ANTH 216 Unessay Project

While the U.S. portrays itself as a welcoming melting pot of people from various backgrounds, immigration policy shows that the government aims to systematically creates barriers for "non-white" immigrants. These parameters shift given the context of the time and the government's ideals. Understand that these regulations are driven by racist, classist, colonialist, and capitalist ideologies that aim to maintain the stratification of minority groups.

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Immigration Policy

Created by Kaitlin Bates

21st Century Trends

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U.S. Migration Periods, Trends, & Policy Timeline

1996: IIRAIRA

1986: IRCA

1965: Hart-Cellar Act

1924: Quota System/INA

1917: Asian Exclusion Act

1882: Chinese Exclusion Act

1868: 14th Amendment

1790: Naturalization Act

Migration Period 3: 1980s-2010s

Migration Period 2: 1942-1964

Migration Period 1: 1850-1920

Migration period/Trend

Criminalization

• 287(g): An agreement between ICE and local law enforcement wherein local officers can be deputized for immigration enforcement.

• Operation Streamline: A program in which those caught for entry without inspection (EWI) are prosocuted in mass court hearings. Up to 70 migrants at a time may be prosecuted.

• Secure Communities: A data sharing program wherein anytime someone is arrested and fingerprinted, their prints are run through a DHS database to check if they have legal status. If not, their local police department holds them for deportation.
• (Note: People are fingerprinted automatically upon arrest, regardless if they're charged with a crime.)

Executive Action as Immigration Policy

While laws are made through Congress and are usually more permanent, Executive Orders are made by the President and are typically impermanent.

• Obama
• Temporary Protected Status (TPS)
• Deffered Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA): A 2 yr work permit/agreement to not pursue deportation for 2 yrs unless one commits a crime. Those undocumented who arrived in the U.S. before they were 16 y/o, are actively underer 30 y/o, haven't left the U.S. since 2007, are highschool graduates or veterans, and have a "clean" legal record are eligible.
• Trump:
• Terminated TPS and DACA.
• Implemented a travel ban on countries with large Muslim populations.
• Declared everyone who's undocumented is a priority to get deported (not just criminals).
• Expanded Expedited Removal, where arresting officers can formally deport immigrants themselves.
• Zero Tolerance policy enforced prosecution of anyone with EWI, where children are separated and held in detention while their parents are taken to prison.

Mass Detention

• The number of immigrants in detention doubled from 2001-2010.
• Congressional Bed Mandate: The government requires that ICE must maintain at least 34,000 detainees a day.
• Children are also detained, and detainees can be held indefinitely with no guranteed access to an attorney (because they aren't U.S. citizens).
• There are now specific detention areas within local jails to hold detainees.
• About half of detainees are held in local jails.
• Most people in detention are seeking asylee status. Many people give up because they must fight for asylum while being held in the detention the entire time.

1965: Hart-Cellar Act

The Hart-Cellar Act eliminated the national origins quota and allowed an equal number of visas for all countries. While this was presented as an 'equal'/fair immigration law, it does not take into account a) the population proportions of each nation, and b) the long history of Mexican migration to and from the U.S., and the translocal communities that have been established.

1996: IIRAIRA

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) implemented 10+ year bars on anyone who's lived undocumented in the U.S. for a year or more that applies for legal status. So, they must leave for 10+ years before having the opportunity to return. It also implemented 'deportable offenses,' so if someone's arrested for any offense that could potentially have a 1+ year jail sentence, they're automatically deported. These offenses are automatically classified as aggravated felonies. Finally, IIRAIRA banned newly legal immigrants from using public assistance for their first 5 years in the U.S..

Border Militarization

• The government funding for border "security" (militarization) increased from hundreds of millions to thousands of millions of dollars since the early 2000s.

• The majority of border militarization occurs along highly populated areas along the U.S.-Mexico border, which forces those trying to cross into the desert/mountain regions. This creates the grim disparity between being essentially hunted down or dying from the elements.
• Funding has gone towards hyper-sophisticated technologies that can track people in various ways trying to cross the border.

1868: 14th Amendment

The 14th Admendment to the U.S. Constitution grants citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, with the exception of Native Americans. This therefore granted citizenship to women and people of color born in America who previously would not be eligible.

Migration Period 1: 1850-1920

This migration period occured within the context of the Civil War, Westward Expansion, the Mexican-American War, WWI, and industrialization. The era consisted of major economic developement, including increased trade, railroads, mining, and direct foreign investment. These factors led to increased land consolidation, urbanization, and cash-cropping during the time, which ended on the note of the Mexican Revolution.

1986: IRCA

The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) criminalized the employment of undocumented workers, so in order to get a job one must have a Social Security number and driver's liscense. However, if undocumented workers are caught, the employer isn't held responsible. This created an "underground" labor market where people began to make false documents in order to work. IRCA also doubled the border patrol system. However, it did granted amnesty under a new legalization program, so undocumented people who've lived in the U.S. for 4+ years could now apply for legal status.

1882: Chinese Exclusion Act

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 established that anyone from China or of Chinese descent was completely ineligible from entering the U.S. or gaining citizenship status. As seen pictured, this act was widely celebrated in the media as a move to protect the idea 'good moral character' amongst citizens.

Stricter Immigration Policy at State and Local Levels

• Alabama: "Papers, please" policy allows any local officer with "reasonable suspicion" that someone is undocumented to ask for their papers. "Papers, please" is even enforced in schools. Alabama also banned undocumented people from signing legal contracts.
• Arizona: Criminalized being present in Arizona without documentation. Arizona also implemented the "Papers, please" policy.
• Georgia: "Papers, please" policy

However!

• Illinois: The Dream Act provides in-state college tuition to anyone who's graduated from an Illinois highschool (so no need to prove one's status), and the Trust Act enforces the release of those being held in jail if they are not being charged with a crime. The Sanctuary Bill in Cook County prevents the county from using any of its resources to aid ICE.

1790: Naturalization Act

The Naturalization Act of 1790 was the first major bill passed regarding citizenship status. It allowed specfically foreign-born "free white men of good moral character" who have lived in the U.S. for at least two years to become naturalized citizens. This set a precedent for future policies to be founded on these racist, sexist, and classist ideologies.

1924: Quota System/INA

The 1924 Quota System established border patrol and set national origin quotas for immigrants based off of 1890 census population statistics. However, all African, Latin American, and Asian immigrants were completely banned. The Quota System also prevented large numbers of "non-white" Europeans (Irish, Italians, Jews) from immigrating. The Immigration Nationality Act (INA) established border patrol under the Division of Labor. While the ban on Latin American immigration reamined, Mexicans were then classified as "white," exempting them from the ban. This was done in order to once again "reap the benefits" of Mexican workers, i.e. workers the government knew could be underpaid.

Migration Period 2: 1942-1964

This migration period occured within the context of WWII, further industrialization, rapid economic development, neocolonialsim, women entering the paid workforce, and the Great Migration. The Bracero Program was also established, which was a treaty between the U.S. and Mexico that promised Mexico would provide labor to the U.S. in order to produce food (agriculture). The program was deemed an "emergency wartime measure."

Mass Deportation

• The Obama Administration deported more immigrants than any other administration in U.S. history.
• Deportations now referred to as "returns" or "removals."
• Returns: Those found near the border region are sent back across the border.

• Removals: Those found further in the U.S. are legally processed.
• Operation Streamline expands and Secure Communities becomes mandatory nationwide.
• There are clear racial disparites in deportation rates, with Mexicans and Latin Americans being deported in numbers disproportionate with their undocumented populations in the U.S.

Immigration Policies reflect the legal regulations regarding immigration to the U.S. (limitations, classifications, possible avenues, etc.) which affect migrants' ability to acheive legal status. Click the + next to each policy to learn how these policies often disenfranchise migrants and use specific tatics to maintain and idealized image of the 'optimal' American citizen ("free white men of good moral character").

Immigration Policy

Migration Periods reflect categorized historical contexts (global events, states of development, the economy, etc.) which affect migration. Click the + next to each period to learn how these contexts influence migration and migration-related programs.

Migration Period/Trend

1917: Asian Exclusion Act

The Asian Exlcusion Act of 1917 established the same bars as the Chinese Exclusion Act, except now applying to anyone from Asia or of Asian descent: No entry, no citizenship.

Migration Period 3: 1980s-2010s

This migration period occured within the context of further land consolidation and devlopment, globalization, Mexican peso devaluation/economic crisis, the Cold War, NAFTA, and the Maquiladora Zone. NAFTA was a trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada that de-regulated protective laws, created more tax breaks, and overall increased the ease of global trade and markets. The Maquiladora zone is a manufacturing zone that spans across the U.S.-Mexico border, housing factories for hundreds of major companies.