Immigration Officials Research Articles

Policy Statement on the Incarceration of Undocumented Migrant Families: Society for Community Research and Action Division 27 of the American Psychological Association.

Policy Statement on the Incarceration of Undocumented Migrant Families: Society for Community Research and Action Division 27 of the American Psychological Association.

The Men Who United the States: The Amazing Stories of the Explorers, Inventors and Mavericks Who Made AmericaSimonWinchester. London: William Collins, 2013.

Men Who United States: Amazing Stories of Explorers, Inventors and Mavericks Who Made America Simon Winchester. London: William Collins, 2013.In 2011, British journalist Simon Winchester achieved his dream of becoming an American citizen after several years of residence. experience proved cathartic, especially when an immigration officer at Kennedy Airport took one look at his passport and remarked, Welcome Home (x). Winchester admitted to feeling almost overwhelmed by at last now being a part of all of (xiii), more precisely defined as belonging to a culture dedicated to principles of unity and progress, the promise of a better place and of better times ahead (xiv).The Men Who United States celebrates achievements of those men and women who spent their lives trying to fulfill this objective. Many of them are familiar figures in American history - Lewis and Clark, George Washington, Thomas Edison, Samuel Morse, Alexander Graham Bell. Winchester looks at their lives in a refreshingly original way; he structures book according to five classical elements (wood, earth, water, fire, and metal) in belief that they lie at heart of all human achievement. Early explorers such as Lewis and Clark used wood as a basic component of their travels; they created wooden boats and kept themselves warm with wood-burning fires. Geologists in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries probed earth's surface for agricultural riches as well as to determine worth of land. America's rivers and streams were used as early highways and trade routes; later on they provided a major source of power which formed basis for creation of new frontiers. In subsequent centuries, there came invention of engines, which depended on firepower, whether they were fueled by steam, gasoline, or aviation. For telegraph, steel wire of telephone, iron mast of radio and television, and fiber-optic cables of Internet, metal was common factor.Within each of these five sections, Winchester looks at achievements of various luminaries: in water section, he discusses work of William Madure, a Scottish-born entrepreneur who helped to found American Academy of Natural Sciences and created a geological map of United States. Gouveneur Kemble Warren worked for four years on Warren Map, which represented definitive guide to western United States (109). Warren's map was a means to conquer earth, a way of dispelling fantasies about West that continued to dominate popular imagination.In water section, Winchester celebrates those who financed and implemented Erie Canal project, several of whom had no engineering experience whatsoever: The men who laid out routes were not surveyors, but judges. One of principal builders was an arithmetic teacher [... .] few could imagine knowing how to work a theodolite, pay out a surve check, or construct a pound lock gate (203). Yet they kept on with project, in belief that it would contribute to public good; not only would it create new trading opportunities, but it contributed to America's prestige worldwide: All Europeans [...] had already begun to admire [...] Erie Canal [...] longest canal in world (209). Later on in section, Winchester writes about Mississippi, which links nation from top to bottom, offering a kind of geographic strength, a degree of certainty, stability (229) to those who inhabit its banks. During Depression era, river lost this strength as billions of tons of topsoil were torn out by steel plows to be gushed out as liquid mud into sea. …

SUSPICION-LESS MINDS: ANTI-TERRORISM POWERS AT PORTS AND BORDERS

THE Supreme Court's decision in Beghal v DPP [2015] UKSC 49; [2015] 3 W.L.R. 344 is a prime example of the balance that must be struck between the rights of the individual and the need to prevent terrorism. In this case, the majority placed their emphasis on the latter. Strong criticisms were made, however, of the relevant legislation. Schedule 7 to the Terrorism Act 2000 empowers “examining officers” (constables, immigration officers and customs officers) to stop, question, search, and detain persons at ports or borders. The powers apply whether or not the examining officer has grounds to suspect that person of being a terrorist (para. 2(4)). It is an offence to fail wilfully to comply with an examining officer's request (para. 18).

Dissecting Marriage Fraud as a True Immigration Crime

Marriage fraud is considered a true immigration crime in that not only does it carry penalties related to an immigrant’s status, but also severe penal consequences under federal law. This paper seeks to explore how a case of marriage fraud is discovered, investigated and prosecuted by immigration officials, and, ultimately, by the judicial system. The paper focuses on recent immigration law developments and lays out a blueprint of a marriage fraud case under the 1986 Marriage Fraud Amendments to the Immigration and Naturalization Act.

Points of entry: how Canada's immigration officers decide who gets in

Points of entry: how Canada's immigration officers decide who gets in

Transnationalism and everyday practice: Cantonese opera theatres of North America in the 1920s

ABSTRACTIn the United States, Chinese theatres were prosperous in the 1920s, creating a vibrant Cantonese opera culture in several major cities. They staged performances daily, featuring stellar singers and elaborate productions. As cultural migration, operas played significant roles in Chinese communities, from entertainment to ritual worship, and from public face to daily practices. This article argues that the cultural space constituted an important part of Chinese American collective memory. The theatre space was complicatedly shaped by a list of players including the trans-Pacific network of merchants and performers, legal brokers, US Immigration officers at the port and in Washington, DC, as well as enthusiastic audiences and the social milieu. The theatres were subjected to many constraints and limited by them. By studying this cultural memory in its complicated layers, the article also explores the ways in which Chinese theatres and opera performances provide an important imaginary space for second-generation Chinese Americans.

Can the Children Speak?: Precarious Subjects at the US-Mexico Border

This essay considers the recent increase in migration of unaccompanied minors from Central America and Mexico and argues that US border control and immigration officials have not addressed the specific experiences of migrating children. This failure is due in part to officials’ reliance on a victim/agent binary in which children are either not accorded any agency and denied a voice or seen as dangerous outsiders and future threats to the nation; in either case, the result is deportation back to life-threatening conditions. In contrast, I see children as precarious subjects and argue for a distinction between vulnerability and precarity. Children exhibit courage in the face of a host of material impediments and also need adult assistance. By tracing these children’s journeys through the detention and immigration process, I show how the failure to respect children as agential subjects has created a situation in which their stories are denied or misinterpreted. I argue for the creation of conditions in which children’s particular modes of narration and cultural production can be heard.

THE CONCEPT OF “FAMILY” IN SOMALIS’ IMMIGRATION TO FINLAND Views from Immigration Officials and NGOs

In Addis Ababa one can see dozens of Somali families waiting daily in front of the Embassy of Finland to be interviewed. The interview represents a means of entering Finland, since those waiting presumably have a so-called family re-unifier in Finland, a relative who has of ten already received a residence permit and sometimes even citizenship. This article examines the family reunification process of Somalis who travel from Ethiopia to Finland. Drawing on the experiences related by Finnish immigration officials, it focuses on the fact that they do not share the same definition of “family” as the Somali asylum applicants. Using extensive inter views and observations, this article aims to elucidate the complex cultural understandings involved in the Somalis’ process of immigration to Finland.

Explaining Crimmigration in Indonesia: A Discourse of the Fight Against People Smuggling, Irregular Migration Control, and Symbolic Criminalization

Controlling migration in the world's largest archipelago brings various challenges to Indonesian authorities that differ from other countries. The difficulties become even more complicated since Indonesia has been known as the most favorite transit country for people who want to migrate to Australia due to its strategic geographical location, which is situated between the continents of Asia and Australia and between the Pacific and Indian oceans. Following this, the decision of choosing the mechanism of criminal law to deal with irregular migration from the start leads Indonesia to its acknowledgment as a country who is vulnerable to the trend of crimmigration. The criminalization of immigration-related conducts, the authorization of investigative power to the immigration officers, and the implementation of the 'selective policy' in the very first Immigration Law (Law No. 9/1992) justify the underlying situation in Indonesia. This condition is even harsher when Indonesia joined the fight against people smuggling since the new law concerning immigration (Law No. 6/2011) also increase criminal sanctions for immigration-related offenses. Nonetheless, this punitive approach stands as a symbolic strategy, which is barely enforced by the Indonesian authorities and it serves nothing than responding the problems with erroneous actions. By doing this, the Indonesian government has shown its weaknesses and inabilities to control crime problems to an acceptable level.

“The Indian’s Own Magna Carta”: Britishness and imperial citizenship in diasporic print culture, 1900–1914

In 1914, the Vancouver paper The Hindustanee attacked Canadian immigration officials for violating Indians’ rights which were given to them “on the banks of the Runnymede” at the signing of the Magna Carta. This article contextualizes that claim by examining invocations of the Magna Carta as an integral part of Indians’ response to colonial anti-Asian legislation in the twentieth century. Imperial citizenship functioned for Indians as a Whitening device, offering by implication access to a package of values and rights that connoted Britishness. The racialized meanings of “imperial citizenship” emerged in a print culture that was simultaneously diasporic and imperial.

So many reasons why turning landlords into immigration officials is a bad idea

So many reasons why turning landlords into immigration officials is a bad idea

The Representation of the Illegal Migrant in Contemporary Cinema: Border Scenarios and Effects*

This paper analyzes a corpus of films that represent various journeys of illegal migrants. It focuses specifically on the role of the illegal migrant on the border, understood as both a place and a metaphor. After critically examining the notion of border, it explores the recurring characters in this particular kind of film: the illegal migrant who experiences the border, the Western man-in-crisis who is regenerated through contact with the Other, the immigration officer whose own stance toward the suffering of illegal migrants is questioned.

The Complicated Journey of a Family

Questions are presented at “consideration points” that follow a section that gives information about the case. One or more choices may be correct for each question; make your choices on the basis of your clinical knowledge and the history provided. Read all of the options for each question before making any selections. You are given points on a graded scale for the best possible answer(s), and points are deducted for answers that would result in a poor outcome or delay your arriving at the right answer. Answers that have little or no impact receive zero points. At the end of the exercise, you will add up your points to obtain a total score.

The Police, the Immigration Office and Illegal Immigrants: Indonesian’s Cases

As a country that has strategic position, Indonesia faces illegal trafficking of people and goods. If the illegal traffic is not taken seriously, not only the country will lose revenue from customs duties, but also not integrated efforts against illegal traffic of goods and people. This paper will discuss the role of POLRI in assisting the Immigration Office in combating human trafficking and smuggling. This paper will also discuss the problem of illegal immigrants and human trafficking is complicated due to unscrupulous government and security apparatus. This paper also seeks actors involved and their role in paving the way for illegal immigrants. Finally, this paper argue the duty of POLRI in assisting the Immigration Office will run effectively if it involves a number of government agencies relating to the management and supervision of foreign territories, including the Ministry of Home Affair and the Armed Forces (TNI).

Moments of Humiliation, Intimidation and Implied ‘Illegality’: Encounters with Immigration Officials at the Border and the Performance of Sovereignty

This paper examines the role of border encounter—the set of interactions between potential entrants into a country and the country's immigration officials. These interactions are laden with power relations and can involve moments of interrogation, intimidation and humiliation on the side of immigration officials and negotiations and resourcefulness on the side of potential entrants. I argue that these sets of interactions, organised by the assemblage of actors, institutions, documents, technologies, discourses and affect, inform us about one of the ways sovereignty is performed by nation-states and their representatives. Moreover, potential entrants also mobilise particular strategies to negotiate performances of sovereignty and obtain entry.

Caught in a Web of Multiple Jeopardy: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and HIV-Positive Asylum Seekers in Scotland

Many HIV-positive asylum seekers have experienced multiple traumas and human rights violations—circumstances that engender posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This qualitative study examines the impact of PTSD symptoms among HIV-positive asylum seekers in Scotland. Data were collected from 19 participants, using open-ended interviews, and narrative analysis was used to develop significant themes. All respondents had significant traumatic experiences, such as physical and sexual assault, witnessing the beating and death of a loved one, and being forced to participate in the sex trade. Many experienced multiple symptoms of PTSD, including re-experiencing of intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, avoidance, and arousal. These symptoms met the duration and impairment requirements for DSM-5 diagnosis of PTSD. Their symptoms impacted their ability to tell their stories convincingly when interviewed by immigration officials. Legal processes for asylum seeking require individuals to tell their stories but ignore the impact of trauma on their ability to do so, thus increasing the likelihood of their applications being rejected. The findings indicate the need for asylum seekers to have routine assessment and treatment for PTSD and the provision of appropriate therapeutic and advocacy services.

Doctors are not immigration officials, says BMA

Doctors are not immigration officials, says BMA

IMPERIAL OPENINGS: CIVILIZATION, EXEMPTION, AND THE GEOPOLITICS OF MOBILITY IN THE HISTORY OF CHINESE EXCLUSION, 1868–1910

By most measures, Daniel Augustus Tompkins was a highly unlikely opponent of totalized Chinese exclusion. The owner of three cotton mills and a New South booster editor, Tompkins presided over a racially segregated labor force and had much to say about the necessity of white supremacy for the progress of the South, the nation, and the world. So why, on March 14, 1906, did he testify before the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Foreign Affairs, expressing his opposition to immigration officials' overzealous enforcement of legal barriers against Chinese immigration? Existing approaches to the racial politics of migration to the United States, which have emphasized the interchangeability of anti-black and anti-Chinese racisms in the nineteenth century, make it difficult to account for Tompkins' actions: they would lead us to expect that he would defend both complete Chinese exclusion and black subordination on similar racial grounds. This essay presents a new framework for conceptualizing migration, empire, and the politics of social differentiation that, among other things, will make sense of this seemingly unlikely intervention by a New South industrialist and racial ideologue in U.S. immigration politics. This framework brings together two traditionally separated fields of inquiry: migration history and imperial history. By revisiting Chinese exclusion (and its seemingly odd critics) through an imperial lens, it hopes to demonstrate the value—indeed, the necessity—of connecting these two approaches in the larger effort to entangle U.S. and global histories.

Keeping an Eye on the I.N.S.: A Case for Civilian Review of Uncivil Conduct

Use of deadly force by the U.S. Border Patrol (and other immigration officers) and other forms of violence against border-crossing migrants has captured the attention of the agency's leadership, although the response remains equivocal and erratic. In 1993, the then Acting Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) pledged to "aggressively pursue[ ]" claims of misconduct and "strictly adhere" to investigative and disciplinary procedures. However, the INS stopped short of endorsing changes in complaint review procedures, such as the call for civilian oversight. A decade has passed since the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights identified serious problems in the INS procedures and recommended changes in a report to the President and Congress. Problems include delays in investigation, lack of public awareness of the process, no acknowledgment of receipt of complaints, deficiencies in the selection of investigators and investigative procedures and an inadequate statistical record of complaints and disposition. The same problems plague the system today, and almost none of the recommendations have been implemented. In this article, the author first documents examples of misconduct by the Border Patrol and other immigration and customs agents and examines the current INS internal complaint system. Next, he sets out some of the necessary features of a civilian or external review process, many of which are embodied in legislation recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, with an emphasis on those features unique to immigrants or immigration enforcement. (An Appendix contains proposed model regulations for an Immigration Law Enforcement Civilian Review Board).Finally, the author lays out some of the alternatives, or complements, to external review and how they are useful or limited in mitigating abusive behavior. Any system must be perceived as accessible, confidential, prompt, impartial and even-handed and policymakers will need to ask themselves how to measure the success of any review board. A review board alone cannot always deter misconduct or provide adequate remedies. Despite the obstacles, lawyers must persevere with civil suits for damages and criminal prosecutions. Nongovernmental organizations must petition human rights tribunals and continue to "mobilize shame" against 'the immigration authorities and the U.S. government in all available forums.

The Spillover of US Immigration Policy on Citizens and Permanent Residents of Mexican Descent: How Internalizing "Illegality" Impacts Public Health in the Borderlands.

The militarization of the US-Mexico border region exacerbates the process of "Othering" Latino immigrants - as "illegal aliens." The internalization of "illegality" can manifest as a sense of "undeservingness" of legal protection in the population and be detrimental on a biopsychological level. We explore the impacts of "illegality" among a population of US citizen and permanent resident farmworkers of Mexican descent. We do so through the lens of immigration enforcement-related stress and the ability to file formal complaints of discrimination and mistreatment perpetrated by local immigration enforcement agents, including local police authorized to enforce immigration law. Drawing from cross-sectional data gathered through the National Institute of Occupation Safety and Health, "Challenges to Farmworker Health at the US-Mexico Border" study, a community-based participatory research project conducted at the Arizona-Sonora border, we compared Arizona resident farmworkers (N = 349) to Mexico-based farmworkers (N = 140) or Transnational farmworkers who cross the US-Mexico border daily or weekly to work in US agriculture. Both samples of farmworkers experience significant levels of stress in anticipation of encounters with immigration officials. Fear was cited as the greatest factor preventing individuals from reporting immigration abuses. The groups varied slightly in the relative weight attributed to different types of fear. The militarization of the border has consequences for individuals who are not the target of immigration enforcement. These spillover effects cause harm to farmworkers in multiple ways. Multi-institutional and community-centered systems for reporting immigration-related victimization is required. Applied participatory research with affected communities can mitigate the public health effects of state-sponsored immigration discrimination and violence among US citizen and permanent residents.