Extended & Post-Entry Removals: A Socio-Historical Analysis of the American Deportation Regime

• In Event: Roundtable: Immigration

Abstract

As one of the most debated issues on the national stage, immigration has always been a feature of the American political, social and economic discourse. A twin effect of immigration, deportation concerns who is granted the right to stay and who is removed from the country. Amid the growing debate on reform, this paper casts light on the changing nature of deportation law during the last century. Using Daniel Kanstroom’s model of extended and post-entry social controls, this work evaluates how America’s deportation policy fluctuated since immigration became the domain of the federal government. It also traces the gradual growth of the bureaucracy as well as the state’s ability to apprehend immigrants from the interior and the borders. Set against the backdrop of World Wars I and II, the Red Scare, Operation Wetback and the September 11th attacks, this paper takes a look back at the chaotic nature of American deportation policy during the last century

Author

• Denise N. Obinna, Mount St. Mary's University