Mae M. Ngai

The various ways in which the law constructed and racialized “illegality” over the course of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A telling example: in the mid-twentieth century, noncitizens who’d committed minor crimes but had lived in the US for decades could sometimes get relief from deportation by exiting the US and reentering—but only on the Canadian border; the option was not made available to Mexicans. Ngai’s organizing conceit is that the law both made show more “illegality” inevitable and yet excluded unlawful migrants from the category of people with rights, thus producing an “impossible” subject. I never really got that; it is obviously not at all impossible to have a category of rightsless people subject to the will of the state. It’s just truly awful. show less

Excellent work examining immigration law and how it shapes and is shaped by American national self-image. She starts with attempts to limit immigration of non-whites through census manipulation, before examining specific reactions to substantial Mexican and Filipino immigration. Ngai effectively demonstrates how US racism and economic motivations dominated immigration law. She also demonstrates its inherent irrationality, particularly in looking at all the unintended consequences of show more immigration restriction. An excellent read for anyone who is interested in the development of immigration law and its relationship to national politics. show less

Ngai traces one family, starting with two Chinese immigrants who came as children and met in San Francisco. Christian missionaries adopted the girl; the boy worked for many people, including white families, ultimately building a transport business that depended on linking Chinese immigrants with white-owned shipping and railroads. Later, the family was heavily involved with immigration authorities in another way: several members worked for the US government, tracking down unlawful Chinese show more immigrants and purportedly distinguishing the truth-tellers from the liars (seemingly sometimes influenced by bribes). The family mostly held itself apart from Chinatown, living elsewhere and adopting “Western” clothes except in certain limited situations. Ngai suggests that this is a relatively typical story of how an immigrant family can advance financially and socially: by becoming an interface between other immigrants and the new society. show less

Insightful historical perspective on the issues of migration, politics, and second-class citizenship status. A must read for anyone seeking to understand immigration laws, policies, and the reasons for hostility towards migrants.