HS 307A — Immigration Policy and Human Rights

Explores the dynamics of power embedded in our immigration policies as well as in current day immigration laws practices. We will challenge hegemonic ideas and myths surrounding immigration history such as the idea of “a nation of immigrants.” By exploring how white supremacy, settler colonialism, hetero-patriarchy, Christian hegemony, and neoliberal capitalism have shaped our immigration policies over time, we will gain a deeper understanding of current dynamics in the field. We will also study key immigration legislation and examine the disparate impacts of those policies on immigrant and refugee communities. In this course, the immigrant detention system is understood as part of the nation’s system of mass incarceration of people of color. Finally, in order to recognize the power of the immigrant communities in spite of ongoing oppression and exploitation, we will study how immigrants organize resistance to human rights abuses and propose reforms and transformation of immigration policy. Usually offered every year.
Staff