WELCOME THE WRETCHED

A law professor examines how U.S. citizenship laws have neglected the “complexities and contradictions” of individual migrants.

America has long prided itself on being a safe haven for what Emma Lazarus immortalized as “the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” However, according to García Hernández, author of Migrating to Prison, this safe-haven status is more myth than reality because of what he calls a “romanticized view of migrants…[as uniformly] morally upstanding, self-reliant, up-by-the-bootstraps” individuals. He suggests that where this point is most visible is in the relationship between federal immigration law and criminal law. Anyone can seek asylum in the U.S. regardless of how that person gets to America, but federal law does not protect such individuals from prosecution. This situation has created increasingly problematic tensions between what the U.S. purports to be and what it actually is, especially after 9/11. Riding on fears of increased terrorist activity, George W. Bush created the Department of Homeland Security to deter the inflow of hostile immigrants along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, both of which focus on the border between the U.S. and Mexico. These events signaled a sea change in immigration policies while also laying the foundation for the “overblown rhetoric” politicians like Donald Trump would later use to provoke outrage over threats posed by immigrants, especially those hailing from south of the border. Using individual stories—like that of an aunt who, risking deportation, routinely gave shelter and assistance to non-citizens—the author demonstrates the brokenness of an immigration system he believes is in need of greater compassion toward imperfect people trying to lead better lives. Though tending at times toward historical digressiveness, this book offers timely insights into the vexing problem of citizenship in America.

A well-researched study that will appeal mostly to fellow academics.