Handcuffs and Chain Link enters the immigration debate by
addressing one of its most controversial aspects: the
criminalisation both of extralegal immigration to the United States
and of immigrants themselves in popular and political discourse.
Looking at the factors that led up to decriminalisation, Benjamin
Gonzalez O’Brien points to the alternative approach of the
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and how its ultimate
demise served to negatively reinforce the fictitious association of
extralegal immigrants with criminality. Crucial to Gonzalez
O’Brien’s account thus is the concept of the critical policy
failure—a piece of legislation that attempts a radically
different approach to a major issue but has shortcomings that
ultimately further entrench the approach it was designed to
supplant. The IRCA was just such a piece of legislation. It
highlighted the contributions of the undocumented and offered
amnesty to some while attempting to stem the flow of extralegal
immigration by holding employers accountable for hiring the
undocumented. The failure of this effort at decriminalisation
prompted a return to decriminalisation with a vengeance, leading to
the stalemate on immigration policy that persists to this day.
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