Surveying the Many Fronts of the War
on Immigrants in Post-9/11 U.S. Society
Karim Ismaili, Ph.D.
Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
Ryerson University
The Context
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U.S. Immigration Policy
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Post 1980s trend towards expansion of legal
immigration, even as the general public favored less of
it
Anti-welfare and anti-immigrant sentiment in the
1990s: State initiatives and Federal legislation
George W. Bush as a “great hope” for comprehensive
immigration reform
September 11, 2001
Post-9/11

“Let the terrorists among us be warned: if you
overstay your visa - even by one day - we will
arrest you” (Former U.S. Attorney General John
Ashcroft, October 25, 2001).
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“If somebody is here illegally, we’ve got to do
everything we can to find them…we’ve got to
ensure that those who are caught are returned to
their home countries as soon as possible”
(Former U.S. President George W. Bush, October
18, 2005).
The Social Control of Non-Citizens
Following the 9/11 Attacks
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The “PENTTBOM” Investigation
The USA PATRIOT Act
Enforcement of immigration orders and existing
immigration laws
“Special Registration Program”
Homeland Security
Delegation of immigration authority [s.287(g)]
“Operation Liberty Shield” and asylum seekers
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In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 we see:
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A halt to comprehensive immigration reform
The use of immigration law as a proxy for
criminal law enforcement
State and local governments increasingly
involved in criminal and civil immigration
matters
Significant marginalization of non-citizen
Muslim men
Immigration policy preoccupied with security
and risk management
The Expanding War
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The U.S.-Mexico Border
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The “chaotic” and “vulnerable” border
Terrorism and security threats
More fences, more surveillance, and more
border control agents
Punitiveness at the border
The “immigrant gold rush”
The Expanding War
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The Treatment of Asylum Seekers
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Risk and danger management
“Credible fear interviews”
Detention
The politicization of federal immigration courts
The Expanding War
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The immigration-crime control nexus
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Immigration system re-crafted as a criminal
justice/enforcement apparatus with dramatic netwidening potential.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Raids to capture and remove different priority
categories of non-citizens: criminal aliens, fugitive
aliens, violent transnational street gangs.
Unauthorized immigrants without criminal histories
also drawn in, spreading widespread fear in immigrant
communities.
The Expanding War
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Federal workplace raids
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Farms, factories, meat and food processing
plants, labour contractors, employment
brokers--disproportionate impact on Hispanic
population
State and local crackdowns
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The 1990s re-visited, but this time with more
severe consequences
Immigrant Detention
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Immigrants detained (ICE)
 2005 220,000
 2008 405,000
 37% in state/county/local facilities
 47% in private facilities
 16% in ICE facilities
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Daily detention (ICE)
 1994
6,500
 2002
20,000
 2008
32,500
Deportation
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Deportations (ICE)
 2004
175,000
 2007
*277,000
*Includes 18,000 fugitive aliens, and 95,000 criminal
aliens serving time in U.S. prisons. ICE estimates that at
least 10% of the current U.S. prison population is
eligible for deportation (ICE puts the number at
304,000).
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Federal spending on detention and removal (ICE)
 2005
1.6 billion
 2008
5.5 billion
The Politics of Immigration Reform
(2006-2007)
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Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and
Immigration Reform Act (2007)
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Failed to get enough support from U.S. Senate
to permit a vote on the bill (sponsored by
Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) with support of
President Bush).
Path to citizenship with “touchback provision”
(apply for green card in home country), guest
worker program, border enforcement.
Significance of this initiative is relation to “War
on Immigrants.”
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Adaptive (responsibilization) and expressive (“acting out”)
responses (Garland, The Culture of Control, 2001).
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Immigration controls re-inscribe the state at the precise
moment that national borders appear less and less relevant
(Bosworth and Guild, BJC, 2008).
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“[j]ust as we now see the war on terrorism as requiring a
fundamental recasting of American governance, the war on
crime has already wrought such a transformation - one which
may now be re-legitimized as a “tough” response to terrorism”
(Simon, Governing Through Crime, 2007:11).