Davis, Nathaniel A.

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Review of Immigration Nation: Raids, Detentions, Deportations in Post- 9/11 America by Tanya Maria Golash-Boza

Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Societies Without BordersVolume 8 | Issue 2 Article 72013Review of Immigration Nation: Raids, Detentions,Deportations in Post- 9/11 America by TanyaMaria Golash-BozaNathaniel A. DavisSouther Illinois UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/swbPart of the Human Rights Law Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences CommonsThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Cross Disciplinary Publications at Case Western Reserve University School of LawScholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Societies Without Borders by an authorized administrator of Case Western ReserveUniversity School of Law Scholarly Commons.Recommended CitationDavis, Nathaniel A.. 2013. "Review of Immigration Nation: Raids, Detentions, Deportations in Post- 9/11 America by Tanya MariaGolash-Boza." Societies Without Borders 8 (2): 313-316.Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/swb/vol8/iss2/7N. A. Davis/Societies Without Borders 8:2 (2013) 313-316 ~313~ © Sociologists Without Borders/Sociólogos Sin Fronteras, 2013 Book Review Immigration Nation: Raids, Detentions,                         Deportations in Post-9/11 America By  Tanya Maria Golash-Boza  Nathaniel A. Davis Southern Illinois University  Paradigm Publishers, 2012, 224 Pp _____________________________________________________   The central theme of this book is that the United States                  enforcement of punitive immigration policies violates human rights.  While paying lip service to the concept of universal human rights, Tanya Maria Golash-Boza argues that United States immigration                 policy and enforcement procedures contradict the nation’s self-expressed national ideals, ignore international treaty obligations, harm communities, and infringe upon the social, economic, and cultural rights of citizens and non-citizens (2-5, 111).  It has done so by                   ignoring or devaluing the right to family unity.  Not only is family    unity the cornerstone of social life, Golash-Boza contends, it is an inalienable human right (5).  The author seeks to introduce readers to immigration policy, enforcement agencies practices, and their                   consequences, in the post-9/11 United States. While doing so, she argues passionately for amnesty, overhaul of entry policy, and the   inclusion of individual mobility in international human rights doctrine (171).    Immigration Nation accomplishes the task of familiarizing               readers with US immigration policy and enforcement, and the                    accessible language and structure of the book suit it for classroom use.  The compelling anecdotes accentuate the suffering of illegal migrants whose only crime is that of living and working in the United States without authorization.  They are not dangerous terrorists, yet post-9/11 immigration policy enforcement makes them the primary (albeit perhaps unintended) targets.  Golash-Boza asserts that these migrants and their loved ones possess an inalienable human right to family   1Davis: Review of Immigration Nation: Raids, Detentions, Deportations inPublished by Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons, 2013N. A. Davis/Societies Without Borders 8:2 (2013) 313-316 ~314~ © Sociologists Without Borders/Sociólogos Sin Fronteras, 2013 unity by virtue of their humanity (5).  The topically arranged chapters underscore how this freedom—as well as many civil rights—has often been denied in the name of national security.    Chapter 1 provides a brief background of the reasons behind immigration to the United States alongside a brief legal history of  immigration law from the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act to the                     controversial Arizona law now making its way through the judicial review process (33-43).  Chapters 2, 3, and 4 review the post-9/11 immigration policy enforcement mechanisms, procedures, and their human costs, maintaining focus on the offenses against human as well as civil rights.  The author stresses “the right to territorial belonging” of the U.S. citizen family members of illegal residents, maintaining that this right is devalued when citizen children leave the country with deported parents, or when citizen spouses must choose whether to accompany their deported partners or remain in the United States (6, 111, 113-135).     Golash-Boza’s work heightens awareness of the plight of  undocumented workers in the United States. She identifies numerous civil rights violations in worksite and home raids as well as the                      detention system (47-77).  Michigan’s requirement of social security numbers for the issuance of marriage licenses denies illegal migrants living there the right to marry (126). The book highlights how the  enforcement apparatus intended to protect the United States from terrorism has increasingly targeted peaceful, law-abiding (aside from violations of immigration law) aspiring citizens.  The heart-wrenching personal stories in these chapters (particularly chapter 4) comprise the most powerful and compelling portion of the book.  The accounts citizen and non-citizen couples and families highlight the fear and     suffering inflicted by the present system.      Golash-Boza argues in the last chapter that the existence of an “immigration industrial complex” is the driving force behind the United States’ harsh immigration policies (142-158).  She highlights the profit potential of immigration law enforcement, stresses media coverage of local violent crime in the quest to attract viewers, and  emphasizes the political use of ‘othering’ to justify increased defense spending (ibid). However, she does not offer specific examples of how either the prison/immigration complex or the chief                       migrant-labor industries (such as meatpacking and garment factories) 2Societies Without Borders, Vol. 8, Iss. 2 [2013], Art. 7https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/swb/vol8/iss2/7N. A. Davis/Societies Without Borders 8:2 (2013) 313-316 ~315~ © Sociologists Without Borders/Sociólogos Sin Fronteras, 2013 have influenced the policies from which they profit, focusing instead on the superheated rhetoric of right-wing television shows The O’Reilly Factor, Lou Dobbs Tonight, and Glenn Beck—contributing to an anti-immigrant political climate—and the lack of immigration reform               legislation (142-149).  Yet as she observes in chapter 2, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2002 dramatically amplified the funding and capacity for enforcement of existing immigration laws (40-41). The “immigration industrial complex,” as the author                    describes it, might suggest a more unfortunate accident than                         intelligent design.    In addition, the author’s fierce criticism of United States             immigration and citizenship policies ought to be tempered by                  comparison with those of other countries, especially given her explicit claim that “unlike most other nations, [the United States] does not give much weight to the social, economic, and cultural rights that are also important to the human rights tradition” (2).  A cursory review of the citizenship and immigration policies as well as enforcement   mechanisms of other nations (Germany and Mexico, perhaps) might suggest that the United States is not the only offender against the  human or civil rights of migrants (legal or otherwise), and may not be the most heinous perpetrator.  For analytical clarity, more precise differentiation between political, citizenship, and human rights would be helpful, especially since all three overlap within the book’s narrative. Combined with more history of how these rights have been interpreted in U.S. and international courts, a tighter analytical framework would strengthen the argument and make the book more instructive to readers and more useful to scholars.  The lack of precision occasionally leads to confusion.   For example, Golash-Boza asserts, “the rights awarded by U.S. citizenship are few: the right to live in this country and the right to vote” (111).  This contention is difficult to reconcile with either her presumed human rights perspective or that of political rights.  It is all the more puzzling given her repeated observance of the ICE’s                   violation of Fourth Amendment rights (protection against                           unreasonable search and seizure) during home raids, as well (49).    Despite these shortcomings, Immigration Nation marks a               significant attempt to examine the unintended social costs of the War on Terror.  It accomplishes the goal of introducing readers to the  3Davis: Review of Immigration Nation: Raids, Detentions, Deportations inPublished by Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons, 2013N. A. Davis/Societies Without Borders 8:2 (2013) 313-316 ~316~ © Sociologists Without Borders/Sociólogos Sin Fronteras, 2013 topic of U.S. immigration policy, while simultaneously making a case for amnesty and the individual mobility as a universal human right, hinting at the necessity of open borders (171).  Noting the failures of United States immigration policy, Golash-Boza draws attention to the fact that not only is the system still broken, but from a human rights standpoint, it continues to get worse.   4Societies Without Borders, Vol. 8, Iss. 2 [2013], Art. 7https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/swb/vol8/iss2/7

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Review of Immigration Nation: Raids, Detentions, Deportations in Post- 9/11 America by Tanya Maria Golash-Boza

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