LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY FALL 2014

POLITICAL SCIENCE 335: IMMIGRATION POLITICS AND POLICY

Professor Celia Lacayo PhD celialacayo@gmail.com
Tuesday and Thursday 10:50-12:05 STR 366
Office Hours Tuesday & Thursday 1:00-2:00 PM University Hall 4135
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This is a reading intensive course that will examine how immigration politics and policy have
been central to the nation building of the United States. We will be using texts, documentaries
and recent media coverage to explore how historically and contemporarily immigrants have been
perceived and integrated into the larger society. Furthermore, while the class will address the
importance of historical accounts of different migrant groups to the US, it will focus on
contemporary debates about immigration reform. The major themes the course aims to address
are policy and legislation, contexts of reception, political incorporation and participation, identity
formation, public discourse, and political opinion. We will also critically examine the role of
racialization for each immigrant group and how these groups fight for rights, inclusion and
equality.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
The Primary objectives for this course are:
-To become familiar with US Immigration history, theories of immigration, immigrant
group incorporation and how they impact policy and the larger society.
-To critically assess the role of ethnicity, race and power in immigration policy and
immigrants experience.
-To develop an understanding of how various social and political structures influence
immigrants social position, political participation and upward mobility.
-To develop and improve on skills that include: critical thinking through readings, writing
through the research paper, and verbal skills through class participation and final paper
presentations.
EVALUATION:
Class Participation
Midterm
Final
Research Paper Presentation
Research Paper

10%
30%
30%
10%
20%

REQUIRED READING MATERIALS:

Ngai, Mae M. 2004. Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America.
Princeton University Press.

Wong, Janelle. 2006. Democracys Promise: Immigrants & American Civic Institutions. The
University of Michigan.
Masouka, Natalie and Jane June. 2013. The Politics of Belonging: Race, Public Opinion, and
Immigration. The University of Chicago Press.
All other readings will be posted on the Blackboard.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS:
*Attendance and participation is critical for you to understand class material and perform well in
the course. Absences due to illness need to be accompanied by a Doctors note. If there is any
other emergencies or issues please notify me as soon as possible.
*Please check the blackboard weekly in order to get readings, announcements and any other
material I may post. I will also be posting weekly questions onto the Blackboard to guide both
the readings and lectures, please make sure you are able to respond to them as you will have an
opportunity to do so in class. Also, these are the types of questions that may appear on your
Midterm and Final.
*During discussions all students must be respectful of all other opinions, but at no point in time
will discriminatory comments be tolerated. Please conduct yourself with dignity and treat others
as such.
*Proven Cheating or plagiarism will result in automatic failure of the course and will be referred
to the University for further disciplinary action. Particularly for your research paper make sure
you paraphrase the authors points rather than copying verbatim. Also, make sure to cite when
using others theories, ideas or arguments.
*Students with special needs if not already enrolled with the Disability Support Services Office
can do so at www.lmu.edu/dss. Please let me know what accommodations you may need.
FINAL REASEARCH PAPER:
You are required to write and submit a final paper on the last day of class (12-15pages). You are
expected to write an original analysis of a debate or argument about an aspect of immigration or
immigrant integration using data to support your argument and critiquing competing perspectives.
I will be assisting with the process along the way.
-Week 6 Research Question Due
-Week 8 Research Design Due
-Week 10 Research Outline Due
-Week 14 & 15 Research Presentation (10 minutes)

WEEK 1

INTRODUCTION TO POLITICS OF IMMIGRATION

Massey, Douglas Why does Immigration Occur
Solberg, Aristide Matters of State: Theorizing Immigration Policy
Rumbaut, Ruben Assimilation and Its Discontents: Ironies and Paradoxes
Wong, Janelle Mexican and Chinese Immigrants in Two Cities
Wong, Janelle Institutional Mobilization in an Era of Local Party Decline
Wong, Janelle Conclusion: American Civic Institutions & Immigrant
Mobilization at the Dawn of the 21st Century

WEEK 2

IMMIGRATION HISTORY & POLICY

Tichner, Daniel The Politics of Immigration Control: Understanding the Rise
and Fall of Policy Regimes
Tichner, Daniel Conclusion
Ngai, Mae Introduction: Illegal Aliens: A Problem of Law and History
Ngai, Mae The Johnson Reed Act of 1924 and the Reconstruction of Race in
Immigration Law
Ngai, Mae Deportation Policy and the Making and Unmaking of Illegal Aliens
Sanchez, George Race and Immigration History

WEEK 3

DIFFERENTIAL IMMIGRATION POLICIES

Ngai, Mae From Colonial Subject to Undesirable Alien: Filipino Migration in
the Invisible Empire
Ngai, Mae Braceros, Wetbacks, and the National Boundaries of Class
Ngai, Mae The Liberal Critique and Reform of Immigration Policy
Martinez-Hosang, Daniel How Can you Help Unite California? English-Only
and the Politics of Exclusion, 1982-1990
Martinez-Hosang, Daniel They Keep Coming: The Tangled Roots of
Proposition 187

WEEK 4

CONTEMPORARY ETHNIC/RACIAL IDENTITIES & US IMMIGRANT

DEMOGRAPHICS
Portes & Rumbaut Who They are and Why They Come
Greer, Christina A Theory of Black Elevated Minority Status
Greer, Christina Conclusion
Wong et all Making Visible Political Participation
Garcia, John An Introduction to Latino Politics
Cohn, DVera. 2011.Census 2010: 50 Million Latinos: Hispanics Account for
More Than Half of Nations Growth in Past Decade. Pew Hispanic Center.

WEEK 5

ETHNIC/RACIAL IDENTITIES & POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

Lopez, Mark Hugo. 2011.The Latino Electorate in 2010: More Voters, More
Non-Voters. Pew Hispanic Center.
Wong et all Activists and the Future of Asian American Political Participation
Garcia, John Latino Political Participation
Garcia, John Immigration and Latino Immigrants
Zepeda, Chris Racialization in Times of Contention: how social movements
influence Latino racial Identity
Golash-Boza, Tanya Dropping the Hyphen? Becoming Latino (a)-American
through Racialized Assimilation

WEEK 6

TRADITIONAL AND NON-TRADITIONAL POLITICS

Cordova, Teresa Harold Washington and the Rise of Latino Electoral Politics in
Chicago, 1982-1987
Garcia John Latinos in the Electoral Arena
Pardo, Mary Gendered Citizenship Mexican American Women and Grassroots
Activism in East Los Angeles 1986-1992
Terriquez, Veronica Schools for Democracy Labor Union Participation and
Latino Immigrant Parents' School-Based Civic Engagement

Seif, Hinda Wise Up! Undocumented Latino Youth, Mexican-American

Legislators, and the Struggle for Higher Education Access
WEEK 7

REVIEW SESSION AND MIDTERM

WEEK 8

RESPONSES TO CONTEMPORARY IMMIGRATION

DOCUMENTARY (9500 LIBERTY)
Huntington, Samuel The Hispanic Challenge
Sanchez, George Face the Nation: Race Immigration and the Rise of Nativism
in the Late Twentieth Century America
Martinez-Hosang, Daniel Blue State Racism
Fetzer, Joel Why did House Members Voter for HR 4437?

WEEK 9

MEDIA DISCOURSE ABOUT IMMIGRANTS AND IMMIGRATION

POLICY
Chavez, Leo The Latino Threat Narrative
Chavez, Leo The Minuteman Projects Spectacle of Surveillance on the
Arizona-Mexico Border
Santa Ana, Otto Why Study the Public Discourse Metaphors Depicting
Latinos
Santa Ana, Otto Proposition 187: Misrepresenting Immigrants and
Immigration
McConnell, Eileen Diaz An incredible number of Latinos and Asians: Media
representations of racial and ethnic population change in Atlanta, Georgia
De Francesco Soto, Victoria Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric is Anti-Latino

WEEK 10

LOCAL AND STATE RESPONSES TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Biggers, Jeff Arizona v United States
Biggers, Jeff Fear and Loathing in a Land of Carpetbaggers
Biggers, Jeff Epilogue: What Happens in Arizona Does Not Stay in Arizona

Romero, Mary Not a Citizen, Only a Suspect: Racialized Immigration Law

Enforcement Practices
Brown, Hana Race, Legality, and the Social Policy Consequences of AntiImmigration Mobilization
Murray, Mark, May 26, 2010. On Immigration, Racial Divide Runs Deep.
MSNBC
WEEK 11

PUBLIC OPINION AND BEHAVIOR REGARDING IMMIGRATION

Junn, Jane Conditional Welcome
Timberlake, Jeffry and Rhys Williams Stereotypes of US Immigrants form
Four Global Regions
Fiske, Cudy, Glick and Xu, A Model of Stereotype Content: Competence and
Warmth Respectively Follow From Perceived Status and Competition
Pew Hispanic Report On Immigration Policy, Deportation Relief Seen as More
Important Than Citizenship

WEEK 12

CITIZENSHIP, RACE AND IMMIGRATION

Junn, Jane The Pictures in our Heads: The Content and Application of Racial
Stereotypes
Junn, Jane Framing Immigration: Illegality and the Role of Political
Communication
Junn, Jane The Politics of Belonging and the Future of US Immigration Policy

WEEK 13

UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS & IMMIGRANT ACTIVISM

Barreto, Manzana, Ramirez & Rim Mobilization, Participation and Solidaridad:
Latino Participation in the 2006 Immigration Protests Rallies
Abrego Leisy & Roberto Gonzalez Blocked Paths, Uncertain Futures: The
Post-secondary Education and Labor Prospects of Undocumented Latino Youth
Flores-Gonzales, Nilda & Elena Gutierrez Taking the Public Square: National
Struggle for Immigrant Rights

Flores-Gonzales, Nilda Immigrant, Citizens or Both: The Second Generation in

the Immigrant Rights Marches
WEEK 14

RESERCH PAPER PRESENTATIONS

WEEK 15

RESEARCH PAPER PRESENTATIONS AND FINAL REVIEW

SESSION
FINAL