Aftermath: Deportation Law and the New American Diaspora

by Daniel Kanstroom

Since 1996, when new, harsher deportation laws went into effect, the United States has deported millions of noncitizens back to their countries of origin. While the rights of immigrants-with or without legal status--as well as the appropriate pathway to legal status are the subject of much debate, hardly any attention has been paid to what actually happens to deportees once they "pass beyond our aid." In fact, we have fostered a new diaspora of deportees, many of whom are alone and isolated, with strong ties to their former communities in the United States.
Daniel Kanstroom, author of the authoritative history of deportation, Deportation Nation, turns his attention here to the current deportation system of the United States and especially deportation's aftermath: the actual effects on individuals, families, U.S. communities, and the countries that must process and repatriate ever-increasing numbers of U.S. deportees. Few know that once deportees have been expelled to places like Guatemala, Cambodia, Haiti, and El Salvador, many face severe hardship, persecution and, in extreme instances, even death.
Addressing a wide range of political, social, and legal issues, Kanstroom considers whether our deportation system "works" in any meaningful sense. He also asks a number of under-examined legal and philosophical questions: What is the relationship between the "rule of law" and the border? Where do rights begin and end? Do (or should) deportees ever have a "right to return"? After demonstrating that deportation in the U.S. remains an anachronistic, ad hoc, legally questionable affair, the book concludes with specific reform proposals for a more humane and rational deportation system.

Genres: Nonfiction

260 pages, Paperback

First published May 3, 2012

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I needed to finish it for a paper, in my graduate school course.
It was fine.

[Monika Schrock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for anyone interested in a rational, just and merciful Immigration discussion!

[Daniel G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far, so good. A professor of law at Boston college and immigration lawyer, this is a followup to another book he wrote entitled Deportation Nation. I'm very familiar with most of the reports and such he relies on. At times, though, the narrative seems to wander.