The Domestic Face of Globalization: Law’s Role in the Integration of Immigrants in the United States

Abstract

This article applies a global perspective to immigration in the United States, focusing in particular on law’s role in the integration of immigrants into U.S. society. The global perspective illuminates the relationship of immigration to other forms of transnationalism, as well as to the situation of non-immigrant minorities and the working poor. We review the history of immigration law in the United States as well as the main elements of current debate. Drawing on the Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection, as well as the preemption doctrine, we suggest specific ways in which immigration law might optimally evolve in the future. While communications and communications technology are not discussed at length in the paper, we suggest the context in which media pluralism is relevant to a multicultural society.