Immigration Outside the Law

Hiroshi Motomura

Companion volume to the authoritative and award-winning Americans In Waiting
Gives a scholarly perspective on a perenially controversial issue
Offers concrete solutions to many of today's thorniest questions around immigration

Immigration Outside the Law

Hiroshi Motomura

Description

In Immigration Outside the Law, acclaimed immigration law expert Hiroshi Motomura, addresses the fraught issue of illegal immigration to the United States, which has become one of the most controversial political and social issues in contemporary America. The book revolves around two basic questions. First, what explains today's intense disagreements about immigration outside the law? And second, what should we as a nation do about it? After beginning the book with a discussion of a landmark Supreme Court case—Plyler v. Doe (1982), which held that children have a constitutional right to attend public elementary and secondary schools even if they are in the United States unlawfully—he offers a reasoned and a careful discussion of what illegal immigration actually is and how the state (federal, state, and local) deal with it. He then looks at the ways in which unauthorized immigrants are becoming part of American society. In the final section of the book, Motomura focuses on durable and politically viable solutions to the problem in three public policy areas: international economic development, domestic economic policy, and educational policy.

Immigration Outside the Law

Hiroshi Motomura

Immigration Outside the Law

Hiroshi Motomura

Author Information

Hiroshi Motomura, Professor of Law, UCLA

Professor of Law, UCLA, and author of Americans in Waiting (Oxford, 2006)

Immigration Outside the Law

Hiroshi Motomura

Reviews and Awards

"Immigration Outside the Law is an exceptional combination of accessible prose, analytic depth and rigor, exhaustive research and coverage, and humanity. In short, it is a gem, a treasure trove of information and essential reading for anyone interested in immigration or concerned about the lives of immigrants today." - Cecilia Menjivar, Cowden Distinguished Professor, T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University

"Thoughtful and forward-looking, Immigration Outside the Law clearly lays out recent immigration programs, initiatives, cases, and legislation, places these in historical perspective, and links them to debates over what the United States stands for as a nation. Motomura's explication of the complexity of the category 'unauthorized immigrant' is invaluable." - Susan Bibler Coutin, Professor of Criminology, Law & Society and Anthropology, University of California, Irvine

"Hiroshi Motomura here provides a brilliant framework for thinking about and debating the relationship between immigration and law-including how the government enforces the law. All of the major issues generating controversy in American political and legal circles are addressed here with Motomura's characteristic deep insights, broad perspective and fair-mindedness. The book is a tour de force that will be a touchstone for years to come." - John Skrentny, Professor of Sociology, University of California, San Diego

"Immigration Outside the Law is a masterful work that does the seemingly impossible by offering fresh ways to comprehend and resolve one of the most hotly-contested dilemmas on the public agenda. Motomura's analysis is richly developed, clarifying, and deeply insightful. This important book will alter the way we think and argue about unauthorized immigration." - Daniel Tichenor, Philip H. Knight Professor of Social Science, University of Oregon

"Motomura takes on one of the great moral questions of our time and in characteristic fashion produces an indispensable meditation on the social and legal meaning of unlawful immigration status. Refreshingly, he explains rather than condemns our national ambivalence. Through deft analysis of history, doctrine, and institutional practice, he demands that we see beyond our current politics to devise an immigration system that generations from now will comport with our commitments to social integration, equality, and the rule of law." - Cristina M. Rodriguez, Professor of Law, Yale Law School

Immigration Outside the Law

Hiroshi Motomura

From Our Blog

Hiroshi Motomura on unauthorized migrants and immigration outside the law

From news stories about unaccompanied minors from Central America to invisible workers without legal standing, immigration continues to stir debate in the United States. We sat down with Hiroshi Motomura, the author of Immigration Outside the Law, to discuss this contentious topic.

Posted on August 11, 2014

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