David B Feldman

Abstract

This essay systematically thinks through the relationship between undocumented immigrants, guestworkers, and nonstatus immigrants as sources of flexible and highly exploitable noncitizen labor. It argues that many businesses are increasingly likely to view unauthorized workers as more of a liability than an asset, and that this makes an ostensibly legal but intensely surveilled and ultimately deportable workforce look more attractive. Challenging the dominant conception that a so-called pathway to citizenship would resolve the plight of nonstatus and undocumented immigrants, I argue that this would institutionalize liminal legality by bringing undocumented immigrants directly into the surveillance apparatus of the Department of Homeland Security, without offering a realistic chance at obtaining legal permanent residency. To fight back against this potential outcome, the grassroots movement for migrant and immigrant justice must broaden its scope of action and place immediate, unconditional, and total amnesty for all at the center of its demands.

Keywords

Migrant illegality, liminal legality, labor control, guestworker, citizenship, Deferred Action for Early Childhood Arrivals, migration management, political sociology

From: Critical Sociology 2020 46 (4-5)

Editor: Wang Yi