immigration

• 
• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  5/12/2021
  

  The U.S. Role in the El Mozote Massacre Echoes in Today’s Immigration

  by Nelson Rauda and John Washington

  Renewed efforts to prosecute the perpetrators of the 1981 El Mozote massacre of Salvadoran civilians during the civil war will further demonstrate American involvement in the perpetuation of inequality and violence in Central America and, the authors argue, the hypocrisy of US immigration policy. 

• 
• SOURCE: Boston Review
  5/7/2021
  

  How the Modern NRA Was Born at the Border

  by Sierra Pettengill and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

  Sierra Pettengill's new short documentary "The Rifleman" connects racist violence at the US-Mexico border and the politics of influential NRA leader Harlon Carter, who for decades concealed the fact that he was convicted at age 17 of murder for shooting a Mexican youth in Laredo. She discusses that story with historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.

• 
• SOURCE: History.com
  5/10/2021
  

  The First Asian American Settlement Was Established by Filipino Fishermen

  The first Asian American settlement in what is now the United States was by Filipino sailors and indentured servants who escaped from Spanish ships in the Gulf of Mexico and established settlements in Louisiana. 

• 
• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  5/5/2021
  

  Thirty Years after Mount Pleasant Erupted, a Push for Better Treatment Persists

  by Mike Amezcua

  Central American refugees living in Washington's Mount Pleasant neighborhood had fled US-backed repression but found harsh treatment by immigration authorities and local police. In 1991 frustration erupted. Today, the unrest still raises questions about citizenship and belonging. 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Review of Books
  4/29/2020
  

  ‘I’ve Lost Everything to the Beast’: Reviewing 4 Books on MS-13

  by Rachel Nolan

  While the specter of the MS-13 gang has been central to political panics about immigration, the group's origins are American. A Latin American historian reviews four new books. 

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  4/26/2021
  

  My Grandparents’ Immigration Lies Shaped My Father’s View of Justice

  by Daniela Gerson

  "My father knew all too well what happens when legal pathways do not exist for people to enter this country: They find alternative ways in, just as his own family had."

• 
• SOURCE: Mother Jones
  4/28/2021
  

  The Original Sin of America’s Broken Immigration Courts

  A decision made by Franklin Roosevelt to move immigration services from jurisdiction of the Department of Labor to the Department of Justice laid the groundwork for criminalizing immigration and for abusive practices that came to light in the most recent administration. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  4/21/2021
  

  Racism Has Always Been Part of the Asian American Experience

  by Mae Ngai

  Anti-Asian racism draws from different historical origins than Jim Crow, but their histories are part of the same conflict: whether White Americans are entitled to rule over other people, domestically or globally. 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  4/18/2021
  

  My Grandfather Fled the Nazis. I Moved to His Old Neighborhood

  by Laura Moser

  The writer reflects on the meaning of her journey as an American Jew to first claim German citizenship and then move to the town her grandfather had fled. 

• 
• 4/18/2021
  

  What Do John Dewey's Century-Old Thoughts on Anti-Asian Bigotry Teach Us?

  by Charles F. Howlett

  A century ago, the American philosopher and educator took a sabattical to China and concluded that, if encouraged to learn about other cultures, White Americans could be brought to acceptance of Asian Americans and other immigrants as equal participants in democracy. COVID-inspired bigotry shows this dream remains unrealized.

• 
• SOURCE: New York Times
  4/11/2021
  

  How Should the US Treat Migrants when American Policy Affected the Countries They Fled?

  The Temporary Protected Status designation, which has allowed hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States, originated because of the massive human rights abuses of the US-supported dictatorship in El Salvador.

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  4/5/2021
  

  America Never Wanted the Tired, Poor, Huddled Masses

  by Caitlin Dickerson

  Historian David Romo says that racist nativism is "ingrained in the culture and in the laws that are produced by that culture," but concealed by myths of a nation welcoming to immigrants. Also cited: Rose Cuison-Villazor, Daniel Tichenor, Mae Ngai, Donna Gabaccia and Adam Goodman. 

• 
• SOURCE: Mother Jones
  3/30/2021
  

  One Man’s Quest to Crack the Modern Anti-Immigration Movement—by Unsealing Its Architect’s Papers

  John Tanton donated 25 boxes of documents related to his work with anti-immigration advocacy organizations beginning in the 1960s. The gift stipulated that much of the collection be sealed until 2035. An immigration advocate says that Tanton's connections to right-wing anti-immigrant groups and the pro-eugenics Pioneer Fund means the university should unseal the papers now. 

• 
• SOURCE: TomDispatch
  3/23/2021
  

  The Greater the Disaster, the Greater the Profits

  by Todd Miller

  Believe me, the forces that shaped our southern border over the decades have been far more powerful than Donald Trump or any individual politician.

• 
• SOURCE: National Trust for Historic Preservation
  3/12/2021
  

  Settlement Houses: Sites of Service, Access, and Connection for Women

  by Tamar Rabinowitz

  "Progressive Era settlement houses fostered the activism and intellectual creativity, as well as the conflicts, that would profoundly shape American modernity in the 20th century."

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  3/24/2021
  

  There’s No Migrant ‘Surge’ at the U.S. Southern Border. Here’s the Data

  Three political scientists argue that the recent media narrative of a "border crisis" is political hype and not supported by data about historical migration patterns. Looking at month-to-month fluctuations distorts the situation and leads to bad policy. 

• 
• SOURCE: Heather Cox Richardson
  3/13/2021
  

  Letters From an American, March 13, 2021

  by Heather Cox Richardson

  What are the historical underpinnings of the immigration system, and what do politicians really mean by invoking a "border crisis"? 

• 
• SOURCE: NextCity
  3/8/2021
  

  Why Only Multiracial Solidarity and Restorative Justice Can Solve Racial Attacks on Asian Americans

  Activist Margaretta Lin reflects on the post-immigration reform history of Asian American communities and argues for rejecting anti-Black framing of recent attacks on Asian Americans. 

• 
• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  2/24/2021
  

  A Path to Citizenship for 11 Million Immigrants is a No-Brainer

  by A. K. Sandoval-Strausz

  The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act showed the effectiveness of a large-scale amnesty for undocumented immigrants and reflected a reasonable and pragmatic approach to normalizing the status of immigrants as workers and community members. It should be remembered as a success and a model. 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  2/22/2021
  

  My Brother’s Keeper

  by Ada Ferrer

  Historian Ada Ferrer offers her own family history of separation and reunification around the Cuban revolution.