ISSN 1062-7421
Vol. 10 No. 4 (April 2000) pp. 265-267.

U. S. IMMIGRATION POLICY IN AN AGE OF RIGHTS by Debra L. DeLaet. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2000. 168 pp. Cloth $59.95. ISBN: 0-275-96733-6. Paper $22.95. ISBN: 0-275-96764-6.

Reviewed by Daniel Levin, Department of Political Science, Boise State University.

The past several decades have witnessed major changes in immigration policy in the United States. Much of that change has been the result of congressional action in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and Immigration Act of 1990. Congress passed both bills in response to the large number of undocumented aliens residing in the United States as well as the ongoing debate over the multiple and sometimes conflicting goals of immigration policy. Both acts also included more restrictive measures aimed at reducing the number of undocumented immigrants in this country. However, both laws incorporated many liberalizing measures, most notably the 1986 Act's program of amnesty for many undocumented aliens residing in the United States and a greater emphasis in both acts on family reunification.

In U. S. IMMIGRATION POLICY IN AN AGE OF RIGHTS, Debra DeLaet attempts to explain how these different attempts at reform, although undertaken in a
political climate suspicious -- if not antagonistic -- towards increased immigration, actually promoted immigration and improved the status of immigrants. She is particularly interested in the manner in which civil rights rhetoric shaped the debate over immigration and the role of immigration advocates in framing the debate, claiming that, "civil rights discourse has been a fundamental factor in determining the policy alternatives available to the U. S. government in its efforts to regulate
immigration." Although she succeeds in demonstrating that Congress is far less tied to racially exclusionary policies than in the past, she fails to provide evidence that the discourse of civil rights had much to do with this more inclusive form of immigration policy. Nor does she take much account of the more punitive turn in Congress' attitude towards resident aliens in recent years.

The book has several strengths. Its major strength is that it documents how more attention to family reunification has led to a more diverse immigrant population. Indeed, the diverse geographic origins of recent immigrants who seek to bring family members to the United States has only continued a trend toward more arrivals from Latin America, Africa and Asia. DeLaet also does a good job of recounting many of the arguments regarding employer sanctions and how such sanctions might result in discrimination against members of ethnic groups regardless of their citizenship or immigration status. The book also reviews the history of immigration policy in concise form. And DeLaet provides a useful picture of current immigration patterns to the United States and how they differ from the historical trends. Unfortunately, this descriptive work cannot make up for the weakness of the book's thesis.

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DeLaet argues that U. S. immigration policy poses a conundrum for political analysts. Although the population as a whole supports restricting immigration, Congress in 1986 and 1990 passed bills which allowed for greater immigration because they did not sufficiently regulate the employment of aliens, provided for an amnesty for undocumented workers, and expanded access to visas. DeLaet argues that Congress did this "because of lobbying by a liberal coalition of ethnic groups, churches, civil rights organizations, and employer associations." It is the addition of employer groups to this "liberal coalition" that should alert readers to a possible problem.
DeLaet asserts that "Employer associations' demands for access to workers with particular occupational characteristics and for the protection of their due process rights have converged with the civil and human rights concerns of churches, ethnic groups and civil rights organizations." This may be true, but the addition of employers to this picture, and the likelihood that they were a particularly potent part of this coalition, cannot be taken as evidence for DeLaet's larger thesis that civil rights has been "a fundamental factor" in shaping U. S. immigration policy.

The convergence of business interests with civil rights concerns need not result in discounting the impact of civil rights organizations on immigration policy. However, the book's greatest weakness is the simple lack of documentation for the claim that civil rights rhetoric or the political pressure applied by civil rights groups made much difference in contemporary immigration policy. Certainly the provisions in both the 1986 and 1990 Acts prohibiting discrimination on the basis of ethnicity demonstrate that civil rights concerns were an important part of the picture. Unfortunately, there are no quotations from testimony before Congress by civil rights
groups, few references to congressional findings indicating a concern for the civil liberties of legal or undocumented aliens, no analysis of congressional voting patterns, and little beyond assertions that civil rights groups were effective in their goals. DeLaet acknowledges that both business groups and civil rights groups actively opposed sanctions against employers for hiring undocumented workers. Disappointingly, she provides no evidence which would allow one to judge which of these two groups was more effective or that the civil rights groups had any concrete effect at all.

Indeed, one might as easily argue that, given the realities of campaign finance and political power in the United States, business interests were primarily responsible for liberalizing immigration policy. Not only do business interests have significant political power because of their wealth and status, but also their opposition to employer sanctions tied in nicely with contemporary rhetoric opposing greater governmental regulation of business in other areas. Similarly, while DeLaet notes that family reunification has become a more prominent part of immigration policy, she produces no documentation to show that this was accomplished through pressure
by civil rights groups or that family reunification was portrayed in rights-based language. Christian fundamentalist groups also embraced family reunification as a goal because of its "pro-family" orientation. Policies which are more humane or which lead to greater ethnic diversity in immigration are not necessarily, as DeLaet's argument suggests, the result of consciousness regarding civil rights.

A second weakness of the book is the cursory treatment that it gives of the

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1996 immigration reforms, which were largely focused on matters of financial responsibility and the eligibility of resident aliens to receive government benefits. DeLaet's comments on this major piece of legislation, which poses a serious problem for her thesis, are contained in a little over two pages in her conclusion and are largely descriptive. The 1996 Act included provisions requiring that immigrants support themselves, that families sponsoring relatives guarantee the financial self-sufficiency of the new arrivals, and that undocumented aliens were ineligible to receive certain government benefits. In addition, the 1996 Act made it much easier for the Immigration and Naturalization Service to exclude aliens summarily, to deport resident aliens because of criminal offenses, and to deny political asylum
without appeal. Thus, the 1996 Act directly challenges DeLaet's thesis regarding the continuing relevance of civil rights rhetoric for immigration policy.

DeLaet's response to this problem posed by the 1996 Act is weak. It may be true, as she argues, that the 1996 Act will do little to deter illegal immigration. However, her strongest argument that the Act accommodated concerns over civil rights is based on the Act's failure to significantly strengthen employer sanctions or to fund enforcement. DeLaet observes that "Civil rights advocates and ethnic organizations lobby against workplace raids and efforts at interior enforcement, which they fear may lead to harassment and discrimination against ethnic minorities..." However, she still does not provide the reader with any evidence that it was civil
rights groups' efforts that weakened the Act; once again, it is just as likely that business interests adamantly opposed to employer sanctions and workplace raids were primarily responsible for this omission in an otherwise restrictive law.

A study, which documented how civil rights concerns have influenced immigration policy, would have been a valuable contribution to the literature on why rights, rights discourse, and organized interest groups matter in the political process. However, U. S. IMMIGRATION POLICY IN AN AGE OF RIGHTS fails to marshal the evidence that would demonstrate the effectiveness of civil rights organizations or the importance of rights rhetoric for contemporary American immigration policy. Those looking for a decent short summary of recent changes in U. S. immigration policy will find it in DeLaet's volume. Those, like the reviewer, hoping for clear and convincing proof of the power of liberal ideas and politics will be disappointed.

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Copyright 2000 by the author, Daniel Levin.