Immigration Matters: Movements, Visions, and Strategies for a Progressive Future

322 Pages·2021·1.99 MB·English

by  Ruth Milkman, Deepak Bhargava, Penny Lewis

5.625 × 8.75 SPINE: 1 FLAPS: 3.5
“For too long, politicians have Current Affairs/Immigration $27.99 U.S.
Ruth Milkman is Distinguished Professor CONTRIBUTORS:
stoked nativism and weaponized
of Sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center
and the CUNY School of Labor and Urban our immigration system to divide Daniel Altschuler
Studies. Deepak Bhargava is Distin- people. Democrats and progressives
Deborah Axt
guished Lecturer in Urban Studies at the shouldn’t be afraid to put forward During the past decade, right-wing nativists
CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies and a bold, forward-thinking vision Mehrdad Azemun Ed Im have stoked popular hostility to the nation’s
was previously President of the Center for for immigration that is rooted in Deepak Bhargava ite foreign-born population, forcing the immi-
Ccioatmem Puronfiteys sCohra onfg Lea. bPoer nSntuyd iLees wati tsh ies CAUssNoY- cinosmtemado no fs ecnruseel tayn. dIm cmomigpraatsisoino n, Justin Gest d by R m gturaren.t Irnig thhtes mTrouvmemp eyneta rinst, op are doecfceunpsiievde pwoitsh-
School of Labor and Urban Studies. Marielena Hincapié u crisis upon crisis, advocates had few oppor-
t
Matters helps illuminate that vision h i
U.S. Representative M g tunities to consider questions of long-term
and provides a path forward for
Pramila Jayapal ilk policy or future strategy. Now is the time for
achieving it.” m r
a reset.
Cristina Jiménez a a
—JULIÁN CASTRO, n Immigration Matters offers a new, action-
Moreta , D
former United States Secretary of e t able vision for immigration policy. It brings
Housing and Urban Development Amaha Kassa ep i together key movement leaders and aca-
a o
Adam Kruggel k B demics to share cutting-edge approaches
“Immigration Matters draws together h n to the urgent issues facing the immigrant
Peter L. Markowitz a
the leading voices on immigration rg community, along with fresh solutions to
and immigrant rights to offer a Eliseo Medina av M vexing questions of so-called “future flows”
a
cogent pathway to fix a tragically Ruth Milkman , a that have bedeviled policy makers for dec-
n
d a ades. The book also explores the contribu-
broken immigration system. The Cecilia Muñoz P
book offers great hope to those en t tions of immigrants to the nation’s identity,
seeking to move beyond the ugliness Mae M. Ngai ny t its economy, and progressive movements for
L social change. Immigration Matters delves
of the current nativist moment and Angelica Salas ew e into a variety of topics including new ways
restore the honorable legacy of the Angeles Solis is r to frame immigration issues, fresh thinking
s
United States as a just and fair nation on key aspects of policy, challenges of inte-
Saket Soni
of immigrants.” gration, workers’ rights, family reunification,
D. Taylor
legalization, paths to citizenship, and humane
—DOUGLAS S. MASSEY,
Javier H. Valdés enforcement.
Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and
The perfect handbook for immigration
Public Affairs, Princeton University
activists, scholars, policy makers, and anyone
who cares about one of the most contentious
issues of our age, Immigration Matters makes
accessible an immigration policy that both
www.thenewpress.com remediates the harm done to immigrant
workers and communities under Trump and
Jacket image by Getty Images advances a bold new vision for the future.
Jacket design by David Shoemaker
More Praise for Immigration Matters
“The pandemic helped us see many things we must never forget,
such as the essential role of immigrants in every aspect of Ameri-
can life. Now that we see, we must act to ensure a future that is
fully inclusive of immigrants. This wonderful book tells us how.”
—Ai-jen Poo, Director, National Domestic Workers
Alliance and Caring Across Generations
“Donald Trump took a hammer to the U.S. immigration system,
and in doing so exposed its inhumane and racist scaffolding. The
Biden- Harris administration has an unprecedented opportunity
to transform the system into one that reflects the best of Ameri-
can values. These thoughtful essays point them—and us—in the
right direction.”
—Lorella Praeli, President, Community Change Action
“The future of the labor movement—and the country— depends
significantly on immigrants and immigration. This crucial col-
lection points the way to a convergence of social movements to
achieve lasting power for working people.”
—Mary Kay Henry, President, Service Employees
International Union (SEIU)

IMMIGRATION MATTERS

IMMIGRATION
MATTERS
MOVEMENTS, VISIONS, AND STRATEGIES
FOR A PROGRESSIVE FUTURE
Edited by
Ruth Milkman,
Deepak Bhargava,
and Penny Lewis

CONTENTS
Introduction 1
Ruth Milkman, Deepak Bhargava, and Penny Lewis
Part I: Historical Perspectives
American Nativism, Past and Present 39
Mae M. Ngai
History Shows That the Immigrant Threat Narrative
Is Wrong 55
Ruth Milkman
Stronger Together: Immigrant Workers and the Labor
Movement 72
An Interview with Eliseo Medina
From the Ground Up: The Growth of the U.S. Immigrant
Rights Movement 91
An Interview with Angelica Salas
Part II: Lessons of Organizing Campaigns
The Immigrant Youth Movement: Here to Dream and
Here to Fight 107
Cristina Jiménez Moreta
The Nevada Turnaround: Immigrant Workers Build
Political Power 121
An Interview with D. Taylor
Taking on Corporate Complicity in the Trump Era:
The “Corporate Backers of Hate” Campaign 133
Javier H. Valdés, Deborah Axt, Daniel Altschuler, and
Angeles Solis
Part III: Future Immigration Policy
Five Freedoms: A Twenty- First- Century Policy Vision
for Immigrant Rights 151
Marielena Hincapié
When Democrats Are Not the Party of Ideas 166
Justin Gest
Keep It Moving: A “Future Flow” Agenda for the
Immigrant Rights Movement 187
Amaha Kassa
Abolish ICE . . . and Then What? 205
Peter L. Markowitz
Immigrants Are Essential: A Manifesto for the
COVID-19 and Climate Change Era 221
Saket Soni
Part IV: Strategies for Change
The Progressive Path Forward on Immigration Policy 235
Pramila Jayapal
The Border and Beyond 253
Cecilia Muñoz
“We Have Found the Enemy and It Is Not Each Other”:
Deep Canvassing to Change Hearts and Minds on
Immigration in Rural and Small-Town America 271
Mehrdad Azemun and Adam Kruggel
The Statue of Liberty Plan: Vision and Strategy for the
Immigrant Rights Movement in the Twenty- First
Century 287
Deepak Bhargava
Acknowledgments 308
Contributors 309
INTRODUCTION
Ruth Milkman, Deepak Bhargava, and Penny Lewis
Immigration is among the pivotal, most hotly debated questions of
the twenty- first century. Right-wing demagogues have deployed
it as the leading wedge issue to rally their base, put the Left on the
defensive, and speak to the cultural and economic anxieties of those
in the middle. In the United States, the Right—once divided between
a pro- immigration corporate bloc and a nativist wing—is now united
behind a nationalist, nativist position. It is a motley coalition: avowed
racists, strategic racists, people who are not racist but support greater
limits on migration, and finally the corporate class, which has surren-
dered on this issue in order to retain its influence on other matters.
The strategy of mobilizing racialized fear and resentment has been
used across Europe and the United States to bring right-wing parties
to power and to reverse not only pro- immigrant policies but also bed-
rock labor, civil rights, and social welfare protections. This strategy
is formidable, as Trump’s victory in 2016 and Brexit (among other
examples) demonstrated, and it remains a potent threat.
In the United States, as elsewhere, the nativist turn has been disas-
trous in its humanitarian impact. Many fewer refugees escaping perse-
cution have been permitted to enter than in the recent past. Families
of asylum seekers fleeing violence in Central America have been delib-
erately separated, with children infamously detained in cages. The
11 million undocumented immigrants present in the United States
have been living in fear of a ramped-up interior enforcement appa-
ratus. The D reamers— young immigrants who entered the country
without authorization as children accompanying their parents—were