on international relations and the rise of the multi-billion dollar security market. World of Walls: The Structure, Roles and Effectiveness of Separation Barriers is important reading for all those interested in the topics of immigration, border security, international relations, and policy.

The U.S.-Mexico Border
The U.S.-Mexico Border

Author: Michael C. LeMay

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2022-01-24

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 1440874808

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This book offers answers to essential questions about the border between the United States and Mexico and connected issues that are accessible to readers interested in immigration, border security, and U.S.-Mexico relations. Comprising seven chapters, The U.S.-Mexico Border: A Reference Handbook surveys the complex topic for students and readers. Chapter 1 discusses the political, social, and economic contexts in which the border came to exist. Chapter 2 discusses problems, controversies, and proposed solutions. Chapter 3 consists of original essays contributed by outside scholars, complementing the perspective and expertise of the author. Chapter 4 profiles major organizations and people who, as stakeholders in border politics, drive the agenda on the issue. Chapter 5 presents data and documents on the topic, giving readers the ability to analyze the facts. Chapter 6 provides additional resources that the reader may wish to consult, such as books, journal articles, and films. Chapter 7 provides a detailed chronology of important events, and the book closes with a useful glossary of key terms used throughout the book and a comprehensive subject index.