Although popularly conceived as a relatively recent phenomenon, patterns of immigrant smuggling and undocumented entry across American land borders first emerged in the late nineteenth century. ...Ingenious smugglers and immigrants, long and remote boundary lines, and strong push-and-pull factors created porous borders then, much as they do now.
Historian Patrick Ettinger offers the first comprehensive historical study of evolving border enforcement efforts on American land borders at the turn of the twentieth century. He traces the origins of widespread immigrant smuggling and illicit entry on the northern and southern United States borders at a time when English, Irish, Chinese, Italian, Russian, Lebanese, Japanese, Greek, and, later, Mexican migrants created various "backdoors" into the United States. No other work looks so closely at the sweeping, if often ineffectual, innovations in federal border enforcement practices designed to stem these flows.
From upstate Maine to Puget Sound, from San Diego to the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas, federal officials struggled to adapt national immigration policies to challenging local conditions, all the while battling wits with resourceful smugglers and determined immigrants. In effect, the period saw the simultaneous "drawing" and "erasing" of the official border, and its gradual articulation and elaboration in the midst of consistently successful efforts to undermine it.
Although philosophers debate the morality of open borders, few social scientists have explored what would happen if immigration were no longer limited. This book looks at three examples of ...temporarily unrestricted migration in Miami, Marseille, and Dublin and finds that the effects were much less catastrophic than opponents of immigration claim.
This open access book provides an analysis of the functioning, consequences and inherent limitations of internalised immigration control. By adopting the perspective of irregular residents as well as ...local service providers, the book sheds new light on the intricate mechanisms that either help or hinder the diffusion of immigration control into concrete institutional settings, like schools or hospitals. A simple and innovative analytical framework enables the systematic comparison of three different spheres of service provision across two distinct local as well as also national contexts. This is necessary to understand the complex interplay between formal law and policy, the intrinsic rules and logics operating within institutions, and the ethical or practical obligations and constraints attached to particular roles and professions. Based on empirical findings and rigorous analysis, the book argues that internalised control is part of the problem that irregular migration poses for society, rather than constituting a potential solution to it.
Lurid headlines on every aspect of migration have been a consistent feature of the last decade, from worries over asylum seekers to concerns about unprecedented economic immigration from Eastern ...Europe.
This book presents the first comprehensive account of government policy on immigration over the last ten years, providing an in-depth analysis of policy and legislation since Tony Blair and New Labour were first elected. The account begins by placing policy change under Labour in their proper historical context, before examining the key policy themes - economic migration; security; integration; asylum; delivery - of the last decade.
Through an analysis of such policy themes, the author contends that immigration policy has undergone an intense and innovative transformation in the period from May 1997 to May 2007. Arguing that a more plural system of governance exists, the author challenges traditional accounts of policy development. By addressing the various influences on immigration policymaking, from globalisation, the European Union and the law, to politics, the media and the networks of special interests, he seeks to provide a holistic explanation for the transformation of immigration policy. The author concludes with an evaluation of Labour's immigration reforms, and whether government policy can be judged a success.
The book will be of interest to policymakers, academics, students studying immigration, and readers interested in serious current affairs.
Cette recherche qualitative, conduite dans un cadre épistémologique socioconstructiviste, a pour objectif d’explorer la construction des identités professionnelles de jeunes professeurs des écoles ...issus des immigrations. Les données de l’enquête ont été recueillies à l’aide d’entretiens semi-directifs auprès d’une population de 20 professeurs des écoles de la région Aquitaine âgés de 30 à 35 ans (10 issus des immigrations – 10 d’ « origine française »). Une analyse de contenu thématique du verbatim des entretiens a ensuite été réalisée. Des comparaisons entre les 2 groupes ont mis au jour des points communs et des différences au niveau : de l’éducation familiale reçue, des valeurs, du rapport à la religion, du choix du métier (désirabilité relative), des représentations et postures professionnelles. L’analyse du discours des enseignants issus des immigrations a révélé l’apport primordial des relations interpersonnelles dans la construction de leur Soi professionnel : c’est dans les interactions et dialogues avec les autrui significatifs de leurs contextes de vie (notamment familial et scolaire) que ces sujets se sont orientés, ont élaboré et concrétisé leur projet professionnel. Si en tant que descendants de parents immigrants, ils ont à relever des défis spécifiques (se construire dans une identité biculturelle, faire face à la discrimination, etc.), la diversité de leurs parcours d’intégration psychosociale et de leurs processus de personnalisation se manifeste par la construction d’identités professionnelles plurielles. Celles-ci se traduisent notamment par 2 manières d’être au métier : s’investir d’une mission professionnelle interculturelle en jouant un rôle de médiateur auprès d’élèves issus de familles défavorisées et/ou immigrées ; ne mettre en œuvre aucune pratique volontariste.
This study, conducted from a socioconstructivist framework, used qualitative methodology to explore the construction of minority teachers’ professional identity. Data collection consisted of in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 primary school teachers aged from 30 to 35 years old (10 descendants of immigrants – 10 of French origin). The verbatim was analyzed using content analysis methodology. Comparisons between the 2 groups have shown differences and similarities in their: familial education, values, relationship to religion, career choice, professional representations. The analysis of minority teachers’ interviews has revealed the primordial contributions of interpersonal relationships in the construction of their professional Self (with significant others from family and school contexts, in particular). As descendants of immigrants they have faced specific challenges (face racism and discrimination, build an ethnic identity, etc.), the diversity of their psychosocial integration paths occurs in the construction of contrasted professional identities. Some of them are motivated by a desire of social justice, the goal of creating a bridge between mainstream culture and minority cultures becoming a career mission. Others, don’t do anything in particular for disadvantaged pupils or for those belonging to ethnic minorities.
Handcuffs and Chain Linkenters the immigration debate by addressing one of its most controversial aspects: the criminalization both of extralegal immigration to the United States and of immigrants ...themselves in popular and political discourse. Looking at the factors that led up to criminalization, Benjamin Gonzalez O'Brien points to the alternative approach of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and how its ultimate demise served to negatively reinforce the fictitious association of extralegal immigrants with criminality.
Crucial to Gonzalez O'Brien's account thus is the concept of the critical policy failure-a piece of legislation that attempts a radically different approach to a major issue but has shortcomings that ultimately further entrench the approach it was designed to supplant. The IRCA was just such a piece of legislation. It highlighted the contributions of the undocumented and offered amnesty to some while attempting to stem the flow of extralegal immigration by holding employers accountable for hiring the undocumented. The failure of this effort at decriminalization prompted a return to criminalization with a vengeance, leading to the stalemate on immigration policy that persists to this day.
Focusing on the lived experience of immigration policy and processes, this volume provides fascinating insights into the deportation process as it is felt and understood by those subjected to it. The ...author presents a rich and innovative ethnography of deportation and deportability experienced by migrants convicted of criminal offenses in England and Wales. The unique perspectives developed here— on due process in immigration appeals, migrant surveillance and control, social relations and sense of self, and compliance and resistance— are important for broader understandings of border control policy and human rights.This title was made Open Access by libraries from around the world through Knowledge Unlatched.
Migration has become business, big business. Over the last few decades a host of new business opportunities have emerged that capitalize both on the migrants' desires to migrate and the struggle by ...governments to manage migration. From the rapid growth of specialized transportation and labour immigration companies, to multinational companies managing detention centres or establishing border security, to the organized criminal networks profiting from human smuggling and trafficking, we are currently witnessing a growing commercialization of international migration.
This volume claims that today it is almost impossible to speak of migration without also speaking of the migration industry. Yet, acknowledging the role the migration industry plays prompts a number of questions that have so far received only limited attention among scholars and policy makers. The book offers new concepts and theory for the study of international migration by bringing together cross-disciplinary theoretical explorations and original case studies. It also provides a global coverage of the phenomena under study, covering migrant destinations in Europe, the United States and Asia, and migrant sending regions in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
There are now nearly four million children born in the United States who have undocumented immigrant parents. In the current debates around immigration reform, policymakers often view immigrants as ...an economic or labor market problem to be solved, but the issue has a very real human dimension. Immigrant parents without legal status are raising their citizen children under stressful work and financial conditions, with the constant threat of discovery and deportation that may narrow social contacts and limit participation in public programs that might benefit their children. "Immigrants Raising Citizens" offers a compelling description of the everyday experiences of these parents, their very young children, and the consequences these experiences have on their children's development. "Immigrants Raising Citizens" challenges conventional wisdom about undocumented immigrants, viewing them not as lawbreakers or victims, but as the parents of citizens whose adult productivity will be essential to the nation's future. The book's findings are based on data from a three-year study of 380 infants from Dominican, Mexican, Chinese, and African American families, which included in-depth interviews, in-home child assessments, and parent surveys. The book shows that undocumented parents share three sets of experiences that distinguish them from legal-status parents and may adversely influence their children's development: avoidance of programs and authorities, isolated social networks, and poor work conditions. Fearing deportation, undocumented parents often avoid accessing valuable resources that could help their children's development--such as access to public programs and agencies providing child care and food subsidies. At the same time, many of these parents are forced to interact with illegal entities such as smugglers or loan sharks out of financial necessity. Undocumented immigrants also tend to have fewer reliable social ties to assist with child care or share information on child-rearing. Compared to legal-status parents, undocumented parents experience significantly more exploitive work conditions, including long hours, inadequate pay and raises, few job benefits, and limited autonomy in job duties. These conditions can result in ongoing parental stress, economic hardship, and avoidance of center-based child care--which is directly correlated with early skill development in children. The result is poorly developed cognitive skills, recognizable in children as young as two years old, which can negatively impact their future school performance and, eventually, their job prospects. "Immigrants Raising Citizens" has important implications for immigration policy, labor law enforcement, and the structure of community services for immigrant families. In addition to low income and educational levels, undocumented parents experience hardships due to their status that have potentially lifelong consequences for their children. With nothing less than the future contributions of these children at stake, the book presents a rigorous and sobering argument that the price for ignoring this reality may be too high to pay. The following chapters are contained in this book: (1) Emiliana, Elena, and Ling Raise Citizens in New York City; (2) The Hidden Face of New York: Undocumented Immigrant Parents' Routes to the City; (3) Life Under the Radar: Legal and Illegal Authorities and Public Programs; (4) Documentation Status and Social Ties: Households, Networks, and Organizations in the Lives of Undocumented Parents and Their Children; (5) The Worst Jobs in Urban America: Undocumented Working Parents in the New York Economy; (6) How Parents' Undocumented Status Matters for Children's Early Learning; and (7) Providing Access to the American Dream for the Children of Undocumented Parents. "Overview of Study Design and Methods" is appended.
