In its first words on the subject of citizenship, Congress in 1790 restricted naturalization to ‘white persons.’   [T]his racial prerequisite to citizenship endured for over a century and a half, remaining in force until 1952.   From the earliest years of this country until just a generation ago, being a "white person" was a condition for acquiring citizenship.” -- Ian Haney Lopez, White By Law , 1.

Most people do not realize that the notion of the United States as a “white” majority nation is largely a construction of law, and that people of many different nationalities who were deemed “not white” for purposes of immigration became “white” over the course of U.S. social and legal history.  The current legal regime that imposes severe criminal penalties for violations of immigration law provisions is a recent development in U.S. law, and constitutes a dramatic change in the legal approach to immigration and immigrants from the Western Hemisphere, especially Mexico.   

Within the context of the impending presidential election, we'll study the major legal and historical events that have shaped and continue to structure the debates over immigration. We’ll examine the current landscape of immigration law and policy as well as restrictionist and immigrant-rights movements.  We’ll critically analyze how concepts of race are embedded in immigration law and policy and how those embedded concepts shape the laws and their operation today. We will examine current controversies about immigration, immigrant workers, labor movements, and the varied ways communities respond to the most recent immigration boom.

Students will build some basic legal skills through reading and researching important cases and laws.