(Im)migration Movements & the Law

"The Border Reader is an anthology which gathers previously published foundational works of humanities and interpretive social science scholarship on the U.S.-Mexico border. Edited by anthropologist Gilberto Rosas and American and Latinx studies scholar Mireya Roza, this Reader brings together essays that mobilize feminist, queer, Indigenous and critical ethnic studies perspectives to theorize the border region as a site of epistemic rupture and knowledge production"--

"Offers a novel contribution to immigration legal scholarship by rewriting Supreme Court immigration law opinions from a critical immigration legal theory lens. Contests fundamental presumptions in doctrinal immigration law and shows how entrenched system of power, alongside racism, sexism, and stereotypes, have marred the immigration law landscape"--

More children than ever are crossing international borders alone to seek asylum worldwide. In the past decade, over a half million children have fled from Central America to the United States, seeking safety and a chance to continue lives halted by violence. Yet upon their arrival, they fail to find the protection that our laws promise, based on the broadly shared belief that children should be safeguarded. A meticulously researched ethnography, Precarious Protections chronicles the experiences and perspectives of Central American unaccompanied minors and their immigration attorneys as they pursue applications for refugee status in the US asylum process. Chiara Galli debunks assumptions about asylum, including the idea that people are being denied protection because they file bogus claims. In practice, the United States interprets asylum law far more narrowly than what is necessary to recognize real-world experiences of escape from life-threatening violence. This is especially true for children from Central America. Galli reveals the formidable challenges of lawyering with children and exposes the human toll of the US immigration bureaucracy--Publisher's description.

President Joe Biden said Thursday that he doesn’t believe border walls work, even as his administration said it will waive 26 laws to build additional border barriers in the Rio Grande Valley amid heightened political pressure over migration.

Living in a mixed-status immigrant family might mean that your grandmother could be deported at any moment, your son could be arrested at work, or your mother's deportation hearing is postponed--again. Such uncertainty and fear are the reality of life for mixed-status families--those that include both undocumented immigrants and US citizens. In Contested Americans, Cassaundra Rodriguez explores how members of mixed-status families experience and articulate belonging in the United States. The sixteen million people in the US who fall under this classification share the fear of a family member's possible deportation or the anxiety of leaving behind a child or elderly relative. Rodriguez highlights how different members of the same mixed-status families mediate undocumented statuses while maintaining the collective whole of a family. For many young adults, this may mean negotiating the sponsorship of their immigrant parents, and for the parents, planning for the emotional, physical, and financial well-being of their children in case of deportation. Contested Americans is a timely book, filled with vivid storytelling, that shows how immigration policies, racism, and privilege collide in the backdrop of the lives of millions of mixed-status families--Publisher's description.

"In recent years, dozens of counties in North Carolina have partnered with federal law enforcement in the criminalization of immigration-what many have dubbed 'crimmigration.' Southern border enforcement still monopolizes the national immigration debate, but immigration enforcement has become common within the United States as well. While Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations are a major part of American immigration enforcement, Felicia Arriaga maintains that ICE relies on an already well-established system-the use of local law enforcement and local governments to identify, incarcerate, and deport undocumented immigrants"--

"After fleeing homophobia and threats to her life in her native El Salvador, 'Carla' was detained for two years inside the Buffalo Federal Detention Center. Her letters provide a powerful and unique account of a queer woman's experience inside America's asylum system. Letters from Inside a US Detention Centre reconstructs Carla's story from the correspondence between Carla and Jane Juffer, a professor at Cornell University, and from excerpts from the legal decisions made while she was being held in immigration detention. Contextualised with explanation and analysis of detention in the United States, the book examines how detention exacerbates the trauma many migrants experience and becomes another site of fear, intimidation, and uncertainty. Carla's narrative is a powerful story, and one that illustrates grievous injustices in the U.S. immigration and asylum system. The book will be of immense value to immigration activists and scholars alike, especially in feminist studies, queer studies, and those studying the intersections of prisons and detention centres"--

Lake and Hobbs' plans for border security and immigration vary widely.

Nick Miroff on a surge in border crossings that is expected to go up. Peggy McGlone on a philanthropic family’s ties to the opioid crisis. And the president is on the phone ... just to talk.

Border people often inhabit this in-between space created by the separation and collision of two cultures. From KPBS and PRX, "Port of Entry" tells personal stories from this place — stories of love, hope, struggle and survival from border crossers, fronterizxs and other people whose lives are shaped by the wall. These are cross-border stories that connect us, brought to you by hosts Alan Lilienthal and Natalie Gonzales, producer Julio Ortiz, sound designer Luca Vega.

President Trump says the situation is a national emergency. Is he right?

In February, President Trump declared a national emergency at the US-Mexico border. Last year, he ordered thousands of National Guard troops to the border. Is this the first time an American president has responded with this level of force? In this week's episode, the history of militarization at the U.S.-Mexico border.

President Trump vowed to crack down on undocumented immigration and empower the Border Patrol. Three years later, the agency is the target of outrage, protest and investigation into its mission and conduct, and many of the agents who have supported Mr. Trump say that morale is low. We spoke with one of them. Guest: Art Del Cueto, a Border Patrol agent in Arizona and vice president of the National Border Patrol Council. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Background reading: Overwhelmed by desperate migrants and criticized for mistreating those in their care, many agents, whose work has long been viewed as a ticket to the middle class, have grown frustrated and bitter.

The Customs and Border Protection agency says it is doing its best to reduce impact to the environment and tribal citizens. Conservationists and Native Tribes in the area are not appeased.

The decision is a dramatic victory for immigration advocates and gives a new lease on life for the so-called DREAMers, immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Big win today for unauthorized immigration advocates. Big loss for the White House.

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to end legal protections for 650,000 young immigrants, a stunning rebuke to the president in the midst of his reelection campaign.The outcome seems certain to elevate the issue in Trump's campaign, given the anti-immigrant rhetoric of his first presidential run in 2016 and immigration restrictions his administration has imposed since then.

Chef Zaid Consuegra isn’t just worried about reopening and running a restaurant after shutting his doors because of COVID-19. As a DACA recipient, he is waiting to hear what the Supreme Court will decide about the program that allows him and thousands of others in the Kansas City area to work and avoid deportation.

Listen to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, filmmaker, and immigration rights activist, Jose Antonio Vargas talk about the prospects of DACA, immigration policy in general, and what colleges and universities can do to help.

It has been nearly a month since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood…

The U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of DACA recipients, COVID-19 cases surge in Imperial County, and how the Black Lives Matter movement is playing out on social media.

In the Global Idaho Podcast, students interview DACA recipients, and other community members to study DREAMers in Southeast Idaho, in order to 1) understand DACA and its political, social, and economic significance and 2) increase awareness about immigration and immigration reform in our community. Contact: histdept@isu.edu

CFR's Edward Alden joins the panel to discuss President Donald J. Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

The Supreme Court ruled to allow the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, to continue.

Listen to this episode from Radio Cachimbona on Spotify. Yvette Borja interviews University of Arizona Law School Professor Shefali Milczarek-Desai to discuss two of her recent/upcoming papers about the intersection of immigrants' rights and workers' rights. They discuss the ineffectiveness of Arizona's 2017 paid sick leave law, especially amongst im/migrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the tension between immigration enforcement and workers' rights that the US legal system creates, and how community, instead of individual, well-being can lead us towards a future where paid sick leave is actually an effective tool for public health. Read Shefali's articles discussed in the episode here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4513297 and https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4042097To support the podcast, become a monthly patron and get access to the #litreview online book club: https://patreon.com/radiocachimbona?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_linkFollow @radiocachimbona on Instragram, Twitter, and Facebook

A bill introduced this week by Congressman Raúl Grijalva and other lawmakers aims to provide federal protections for workers exposed to extreme heat.

"After fleeing homophobia and threats to her life in her native El Salvador, 'Carla' was detained for two years inside the Buffalo Federal Detention Center. Her letters provide a powerful and unique account of a queer woman's experience inside America's asylum system. Letters from Inside a US Detention Centre reconstructs Carla's story from the correspondence between Carla and Jane Juffer, a professor at Cornell University, and from excerpts from the legal decisions made while she was being held in immigration detention. Contextualised with explanation and analysis of detention in the United States, the book examines how detention exacerbates the trauma many migrants experience and becomes another site of fear, intimidation, and uncertainty. Carla's narrative is a powerful story, and one that illustrates grievous injustices in the U.S. immigration and asylum system. The book will be of immense value to immigration activists and scholars alike, especially in feminist studies, queer studies, and those studying the intersections of prisons and detention centres"--

"America's Arab Refugees is a timely examination of the world's worst refugee crisis since World War II. Tracing the history of Middle Eastern wars - especially the U.S. military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan - to the current refugee crisis, Marcia C. Inhorn examines how refugees fare once resettled in America. In the U.S., Arabs are challenged by discrimination, poverty, and various forms of vulnerability. Inhorn shines a spotlight on the plight of resettled Arab refugees in the ethnic enclave community of "Arab Detroit," Michigan. Sharing in the poverty of Detroit's Black communities, Arab refugees struggle to find employment and to rebuild their lives. Iraqi and Lebanese refugees who have fled from war zones also face several serious health challenges. Uncovering the depths of these challenges, Inhorn's ethnography follows refugees in Detroit suffering reproductive health problems requiring in vitro fertilization (IVF). Without money to afford costly IVF services, Arab refugee couples are caught in a state of "reproductive exile"--Unable to return to war-torn countries with shattered healthcare systems, but unable to access affordable IVF services in America. America's Arab Refugees questions America's responsibility for, and commitment to, Arab refugees, mounting a powerful call to end the violence in the Middle East, assist war orphans and uprooted families, take better care of Arab refugees in this country, and provide them with equitable and affordable healthcare services." -- Amazon.com.

"In Disappearing Rooms Michelle Castaneda lays bare the criminalization of race enacted every day in U.S. immigration courts and detention centers. She uses a performance studies perspective to show how the theatrical concept of mise-en-scene offers new insights about immigration law and the absurdist dynamics of carceral space. Castaneda draws upon her experiences in immigration trials as an interpreter and courtroom companion to analyze the scenography-lighting, staging, framing, gesture, speech, and choreography-of specific rooms within the immigration enforcement system. Castaneda's ethnographies of proceedings in a "removal" office in New York City, a detention center courtroom in Texas, and an asylum office in the Northeast reveal the depersonalizing violence enacted in immigration law through its embodied, ritualistic, and affective components. She shows how the creative practices of detained and disappeared peoples living under acute duress imagine the abolition of detention and borders. Featuring original illustrations by artist-journalist, Molly Crabapple, Disappearing Rooms shines a light into otherwise hidden spaces of law within the contemporary deportation regime. Duke University of Press Scholars of Color First Book Award Recipient"--