My Blog

Blog Post #1

Two types of deportation laws noted by Kanstroom, Deportation Nation, 4-5 are extended border control and post-entry social control. Extended border control creates the distinction between citizens and noncitizens of a territory by the state and orders the deportation of a person who has violated a condition on which they could enter the country. Post-entry social control laws may be changed retroactively and places noncitizens in an eternal probation. These laws allow the government to deport noncitizens for any reason. Kanstroom, Deportation Nation, 1-2 illustrates an example of post-entry social control thru the Palmer Raids in the 1919 and 1920. The Attorney General Mitchell Palmer lead raids against foreign radicals that resulted in thousands of arrests for deportation proceedings. The fear of communists led to many radicals being held without warrants or court proceedings. They experienced abuse, maltreatment, and illegal seizures of property by the United States during this period of the Palmer Raids. These raids highlighted the aggressive behavior of the United States to gather and deport undesirables.

The “War on Terrorism” outlined by Kanstroom, Deportation Nation, 8-9 identify another form of post-entry social control in the United States. After September 11, 2001 thousands of people were interrogated, intimidated and arrested with the justification they had overstayed their visas. The rounding of these people where considered a war on terrorism and many Arab and Muslim immigrants where faced with deportation proceedings even though they were not linked to terrorism. With these deportation laws racial intolerance and separation of families and communities has grown. The 1850 Fugitive Salve Act was an example of extended border control. This law forced movement based on a person’s legal status and race with no administrative proceeding’s. During this time two different citizenship regimes where created. The North represented free native born African Americans and where accepted as legal citizens. In the South African Americans where aliens, subjects with no rights pages 76-77.

More than 70,000 Indians were forced to move from their homes and cross the Mississippi. This was a tragic moment in history called the “Trails of Tears” and is an example of extended boarder control where the United States created distinctions between citizens and noncitizens. During this extraction thousands of Indians died due to the hash conditions and exhaustion. Unfortunately, this removal of a race from the federal government continued throughout the civil war creating many injustices and deprivation for Indians. The Acadian Deportation is another example provided by Kanstroom, Deportation Nation, 43-46 where extended boarder control and post-entry social control are used to deport the Acadian colonists from their home. The Acadians refused to pledge their allegiance to the British crown as a result where transformed into aliens by the British. Many Acadian deportees returned to France while others were shipped to the New World. Arcadians where seen as foreigners and had no rights to property.

Understanding the deportation laws and how they are applied to our country today is useful. The Alien Enemies Act allowed the federal government to arrest, detain, secure and remove alien enemies when a declaration of war or approaching invasion was identified. This law is still used today and its important to understand why these laws where created, to help maintain structure and safety if under attack. I do not agree with the mass deportations that have occurred within the United States over the course of history. The extraction of Indians, enslavement of African Americans and the government’s ability to enforce deportations on the premise of declaring “War on Terrorism”. The United States is a country of immigrants and I hope that tolerance, understanding and acceptance grow within our communities to help prevent future events as those that have been enacted on the basis of securing our boarders and post-entry social control.

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Blog Post #2

The United States is a nation of immigrants that has continued to evolve throughout history. In Deportation Nation, Daniel Kanstroom, 91-160, helps us understand the early formation of the modern deportation system and how the deportation system has been refined and expanded thru the federalization of immigration control and deportation laws. We will explore the similarities and differences in Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 relating to laws, court cases and events that helped the expansion and refinement of the deportation system.

Kanstroom identifies the federalization of immigration control, legitimation of federal deportation laws and the deportation laws relating to post-entry social control taking place from 1862 to 1903, page 92. Kanstroom, explains that until the mid-nineteenth century immigration control corresponded to the police power of the states. The state’s power is supported under The Immigration Act of 1864 which created the position of commissioner of immigration under the authority of the secretary of state. The immigration Act of 1864 also allowed certain immigrant labor contracts and permitted Chinese immigration under the “credit ticket” system, 93. The court case of Chy Lung v. Freeman 1876 later granted congress with the responsibility of regulating international relations and commerce thus immigration laws became a federal matter as noted by Kenstroom, 94.

In Chapter 3, we see the Anti-Chinese sentiment increase. Kanstroom notes that Chinese laborers where initially welcomed but where soon faced with violence and hostility after the Burlingame Treaty ratification, which granted Chinese the right to change their home and allegiance and the mutual advantages of the free migration and emigration, 98-99. As violence in the West increased and a racist expulsion movement spread congress passed the Scott Act which prohibited the entry of Chinese laborers, 113. Boarder control was extended by the passage of the 1891 Immigration Act which allowed for the exclusion of polygamists, people with contagious diseases and those deemed likely to become a public charge, 115.

In Chapter 4 of Deportation Nation, Daniel Kanstroom, we see the expansion and refinement of deportation laws. The common theme of exclusion and seeking to rid the nation of undesirables and the poor continues as the federal government implements stricter laws. Expanding on the 1891 Immigration Act we see President Theodore Roosevelt’s message to congress in 1905 affirms this common theme mandating the need for laws to keep out insane, idiotic, epileptic and poor immigrants. The law was redefined to now keep out anarchists, all violent and disorderly people, those with bad character, lazy, vicious, incompetent, violent, disorderly, defective, degenerate and physically unfit, 132. Expansion to the 1891 Immigration Act in seen in 1917 when the law changed the mandated deportation from an alien who became a public charge from a year after their arrival to 5 years and now required noncitizens to prove they would not become a public charge, 132.

In Chapter 4 we see a law unlike any other that has passed. The 1917 Immigration Act changed prior law by requiring deportation after entry and allowed deportation without time limitation for certain types of cases. Kanstroom indicates this law was critical to modern deportation for post entry criminal conduct as it allowed for legal resident aliens to be taken into custody and deported 133. This law linked the criminal justice system to deportation something we hadn’t seen before. The deportable crime was determined by the length of sentence and by multiple offences. The nature was determined by a vague standard still in place today, “a crime involving moral turpitude”, and a time limit of 5 years after entry was included, 134. I don’t agree with the developments in Chapter 4 as the interpretation of moral turpitude allows the government to seek and get rid of people they believe are problematic for society. The varying interpretations of this law easily facilitates the expulsion of innocent people.

In Chapter 3 we see the exclusion of Chinese to the United States by the strict quota implementations and Page Act of 1875, 93. In 1924 a change to the deportation laws hardened extended border control laws by eliminating statutes of limitations for certain overstays and for illegal entrants. This law cased a significant increase in deportees particularly for Mexicans as they were under attack for being targeted as undesirable, 158.

In Chapter 4 we witness the Bisbee Deportations in 1917 where 1,186 Mexican and Southern European immigrant workers were rounded up, loaded onto boxcars and accompanied by 186 armed guards to New Mexico where they were turned over to the federal army for deportation 142-143. The only silver lining I see during this time was the creation of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) who fought for improvements to safety, working conditions and an end to discrimination against foreign and minority workers.

The unjust treatment and the offensive restrictions imposed on Mexican workers in the mid 1920’s was unacceptable. The physical inspection while naked and mandatory bathing imposed by the border patrol agents was offensive, 159. It’s important that we learn from our past. As deportation laws continue to evolve it’s critical for us to learn from our mistakes to ensure that with the expansion and refinement of deportation laws our basic human rights are not violated.

Blog Post #3

Considering everything I’ve learned this semester I agree with Kanstroom argument that “As a 100-plus years social experiment, the U.S. deportation system has caused considerable harm and done little demonstrable good. It is poorly planned, irrationally administered, and, as a model on which to base other enforcement systems dangerous.” (p.243,246) Using examples from the Japanese Internment, 1913 Alien Land Act, La Placita Raid, Braceo Program, and Operation Wetback I will demonstrate why I agree with Kanstrooms argument.

The Japanese Internment was a serious injustice done to both citizens and permanent residents of Japanese ancestry, Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (enacted August 1, 1988). During World War II some 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry where evacuated from their homes, removed to assembly centers and shipped to relocation centers where they were held as prisoners for years, Kanstroom, Deportation Nation, 206. These imprisonments and deportations of this targeted race caused considerable harm and is an example of how dangerous the enforcement systems can be. Because of the racial restriction of the 1790 Naturalization Act many of the Japanize noncitizens living in the US who could have become citizens where not permitted to do so and with the 1913 Alien Land Act the Japanese where prohibited from purchasing land (211). This irrational administration of the law and poor planning in my opinion stripped away the right of natural born citizens solely because of their race. The administrative persecution of the Japanese continued with the Executive Order 9066 from President Roosevelt which authorized the U.S. army to take control of all those with Japanese ancestry (Kanstroom, Deportation Nation, 208). The repatriation and internment of the Japanese during World War II where based on prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership (209) causing considerable harm to the Japanese.

In the early 1931 the national “scare” campaign to deport Mexicans book effect. During this time, federal enforcement with state agencies compelled Mexicans to leave the US. Its estimated that 11,000 Mexican where repatriated in 1932, Kanstroom, Deportation Nation, 218. The cohesion and roundup of Mexicans during this time caused considerable harm and was poorly planned. The major problem with these deportations was that many of the younger Mexicans rounded up where American Citizens, US born children of immigrants. The mass round up in La Placita on February 26, 1931 is an example of how hundreds of Mexicans where cornered off by trucks in an area where people just sitting on benches and resting or shopping and where captured and shipped to Mexico with no word to their families (219). These deportations where the first examples of what we we would later see in Arizona with immigration raids and rounding up of immigrants by Sheriff Joe Arpario. According to The Huffington Post February 23, 2012 Los Angeles formally apologized in 2005 for their role in the Massive deportations of the 1930s but the Federal government has not apologized.

The Bracero program was a Mexican “guest workers” program initiated by the US in 1942. This agreement was for temporary migration of Mexican agricultural workers to the US (Kanstroom, Deportation Nation, 219). Between 1944 and 1954 the number of illegal aliens coming from Mexico increased 6,000 percent to the extent that President Truman in 1951 said that a “steady stream of illegal immigrants from Mexico, the so-called ‘wetbacks,’…are coming into our country in phenomenal numbers and at an increasing rate. The unfortunate people are subject to deportation if caught by immigration authorities. They have to hide and yet must work to live” (221).

As noted by Mae M. Ngai, Impossible Subjects (Princeton University Press, 2004), 156, The deportation of hundreds of thousands of Braceros or Operation Wetback had dumped thousands of illegal workers over the border and created problems on the Mexican side. In July 1955, these braceros where reported to be roaming in Mexicali. Mexicans where unloaded like cows 15 miles from the border in the desert and required to walk in 112 degree heat. The deportation of the Braceros could have been handled significantly different. The priority was to extract the Mexicans out of the US but human rights where ignored. The roundups that had taken place where inhumane, poorly planned and irrationally administered causing the death of 88 Braceros due to heatstroke while they were rounded up in 1955.

Braceros helped feed the US country while the American’s where at war and for over 20 years provided hard labor, respect for their labor could have been demonstrated by treating them with dignity and respect. The coordination of their return with the Mexican government could have avoided the death and ill treatment of the labor force.

Discretion has been deeply intertwined with deportation laws. Deportation law allows for prosecutorial discretion giving government flexibility on whom to deport or whom to provide relief provisions for. Congress passed a law preventing the judiciary from reviewing discretionary decisions. The greatest danger in the ability to execute discretionary action lies in the vague interpretations and what discretion actually means as it can be interpreted differently which can lead to incorrect discretionary decisions. I believe judges should have the right to discretionary interpretations as that may make the difference between granting an immigrant a refugee status in this country and allowing them an opportunity to live or executing them by returning them to their home country. I also believe that without a clear understanding of its vague definition discretion may also become a danger if abused.

Using examples from the Japanese Internment, 1913 Alien Land Act, La Placita Raid, Braceo Program, and Operation Wetback I have explained by reasoning as to why I agree with Kanstrooms argument that the US deportation system has caused considerable harm and done little demonstrable good. The US deportation system has been poorly planned, irrationally administered, and as a model on which to base other reinforcement systems dangerous. The history of deportation law has shown us how integral the removal impulse has been to our nation of immigrants. The long lasting effects of our governments treatment toward immigrants is never forgotten and I hope that with time the racial barriers that have been created from those injustices across the different cultures is demolished to help build a harmonious country as we continue to be a country of immigrants.