United States Migration Policy and Politics

3 units

Until 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services called the country a “nation of immigrants” in its mission statement. Yet that phrase has always been a contested reality as migration policies have welcomed some, turned away others, and placed conditions on the rights that a person can access as a non-natural-born citizen of the U.S. In this course, we will trace the process of migration and discuss how policy choices and politicization of migrants shapes American societies and impacts migrants’ lives. What drives people to migrate from their home communities? What challenges do they face along migration routes? As humans move, languages, ideas, and ways of life diffuse across territories. This diffusion can be integrated into host societies, or it can become a source of tension within communities. What political, social, and economic conditions facilitate this integration or tension? We will analyze these themes in historical and contemporary context.