CHAPTER 10, Why is people’s movement restricted? Roxanne Lynn Doty = The question BORDER CROSSINGS = Mlustrative example ‘THE US-MEXICO BORDER AND THE IMMIGRATION CRISIS = General responses IDEAS OF STATES AND CITIZENSHIP = Broader issues CULTURAL RACISM = CONCLUSION THE QUESTION BORDER CROSSINGS On 22 Kebruary 2006 US Border Patrol agents found the body of the first undocu- mented border exosser to die in Cochise County, Arizona for that year (Arizona Daily Stay 2006). The man's name was Antonio Dominguez. Callejas, from Vera Cruz, Mexico, Te was 47 years old and had died of exposure and dehydration approximately 35 hours before he was found. Antonio's death was just one of over 400 undocumented border crossers who would dic in 2006 and one of the 3,600-4,000 who have died in she past 10-12 years (Rubio-Goldsmith ¢¢ al. 2006; US Government Accounting Oflice 2006). Approximately 20 per cent of these deaths have been women and children. The situation on the US-Mexico border is not unique. According to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, over 3,000 migrants died between 1997 and 2000 attempting to reach Europe, most of these while attempting to cross ehe Stesits of Gibraltar (United Nations Economic and Social Council E/CN.4/2002/NGO/45) These deaths painfully illustrate hae while it is undoubtedly crue that advances inWHY IS PEOPLES MOVEMENT RESTRICTED? 201 transportation and communication have facilitated the relatively easy movement of some ‘people across the globe, some movements entail unspeakable wagedy. ‘Globalization bas been accompanied by increasing numbers of people moving across borders for various reasons. Many forms of border crossing are wholeheartedly welcomed. by governments. For example, almost all governments encourage and actively seek to promote the movement of peoples across their borders in the form of international tourism, which is the world’s largest export earner as well as one of the most important sources of employment. In many countries itis the umber one industry. In January 2007, the seeretary-general of the World Tourism Organization reported that world. tourism had entered a historically new phase of growth which began in 2004. In 2005, there were 800 million intemational arrivals. In 2006 international arrivals surpassed, £840 maillion, representing over 20 per cent growth in the span of 3 years (United Nations World Tourism Organization 2007), Another form of movement across borders that is increasing and that is encouraged by governments involves education. In 2004, approximately 2 million students were enrolled in institutes of higher education outside their country or origin (Freeman 2006; Thorn 2005). Indeed the movement of people across borders for the puspose of higher education is not only encouraged by governments, but has also become part ofthe global marketplace, with the World Trade (Organization taking it on as an area of concer (Altbach 2001) Other forms of movement across borders such as international business travel, covcescas employment, and some types of immigration are also welcomed and facilitated by governments, Econornically motivated migration is described by immigration scholars in terms of ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors, The lack of job opportunites, low wages, and poverty ‘push’ people to leave a country. They are ‘pulled’ to those places where employ ment opportunities exist and /or where they can earn higher salaries (Isbister 1996; 95-8; Hollifcld 2000). As the world continues to become increasingly interconnected in numexous ways, 0 too does the movement of people across horders accelerate. A couple of examples illustrate this. In the United States, the number of persons granted permanent legal residency in 1986 was 601,708 (Migration Policy Institute 2004). By the year 2006 chis figure was 1,266,264 (Migration Policy Institute 2007), The inflow of people from other counties to the United Kingdom for 1991 was 53,900, By 2006 this number had inereased to 143,205 (Migration Poliy Institute 2007). Clearly these various realms of movement are part and parcel of the phenomenon of globalization, However, not all movement is welcomed and often encounters strong and at times ugly opposition. This is most obviously the case when it comes to the movement of peoples who, for vasious reasons, do not have the proper authorization. Many human beings who have crossed sovereign, national borders without the proper documentation have act with a similar fate to Antonio, Those who do make i€ often encounter intense, passionate, and sometimes violent opposition in most of the Western industislized countries, Almost all Western industrialized countries have enacted increasingly restrictive immigration policies over the past decade, This has been the ease especially when it comes to unskilled immigrants Why is this the case? Why ist that some can move relatively freely aeross borders, ‘bor many others fice often insurmountable hurdles? Why are people free ro move within national borders, but not across them? At one level there are obvious answers to these questions. People ean generally move feely within national borders if they are citizens Changes inthe global pelitesl economy sre iscussed in Chapter 17 The term labalzation’ isacortested one Some peeple argue that changes are exaggerated others se globalization Sea key change inthe contemporary wold Ofcourse, we need to ask why national borders ist inthe fist place Why isthe wold divided inthis way? See Chapter202 ROXANNE LYNN DOTY FicuRe Map of wold migration routes since 700, Aer Ceti (1995) Imaducton to Geography. sr edn, Dubuque’ W.C. Brown Poblishere Struggles over what constitutes Chinese rational ientty and ‘izenship are diseusted in Chapter ta, nd ientyin gereral in Chapters, Chapters exarrines another espect of ctizenshp: the fe ores ofthore who are tilled from thelr home tnd those who ae Uneasy intel alleglance te the nation-state in which they lve Cha 42 explores how Chi treats people of chinese aneesty row living outside Chins orf they are in the county legally People can move ficcly gore national borders if they have legal authorization to do so. However, these simple, straightforward answers are not cateely adequate to this extsordinasily complex issue. Both ctzenship and legality are complex concepts and practices. The ways in which citizenship has been granted as wells the ways in which it has been denied have been linked to social and political phenomena that involve power and struggles over meaning and identity. The same is true for the realm of legality and illegality, For example, itis important to remember that at various times i the history ofthe United States some practices were legal that would be considered totally unacceptable today, eg, the cndavement of African-Americans, the internment of Japanesc-Americans, and the denial of voting rights to Native Americans and women, Those practices created severe constraints on what citizenship could meas and who covld possess i. Ifthe human beings who fll into these eategories attempted to exercise the rights that were granted to others i was considered illegal. However, laws change asa result of peoples’ fights for rights. Both citizenship and legaly are dynamic rather than static. They are undergoing continual change. So, pointing to citizenship and legality as reasons why people's movements are restricted provides us with only paral answers, We all must ak why movement should be tesricted based om these two things. The term ‘illegal’ coaveys a black and white world in which those who cross without the propor authorization are considered criminals regardless of the circumstances that led them to cross we at sted with citizenship and legality as teatons why people's movements ae restricted, our analysis stops and we go no further. We do not explore the meaning of these concepts ‘themselves and the contests within which they become significant. We do not examine the powerfil forces uaderling official policies that pertain to citizenship or the rightWHY IS PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT RESTRICTED? 203 to move across borders legally. We do not ask why they should be aceepted a valid reasons for immigration policy. To understand why people cross borders and why movements ate often restricted icis important to explore the contradictory forces that are at work in the world. If we dig deeper we may rethink our preconceptions about citizenship and legality. A more in-depth, critical exploration is essential if we are to understand why, despite the absence of citizenship and the absence of proper authorization, people still move across borders in very large numbers and often at very great risk, A more in-depth analysis is also important if we are to begin to explore the possibilities for change in how we think of borders. In light of the immense consequences restrictions on fee movement have for human beings and the society they create, i is necessary for ts (0 engage in a more critical examination as to why and how peoples’ movement is restricted and what the outcomes of such restrictions have been. ILLUSTRATIVE EXAM THE US-MEXICO BORDER AND THE IMMIGRATION CRISIS La linea, as the line separating Mexico from the United States is sometimes referred. to, extends 1,981 miles (3,141 km) from the Pacific Ocean in the west to Brownsville, eae Pore eM sg Connie on has KILOMETERS Parnes FicuRE 102 ‘eral phote-map of US-Mexieo border. Public darsan, USGS204 ROXANE LYNN DOTY FicuRe 03, Map showing US and Mexican content Chapter B talks about what femeane to thi in terms ofthe idea of SOUTH AMERICA ‘Texas and Matamoros, Tamaulipas in the east. Tes the longest contiguous border (shated physical boundary) in the world between first world country anda third world country. Itis also the most frequently crossed international border in the word. This border over which many peoples’ movement is restricted is a place where, in the words ‘of one writer, ‘the Thirel World grates against the first and bleeds’ (Anzaldva 1987), While there are many unique aspects of the current US immigration crises revolving around this particular border, it speaks to and exemplifies the more general phenomenon thatthe cate worlds expenicneing. The movement of peoples across national borders without authorization is wuly a global phenomenon. This section presents the background to the contemporary issue of undocusncnted immigration from Mexico into the United States, detailing the border enforcement polices ofthe 1990s that gave ste to skyrocketing numbers of deaths of migrants as they attempted to cross through dangerous terrain. It also discusses the consequences in terms of the increased use of human smugglers, the efforts of citizen border patrol groups who have taken it upon. themselves to guard the US-Meaico border, the formation of migrant rights groups aud an anti-immigrant movement. This section concludes with a review of policies that have becn proposed and some that bave been adopted. ‘The contemporary immigration crisis can be traced to several events far removed fiom the US-Mexico border. In 1993 New York's World Trade Center was bombed by suspected unauthorized immigrants, In the same year two Central Intelligence Agency employecs in Virginia were assassinated by an unauthorized immigrant from Pakistan, These two events a8 well asthe economic recession that persisted in the United States atthe time, helped to fuel anti-immigrant sentiment (Nevins 2002). They alsoWHY IS PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT RESTRICTED? 205 contributed to the framing of undocumented immigration as a national security issue Against this background, in the carly morning hours of 6 June 1993 a ship carrying 286 human beings without authorization to enter the United States ran aground on. Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York, The name of the ship was the Golden Vencure and the unauthorized passengers were from China, mostly from the province of Fujan Ninety of the passengers had boarded that ship in February off the coast of Thailand, Another 200 boarded in March off Mombasa, Kenya, having been stranded there for aycar after the other smuggling ship they were on, Nafd II, broke down. Ten passengers drowned and the others were immediately detained by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and jailed. While this had lise to do with the southern, border of the United States it brought the issue of undocumented immigration to the forefront of national attention. It also contributed to notions of the US being ‘invaded! by ‘illegal aliens’ Border control strategies Around the same time, Silvestre Reyes, then border patrol chief in El Paso, Texas, Inunched a border operation called Operation Blockade, later renamed Operation Hold the Line because the fitst name was considered offensive, On 19 September 1993 he deployed 400 agents and their vehicles in a highly visible show of force along a 20-mile section of border between El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, ‘This matked a departure from the previous strategy of pursuit and apprehension after the border had been crossed. Almost immediately apprehensions fell dramatically. Reyes and Operation: Hold the Line thus received a great deal of favourable national publicity Based on the ‘success’ of Operation Hold the Line, in 1994 the US Lmmigration and Naturalization Service, in consultation with the US Defense Department's Center for Low Intensity Conflict, developed a new comprehensive border strategy, ‘prevention through deterrence’, This became and continues to be the official border enforcement strategy of the United States (US Government Accounting Office 2001), The logic of this strategy was to deter migrants from crossing in the more populated areas, Operation Hold the Line in Bl Paso, Texas was joined by Operation Gatekeeper in San Diego, California, ‘The strategy initially targeted these two border areas because at the time they accounted for approximately two thirds of all undocumented entties into the United. States. Operation Gatekeeper entailed the installation of high-intensity foodlights to illuminate the border day and night at well as eight-foot steel fencing along 14 miles of the horder beginning at the Pacific Ocean, Border Patrol agents were stationed every few hundred fect behind this wall (Dunn 1996; Andreas 2000; Nevins 2002) As had been the case in El Paso, this strategy drastically reduced the number of undocumented crossings and the San Diego area went from being the busiest port on the entire border to a relatively quiet area, ‘Prevention through deterrence’ was deemed. a success and these two operations were joined by Operation Safzguard in Nogales, Arizona in 1995, This operation was extended to the cities of Douglas and Naco in 1999, Attention was also heavily focused on deterrence with the passage of the “legal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act in 1996, Funds were authorized, for the construction of additional layers of fencing in San Diego, for the purchase of new military cchnology, and for the hiring of 1,000 border patrol agents a year through, Why might peoate find trerame Operation Blockade’ ofensv? le the changed name any better? Why? What do the names ‘Operation Gatekeeper and ‘Operstion Safeguard suggest?206 ROXANNE LYNN DOTY Martin Margas Posades, 1, fom Putbla, Meee ie right and another man wat the US Border Patrol holding el CCampe near Calforni's border with Mexico, Proto: Mare Cempos Inlard Valley Daly Bulletin staff photographer the year 2001. In 1997 Operasion Rio Grande, was put into effect in South East Texas, 60 additional miles of fencing were added to Gatekeeper and 10 additional miles to Hold ‘he Tine The overall effect of these border enforcement policies has been to push ‘migrants to increasingly emote and dangerous crossing routes and to engage the services of human smugglers or coyotes. While crossings deercased in certain areas the overall numbers of undocumented border crosscrs continued to rise. The “Binational Migration Institute’ (SM) a the University of Anizona in Tucson recently reported thatthe “fussel cllcet’ created by the US border policies of ‘prevention through deterrence’ is the ‘primary structural cause of death of thoussnds of North American, Central American, and South American unauthorized men, women, and children who have died while tying to enter the US? (Rubio-Goldsmith eral, 2006), Taterestingly, and important to note especialy in terms of locating ths isue inthe context of globalization, is the fact that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was being negotiated dusing the same period of time that the new border enforcement strategies were being put into place. Significantly NAFTA. sought to promote the fice movement of goods and capital, but not people, Virtually no attention, swas given to the movement of people for jobs or any other reasons, Effort to increase border enforcement intensified around the time that NABTA took effect in 1994 Operation Gatekeeper and the other border operations ean be seen as eflorts to appease those who held the view that NAFTA would increase immigration, It contained no provisions for labour and thus ignored any elects it would have on workers. More recently thete bas becn a sharp drop in reported undocumented border crossings According to the Few Hispanic Center, a Washington-based research group, the umber of migrants entering the United Seates without legal authorization during theWHY IS PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT RESTRICTED? 207 BOX 10.1 NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (NAFTA) NAFTA isa trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico, NAFTA eliminated all non- tarif trade barriers to agricultural trade between the US and Mexico, Many other tarifs were also eliminated immediately, with others being phased out over a 5-15-year period. Some experts argued that [NAFTA would lead to more economic development in Mexico and thus reduce the incentive for undocumented migration to the US. Others said it would increase migration. Both ofthese seemingly opposed viewpoints were supported by The US Commission forthe Study of International Migration and Cooperative Economic Development in 1990. This commission argued that fre trade and economic integration was the best long terms remedy for unwanted immigeation, but that in the short to medium term immigration would licely increase. This has been referred to as the ‘migration hump’ (Martin 2003), NAFTA was expected to displace millions of Mexican corn farmers (Martin 1993). In an important sense, NAFTA exemplifies the more general contradiction of a world characterized on the one hand by the increased desirability and ease of movement across borders for commodities, services, and some people; and on the other hand by severe restrictions placed on others who are nonetheless compelled to move across those very same borders, period 2007-9 was about 300,000 which was down significantly from the 850,000 who entered dating the 2000-5 time period. The economic recession in the United States is the major reason for this decline and some experts expect the downward trend to end once the economy rebounds (Tran 2010) Anti-immigration legislation “The contemporary immigration evsis in the United States has met with various pro posal, bills, and new laws especially at the Local level of cits and towns. The state Of the furopean Unione Azizona passed Proposition 200 sn November 2004, which denies undocumented an oatole of ares of sigs acess co jobs, heathcae, aa legal protection, This was a catalyst for a rash [es vowel gncs of nationwide measures. As of August 2006 more than half of the states im the United [A/V aeh States had passed anti-immigrant measuses, The city of Hazelton, Pennsylvania passed internal borders between one ofthe nation’s harshest lav, approving $1,000 fines fr landlords who rent co es" normal er undocumented migrants. In August 2006 landlords in Valley Park, Missouri began PShe<) 86h 10" evicting tenants who were not in the United States with the proper documents. In concern aut she eet September 2006, US Immigration and Customs Enforce (ICE) agents fanned across ofthe eeung tena three countiesin the state of Georgia in raids targeting undocumented migrants, Citizens 26 mton and non-citizens alike were rounded up because of physical appearance. These are just a few of the many examples of local responses to undocumented migration. AL the national evel, in December 2005 the US House of Representatives passed House Bill 4437, ‘Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism, and Ilegal Immigration Conteol Act of 2005", commonly referred to as the Sensenbrenner Bill after its sponsor Representative James Sensenbrennet. This bill is considered by migrant rights groups and many others208 ROXANNE LYNN DOTY Day ofthe Dead 2 November 2094, Anapra, Mexico Mace celebrates athe borderin memeny of Undocumented migrants wo eied wh le crossing the US-Mexice border AB/PA Photos to be one of the most draconian in recent history. It would require all employers to use sn clectronic data base to verify an employee's eigibiliy co be in the US, authorizes a high-tech fence along scetions of the US border, and makes it a criminal offence 0 come to the aid of migrants in distress. Many humanitarian, religious and medical ‘workers would immediately become criminals. The House bill would have also required immediate detention and deportation of any undocumented person. In response to this, bill, the US Senate introduced a compromise bill that proposed a guest worker programme and created paths to citizenship for some of the estimated 12 million andocamented migrants who currently live and work in the United States. National level immigration legislation is currently stalled, but continues to be one of the country’s ‘most important and divisive issues, As a consequence of the lack of federal immigration legislation, states have begun to pass laws at the local level. On 23 April 2010 Arizona governor Jan Brewer signed SB1070, the Safe Neighborhoods, Immigration, and Law Enforcement Act. The law creates several new misdemeanours, including working or secking to work without legal status. During any stop, police must ask about one’s {immigration status if their suspicions are aroused, While the law prohibits racial profilng, ‘what constitutes reasonable suspicion of illegal status is not clear (Aguila 2010; Provine 2010), $B1070 caught the attention of local politicians throughout the United States who expressed interest in similar legislation. In June 2011 the state of Alabama passed HBS6, which required publicly fanded schools to check students’ immigration status state of Georgia has taken snd criminalized giving an undocumented migrant a ride steps in the same direction (Hogue 2011),WHY IS PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT RESTRICTED? 209 Another proposed pice of legislation that secke to reinforce a differeat kind of border isthe current effort in the United Staces to deny birthright citizenship to babies born co undocumented parents, Almost every anti-immigrant organization as well as ‘some policy makers are in favous of revoking this long standing right that is guaranteed in che 14th amendment to the US Consticution. House Bill 698, which was sponsored by 49 members of the US House of Representatives in 2006, would have eliminated. this right. The Bill was defeated in December 2006 but it is predicted that i will continue to resurface. Vigilante groups Some individuals and groups have responded to unauthorized immigration into the ‘United States by taking it upon themselves to engage in the unofficial and unauthorized, though not accessarly illegal, patrolling of the US-Mexico border regions. This phenomenon received much national and international aetention with the April 2005 ‘Minuteman Project in southeastern Arizona, By the autumn of 2005 over forty other anti-immigrant border vigilante groups bad formed in the United States, These groups not only engage in the physical patrolling of the border, but also often hold rallies at day labour sites where migrant workers gather waiting for work, and at state capitals and Mexican consulates. Despite these responses people continue to cross without the proper documents and border crossing continues to be a dangerous undertaking. Every year with the approach of spring and summer, as the temperatures begin to rise in the Southwestern United States another season of death begins. GENERAL RESPONSES IDEAS OF STATES AND CITIZENSHIP US immigration laws and border enforcement strategies implicitly and explicitly make ‘many assumptions about nations, states, cerritorial borders, citizenship, and identity that underlie efforts to restrict the movement of peoples. The assumptions that make US border policies possible are mirrored in academic literature that describes a world where the insides of societies are clearly distinguished from the outside. Such a view presents 1 world that is neatly divided into nation-states separated legally by sovereign tertitorial borders that are mutually recognized and respected by other states. People living within states’ soverciga teritorial borders share certain legal, politcal, social, and cultural marks of identity whose ultimate expression is that of citizenship. On such a view, even though, there is much movement across borders, ultimately there exists «link that is impossible to disentangle between the sovereign legal certitorial state and its inhabitants, its citizens, These are ‘givens’, and if they seem to be under threat they must be protected, ‘The nation consisting of citizens who share 4 national identity is generally assumed to be naturally connected to the state Such a view is aso inherent in other concepts such as sovereignty, national identity and national security. These concepts which we draw upon to understand the world and which inform policy makers contain within them the notion of a unitary identity for both individuals and collectives. Such an understanding of the world is also ingrained. In many parte ofthe world tere is no ight to chizenship ofa country Ss. result of bith witnn Its borces alone; ofen one's parent ciizen Ship counts t. There ae other ways the wore could be erderee Fora discussion how the werle of soverigr states wth terri borders came inte being and ie sustained, see Chapter210 ROXANNE LYNN DOTY The problems th thie Vevatthenatonshte Ratna ety are cused chapter Many nba senor sy. Chapters saree howe comet kin fespace “The way idealized pictures ofthe world help us begin to think about the word is discussed in Chapter, and the questan of chapters in our ways of being and acting in the world. Whea it comes to unauthorized movements cf people, this view presumes that it is natural for the world to be disturbed by people who move across sovereign borders without authorization because some people belong in some places and other people belong in other places. Given sufficient money, enough border patrol agents, military troops, high enough walls, sophisticated enough. technology and the political will of leaders, territorial borders can be fortified and secured. The safety and sanctity of the citizen can thus be ensured. The world can be restored to its ‘natural’ state ‘The way of thinking described above is very powerful today. One of the reasons for this may be the fact that it contains a certain commonscnsical clement. On first glance, it may seem to us simply an accurate description of how the world is’. Our lives contain many things that contribute to this sense of ‘naturalness’, eg. flags, national anthems, passports, and so on. However, if we pause to critically reflect upon the situations described above, we come away with a much different picture that suggests she ‘givens’ chat we begin with are outdated. We can ask if the ‘givens’ contained in conventional ideas are sustainable, and at what cost, A great deal of effort is required +o maintain the ‘truth’ of idealized pictures of the world and the conventional view of states, nations, citizens, and identity is increasingly one that does not match the way she world actually is. When such idealized views are called into question by what is happening on the ground, in peoples’ everyday lives, and when conventional ideas seem, to be becoming unraveled, these efforts gencrally intensify. We sce this happening today in the United States with calls to ‘close our borders’ and ‘protect our sovercignty’ on she part of segments of the general populace, We also see it in the various laws and. proposals dealing with undocumented immigration discussed above, We must ask though, what is sacrificed in such efforts to sustain these ideas and categories that may ano longee suit the world? Crossing borders without the proper documentation obviously entails many sacrifices that stem fiom restrictive policies that prevent migrants from obtaining the proper documentation; leaving home and family, paying huge sums of money to smugglers, and often paying with thei lives. We also need to ask what society as a whole sacrifices when restrictive immigration laws are put into place and when laws aimed at those who already live here without the proper documents are enacted. Further, ‘we need to question the very meaning of society and the values and ideals that have generally been associated with it. We need to rethink our understanding of citizenship and the identities it encompasses and those that it excludes Corrently, about 12 million undocumented immigrants reside in the United States, although we should remember that itis very difficult to obtain a completely accurate count simply because these people ate undocumented, The most widely used method of calculating the undocumented population in the United States is referred to a8 the ‘yesidual method’, This method estimates the unauthorized population by subwacting she legally residene foreign population from the total number of foreign-born counted. in a census (Migration Policy Institute 2004), Some have been here most of ther lives, some arrived yesterday, Some live next door to ‘us? and send their children to ‘our’ schools, and pay taxes to ‘our’ government. Some even fight in ‘our’ wars. Some live in shacks in the canyons and hills around ‘our’ most upscale housing developments. Some own their own businesses. Others are ‘day labourers’ who stand on street comers waiting for work. “They” reflect the diversity that defines what the United Statesis todayWHY IS PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT RESTRICTED? «= 211 Sull, none of ‘them’ have very many rights because their identities ate primarily defined. by the absence of citizenship. This privileged stacus is currently out of reach for most of these people. They are therefore subject to arrest and deportation at any tine. Tn the United States the number of undocumented migrants detained jumped to 28,000 during fiscal year 2007, up from 19,700 the previous year (Arizona Republie 2007) ‘Undocumented migrants are held in city and county jails as well as detention facilities all over the country, some of which are privately run, Whole families are often detained. An example is the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Detention Center in ‘Taylor, Texas which is owned and operated by the privately run Corrections Corporation of America. This centre, which was opened in May 2006, has come under fire from civil liberties and immigrant rights groups who accuse it of being rua like a prison (Ratland 2007). The Center hat now been converted into a women's detention facility Immigration raids at work and other places are also on the increase. Ibis not uncommon, for routine tatlic stops to result in deportation for those who are undocumented. In March 2007, thrce high school students in the Phoenix, Arizona area were deported. to Mexico after being stopped for drag racing. An honours student in the justice studies FIGURE 106 Los Angeles immigration demonstration, 25 March 2008. Proto: Lucas Jeckson, Reuters,212 ROXANNE LYNN DOTY For mote on how we imagine what it eas lobes ciizen and why this matters ee Cchapter4 ‘programme at Arizona State University who has lived in the United States sinee he was toddler faced deportation proceedings after being stopped in March 2007 for making an improper right turn (Nanez 2007) Such a situation makes a statement about the limitations of itizenship at it is currently understood, Citizenship, asa legal category and a category of identity that is attached to a piece of geographical teritory is extremely problematic today, Globaliza- sion presents challenges to this concept and raises serious questions as to whether the conventional concept of the citizen in political and legal practices which function to exclude and deny rights to those who are not citizens ean’ beings who contribute to society, but live in fear becanse of their undocumented status, make a silent statement about she limitations of current understandings of ‘the citizen” Recently, this contestation has taken a more visible and openly articulated form, as ately survive. The human illustrated in the massive migrant rights demonstrations that took place throughout the US in the spring of 2006. Citizenship has always contained an exclusionary clement, Inherent in the concept of citizenship is che notion of an insider, which necessarily implies an outsider. For exaple, for Aristotle, one of the most influential of the ancient Greck philosophers, women, foreigners, and slaves were outsiders ‘What has been touted as ‘universal’ citizenship in the United States has, at various moments in history, excluded women, African-American and others. It curre excludes millioas of people who are physically present inside US terzitory, but aze oflicially deemed outsiders. This situation has led many to call for immigration reform shat grants ‘amnesty’ €o some undocumented migrants who have lived in the United States for various lengths of time. Anti-immigrant activists and policy-makers have been, guite Vocal in opposing any pathway to future citizenship for any migrants who are in United States without authorization, Granting legal status and the opportunity for citizenship to unauthorized migrants is not a new idea. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) created a process whereby more than 2.7 million authorized migrants gained lawful permanent residence in the United States (Papademetrion 2005). France undertook a similar policy in 1966 with ‘regularization’, which allowed. migrants who had entered without authorization or overstayed their visas to receive legal working papers (Freeman 1979), More recently, in 2005, Spain launched a programme that granted ‘amnesty’ to undocumented migrants who had entered the ior to August 2008, had a job contract, and no criminal record (BBC News. 2008). [As the above examples show, itis possible to find instances in which unauthorized immigrants have been granted the opportunity for citizenship. Still, ch programmes gencrally cncounter widespread opposition, Currently, in the United States such. opposition has prevented any policy solutions. To understand such opposition itis useful to examine some of the issues raised by citizenship itself While the notion of citizen- ship is extremely complex in itself, we need to probe even further, The following section discusses the issues of race and culture chat have historically been linked in various ways to citizenship,WHY IS PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT RESTRICTED? 233 BROADER ISSUES CULTURAL RACISM “The border is multficeted phenomenon, and while there ae many forces at work today that seem to make bordes increasingly relevant and that faiitate the movement of people, there are also numerous attempts to prevent such movement. The terivril line that slices through the ocean, mountains, desert rivers, and canyons of the United Stace isan axpect of a much larger phenomenon that articaly divides human beings fiom one another. There are many borders inthe world that create a self and an other, a subject who belongs and one who doesnot, a subject who can be called ein’ andy one woe very existence ina particular place ie deemedillegal. The movement of peoples [Sem an"ake my without the proper authorization is ‘site’ where many manifestations of various acviyisery one of understandings of borders come together and where issues of identity and belonging “6 Charters are brought to the fore. The ways in which a society responds to the Inman beings “SCss The process who enter its soverciga teritory without proper authorization says much about how it nd pendes and conceives ofitselfand ‘other. Iealso says much about how the isue offen intersects eeized resin with notions of justice, faimess and equality. Particularly pertinent to identity within Pata Chapt the context of the movement of peoples are the issues of race and culture. Race and hap cures culture often do not enter debates over people's movements in an obvious way. Race ‘eign andhapter23 and culture are both extremely complex and slippery concepts whose meanings have {* “sntion Been been interowined Sosy BOX 10.2 RACE AND CULTURE Balibar and Wallerstein (1991) have observed that national identity and citizenship have a long history of being linked with racial categories of identity, nd racial identity has often been linked to culture. Race and culture are impossible to define in a ‘scientific’ way that would permit one to proclaim with certainty that current immigration policies in the United States are racist or that antiimmigrant positions are racist. Like the concept of identity discussed below, race and culture are not static phenomena. Itis notoriously difficult to say with absolute certainty what elements make up a culture. ronically this is one of the reasons this term is so powerful. Vagueness and ambiguity are often what make concepts powerful. For example, political leaders use the term ‘national interest’ quite frequently and never say with any degree of precision what it means exactly. Nonetheless, it often functions to arouse much passion and support amongst the populace. Similarly, when political leaders and scholars express the concern that immigration, and especially undocumented immigration, poses a threat to a nation's culture they very rarely say precisely what they mean. Furthermore, when one begins to examine the things they could possibly mean, we are often left with very litle that is concrete. Some thinkers have suggested that culture can function as a smokescreen for race. Biological notions of race have been thoroughly debunked and yet race as a category of identity lingers, and it retains quite a bit of power despite the illusiveness of what it “is Culture is equally slippery. While some markers of culture, such as language, seer relatively straightforward, it remains a notoriously ‘slippery’ and contested concept214 ROXANNE LYNN DOTY Australian Arist Jahn Ditchburn vfs 2006-240. © John Deehburn wenstip chapters distinguished between two views of ienty, both oF whien eet socially constructed, not eset. The fit, Called there the static We, $008 preexisting Individual whe then adapts an identity The Fecond, the dynamic view, ses subject and iemty as being prosuced stthe sare ‘Australian ctizenship fest. . ‘s BS 4 Ao How then docs one begin to think of the relevance of race and culture when it comes ¢o the issue of restricting the movement of peoples? One way to approach this very difficult issue is to consider our understanding of identity itself. Ifwe understand identity as stable and fixed, as something that defines the essence of individuals and groups and differentiates them from other individuals and groups, we are likely to come away with an essentialist understanding of humanity. Such an understanding suggests shat we ean determine essential characteristics of peoples that define who they are and. shat differentiate them from others. However, if we question this view and think of identity as inherently unstable, multiple, and often fall of tension, we will be less quick and less certain about categorizing people, defining them by the colour of their skin, she places they come fom, their ancestors, and go on. In other words we can think of identity in a more complex way a8 a phenomenon that is socially constructed, We can think of identity as something that does not necessarily come before political and social practices, but rather is constructed by these things ‘These two understandings of identity are relevant when it comes to the issues of race and culture. Race and culture throughout history have often been thought of as stable markers of identity that define a group of people. The consequences of this when it comes to race have been particularly odious, for example slavery, lynching, the Holocaust, colonialism. Historically, race has also been an important element in US immigration policy. The US Immigration Act of 1924 was praised by Adolf Hider: ‘Compared to the old Europe, which has lost an infinite amount of its best blood through war and emigration, the American nation appears as a young, and racially select people. The American union itself, motivated by the theories ofits own racial, researchers, [has] established specific racial criteria for immigration. (quoted in Romo 2005)WHY IS PEOPLES MOVEMENT RESTRICTED? 215 ‘As part of the general 1924 reatrictions, the Oriental Exclusion Act banned all imuni gration from Asia (Reimers 1992). Such blatant forms of racism are easy to recognize. In contemporary times, thinking of race a «fixed, genetic marker (phenotype) has been, thoroughly debunked. Studies indicate that there really is no such thing as race in any biological, genetic sense. ‘Today, itis a great deal more difficult to justify political and social practices that are blatantly racist. Stil, it would be a gross and dangerous mistake to claim that racism. no longer exists. If this is the case, then perhaps the term race is not only linked to one's skin colour or any other biological or genetic indicator, Even in eatlier times, the concept of race extended beyond blood or genetics and was often linked to other fctors ssuch as nationality, uadition, geography and culture (Doty 2003). All of these factors have come into play in constructing identities for peoples. What this suggests then, is that itis possible to have a kind of racism that draws upon something other than skin colour, This is what the concept of cultural racism, or what some have referred to as rnco-racisin, it meant to coavey (Barker 1981; Balibar and Wallerstein 1991; Doty 2003; ‘Taguielf 1990), Neo-racison suggests that it is natural for antagonisms [hostilities] to develop between members of a bounded community, ie. a nation, and ‘outsiders’ (Barker 1981: 21). ‘The notion of cultural racism has been applied to immigration issues in Britain and Europe, and is also a uselul way to understand at least a portion of the immigration ‘crisis’ in the United States today. This is clear in popular notions that immigrants, especially those from Mexico, pose a threat to the cultural integrity of the United States, to ‘our wav of life’ and to the very definition of who “we” are. Over the past 10 years cor so we have witnessed a proliferation of writings that expound upon the presumed. dangers that immigrants pose to the cultural integrity of the United States. These range from extremist intcrnct blogs co highly respected academies, Samuel Huntington's Foreign Policy article “The Hispanic Challenge’ (2004a) and his subsequent book, Who Ave We? (2004b) are highly controversial and much criticized but they resonate ‘with other popular publications. The most recent of these is Pat Buchanan's State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Congues of America (2006). These are all, examples of precisely what the term nco-racism is meant to capture, They create the notion of ‘others’ whose ‘assimilability’ is questionable and who therefore threaten ‘our’ very existence, This way of thinking about peoples and cultures and borders provides a simplified and dangerous way of interpreting the consequences of the movement of hhoman beings, with or without the proper authorization, This is not to suggest that the ‘old-fashioned’ racism docs not still exist, A recent study of ealic stops in the state of Arizona, found that Highway Patrol olficers were more than twice as likely to search, vehicles driven by Hispanics and Blacks than those operated by Anglos (Wagner 2007), “The recent racial profiling lawsuit against Arizona’s sheriff Joe Arpaio, in which his office is charged with basing trafic stops to ask for immigracion status on race, also attests to the continuance of ‘old-fashioned! racism (Billeaud 2011) chapters sand 14 also ‘plore the lesue of race, See Chapters for discussion ofearhy biological views of aifference. How is this diferent from or sir to the wayeimwhich Chr ‘manages ts popultion? See Chapter 12 For mote on how such iscourses ofdarger Work and affect police See Chapter 24216 ROXANNE LYNN DOTY These questions about democracy and hurnan righ are also taken up tgand 27, CONCLUSION ‘The immigration ‘criss’ in the United States todav raises questions that are pertinent to most other advanced industrialized democracies which have experienced and continue to experience immigration from countries deemed “thir world’ and who find themselves ‘with a substantial number of human beings who have arrived without the proper legal documents. The European Union soften cited as an example of ease in which freedom oof movement has triumphed over sovereign national borders. When the provisions of the Schengen Agreement eame into force in 1998, travellers between member states were no longer required to show passports (Gelatt 2005), However, the existence of the European Union has not eliminated undocumented migration, and freedom of movemeatis only granted to citizens of member states. Ithas not eliminated exclusionary practices (Balibar 2004). In an important sense the question raised by Samuel Huntington, ic. Whe Are We? isa pertinent one, but not necessarily in the sense in which he poses it. Constructing categories of human beings who are defined in large part by their lack of documents raises important questions about the values that have traditionally been attached to ‘us’. The restriction of peoples’ free movement raises important questions about what values such as democracy and human rights can mean. in an age of globalization when borders mean very little and very much at the same time Is our contemporary world borders are easy and dillivalt to cross atthe same time. Exclusion is increasing andl decreasing atthe same time. From a critical perspective there are very few satisfactory responses to the question of way people’s movement is restricted, Restricive legislation on the part of the United States as well as many European countries has for the most pat failed in tems of reducing immigration. Efforts to limit and/or prevent people from moving across sovercign tertitorial borders without the proper documentation have given rise to numerous other problems such as the increase in human smuggling, deaths of migrants in their dangerous journeys, and an underground world of human beings who live amongst us but do not enjoy the same privileges as citizens FURTHER READING Andreas, Feter (2000) Border Gamer Policing the US-Mesice Divide, Ichaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Usefal for background to recent US politics pertaining it southern border. Balibsr, Eticnne (2004) We she People of Eurypet Reflections on Transnational Citizenship, Princeton, NJ and Oxford: Princeton University Pres. ‘This book reects ypon the ways of andcestanding wht citizenship means and hie may be changing de in part to migration, Brian Barry, and Robert E, Goodin (eds) (1992) Free Movement Ethical Iemerin she Transwational Migration of People and Money, Univers Pack, PA: Pennsylvania State University Fst ‘This book presents several cerays addressing the moverseat of goods, services and people across borders and the ethical questions raised by these movements. Brubakcr, Rogcts (ed) (1989) Immigration ard she Politics of Citicenship in Ewrope and Nersh America, Lasham, MD: University Press of Ameria, Addresses the issve of stzenship in the context of imgWHY IS PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT RESTRICTED? Comins, Wayne, Philip Martin and Tames F. Wollfeld (eds) (1994) Controlling Immigrason: A Globo! Perspective, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press Good genctal overview of imsnigration from a global perspective Massey, Douglas S., Jorge Durand and Nolan J. Malone (2002) Beyond Smoke and Mirror Mesican Migration on an Era of Ecomamic Integration, Now York: Rusel Sage Esrars on Mexican migration into the United States ‘Massey, Douglas 5, Joaquin Arango, Gracane Hugo, Ali Kouaouc, J. Edward Taylor and Adela Pellegeino (2008) Worlds im Mosion: Underscanding Immigration at she End of the Millenin, Oxford: Oxford University Press Good general overview of contemporaty immigration inues fom a global perspective, Reimers, David M. (1998) Unwelcome Strangers: American Iensity and she Tarn Against Immigration, New York: Columbia University Fes History of anti-immigrant groups and acuviies in the United States Sassen, Saskia (1996) Losing Comsrol? Sovereignty in an Age of Globalization, New York. Columbia Uaiversiy Pees, Focuses on governance in an age of globalization in which immigration i 4 major issue WEBSITES Congressional Rescarch Service (CS) (hutp://www.opencrs com) is the public poli research tum of the US Congres, Ie issues about 3,000 brie, reports and issue papers per year, including papers 02 immigration issue. Immigration Policy Center (IPC) (hat /www ail org/ipe) is part of The American Tnsnigration {Law Foundation (AILE) was established in 1987 aa taxexemp, notforproft educational, hartable organization, The Foundation is dedicated to increasing public understanding of {immigration law and policy and the value of immigration to American society, and (© advancing fundamental fsieness and dve process snder thew for immigrants Migration Policy Insite (MPT) (hep: //www migrationinformation org}: MPTis an independent ‘non-partisan, non-profit tink tank in Washingron DG that provides anassis, developzacnt and evaluation of imsgration policies at the local, national and international Level, 1c was founded in 2001 by Demetrios G, Papademesrion and Kathleen Newland, and grew out of the International Migration Folcy Program at the Cazaegie Endowment for International Peace (htp:/ /wow earaegieendowanent org/) ‘The Southern Poverty Law Center (hit:/ /www splecnter.org) was founded in 1971 as a small civil rights Isw firm. Today, SPLC is internationally known for its tolerance education prograzsmcs, it Tega victories against white supremacists and its tracking of hate aroups. Located in Montgomery, Alabarsa~ th birthplace of the US Civil Rights Movement ~ the Southern Poverty Law Center was founded by Mortis Dees and Joc Levin, to local lawyers ‘who shared a commitment to racial equality. Ts first president was Jlian Bond. This organization publishes news items and reports on hate groups, including border vigilantes ‘More information about the European Union (0) can be found on the website Buropa: The European Union at a Glance: htty:/ /europa.ca/abe/index.en htm, The reasons why the EU was founded are detailed and the history of its most recent expansions is charted. ‘The rules for the movement of workers are given om another part of this ste: hetp:/ ec curopa.c/yourcurepe/av/en/itinens /index html REFERENCES Aguila, Jsime R. (2010) “The Immigration Debate about Mexicans, Voices of Meco, issue 88, CISAN-UNAM, 2011, 82-86 27