Questionable transactions as grounds for legalization: Immigration, illegality, and law

Crime, Law and Social Change

Volumn 37, Issue 1, 2002, Pages 19-36

  Coutin, Susan Bibler ^a,b  

^a CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0036115346     PISSN: 09254994     EISSN: 15730751     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1023/A:1013303909261     Document Type: Article

References (52)

1. See Ian Taylor, "Criminology post-Maastricht," Crime, Law & Social Change 1999 (30), 333-346.
2. On the ways that criminal activities generate profits within the "legitimate" economy, see William J. Chambliss, "The Political Economy of Opium and Heroin," in W.J. Chambliss and M.S. Zatz (eds.), Making Law: The State, the Law, and Structural Contradictions (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993), and Vincenzo Ruggiero, "Criminals and Service Providers: Cross-national Dirty Economics," Crime, Law & Social Change 1997 (28), 27-38.
3. On the ways that criminal activities generate profits within the "legitimate" economy, see William J. Chambliss, "The Political Economy of Opium and Heroin," in W.J. Chambliss and M.S. Zatz (eds.), Making Law: The State, the Law, and Structural Contradictions (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993), and Vincenzo Ruggiero, "Criminals and Service Providers: Cross-national Dirty Economics," Crime, Law & Social Change 1997 (28), 27-38.
4. See also the discussion of ways that "hot money" is transformed into "cold money" in Petrus C. Van Duyne and Hervy de Miranda, "The Emperor's Clothes of Disclosures; Hot Money and Suspect Disclosures," Crime, Law & Social Change 1999 (31), 245-271.
5. Kitty Calavita, "Employer Sanctions Violations: Toward a Dialectical Model of White-Collar Crime," Law and Society Review 1990 (24:4), 1041-1069, and Jacqueline Maria Hagan, Deciding to Be Legal: a Maya Community in Houston (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), and Sarah J. Mahler, American Dreaming: Immigrant Life on the Margins (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995).
6. Kitty Calavita, "Employer Sanctions Violations: Toward a Dialectical Model of White-Collar Crime," Law and Society Review 1990 (24:4), 1041-1069, and Jacqueline Maria Hagan, Deciding to Be Legal: a Maya Community in Houston (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), and Sarah J. Mahler, American Dreaming: Immigrant Life on the Margins (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995).
7. Kitty Calavita, "Employer Sanctions Violations: Toward a Dialectical Model of White-Collar Crime," Law and Society Review 1990 (24:4), 1041-1069, and Jacqueline Maria Hagan, Deciding to Be Legal: a Maya Community in Houston (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), and Sarah J. Mahler, American Dreaming: Immigrant Life on the Margins (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995).
8. Edna Bonacich, "Asians in the los Angeles Garment Industry," in P. Ong, E. Bonacich and L. Cheng (eds.), The New Asian Immigration in Los Angeles and Global Restructuring (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994) and Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, Gendered Transitions: Mexican Experiences of Immigration (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994).
9. Edna Bonacich, "Asians in the los Angeles Garment Industry," in P. Ong, E. Bonacich and L. Cheng (eds.), The New Asian Immigration in Los Angeles and Global Restructuring (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994) and Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, Gendered Transitions: Mexican Experiences of Immigration (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994).
10. Beatriz Sandoval, a Salvadoran woman who worked in the garment industry, told me how her employer handled the problem of hiring undocumented workers: "They'll tell you, 'I'm sure you know where to buy papers,' and the person will come back with papers the next day and be hired."
11. Edwin Harwood, "Arrests without Warrant: The Legal and Organizational Environment of Immigration Law Enforcement," University of California, Davis, Law Review 1984 (17:2), 505-548.
12. Susan Bibler Coutin, Legalizing Moves: Salvadoran Immigrants' Struggle for U.S. Residency (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000), p. 130.
13. Peter Fitzpatrick, The Mythology of Modern Law (New York: Routledge, 1992) and Christopher Stanley, "Politics and Ethics in Cultural Criminology: A Reading of Blanchot's The Most High," Crime, Law & Social Change 1997 (26), 1-25.
14. Peter Fitzpatrick, The Mythology of Modern Law (New York: Routledge, 1992) and Christopher Stanley, "Politics and Ethics in Cultural Criminology: A Reading of Blanchot's The Most High," Crime, Law & Social Change 1997 (26), 1-25.
15. Immigrants' sense that the system is both arbitrary and manipulable may also be due to their understanding of the legal systems in their countries of origin. For instance, one Salvadoran man told me that when he got his first drivers license in San Salvador, he simply paid a government official a bribe to issue him a drivers license. After describing this incident to me, he and other Salvadorans who were present discussed their belief that certain DMV clerks in the United States accept bribes in order to issue drivers licenses to the undocumented.
16. In the United States, notary publics are authorized to authenticate or notarize signatures and documents, not to provide legal representation or expertise.
17. Amnesty and asylum are not the same thing. Amnesty refers to temporary legalization program created by the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. Individuals who could prove that they had been continuously and illegally present in the United States since January 1, 1982 or who had worked as seasonal agricultural workers for specified periods of time were eligible for legalization. Asylum is available at the discretion of the U.S. attorney general to individuals who have a well-founded fear of persecution by their government or groups that their government cannot control on account of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or social group membership.
18. Sally Engle Merry, "Gender Violence and Legally Engendered Selves," Identities 1995 (2:1-2), 20; see also Jane F. Collier, Bill Maurer and Lilian Suárez-Navaz, "Sanctioned Identities: Legal Constructions of Modern Personhood," Identities 1995 (2:1-2), 1-27.
19. Sally Engle Merry, "Gender Violence and Legally Engendered Selves," Identities 1995 (2:1-2), 20; see also Jane F. Collier, Bill Maurer and Lilian Suárez-Navaz, "Sanctioned Identities: Legal Constructions of Modern Personhood," Identities 1995 (2:1-2), 1-27.
20. Jacqueline Maria Hagan, Deciding to Be Legal, and Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo and Ernestine Avila, " 'I'm Here, but I'm There': The Meanings of Latina Transnational Motherhood," Gender and Society 1997 (11:5), 548-571, and Michael Kearney, "The Effects of Transnational Culture, Economy, and Migration on Mixtec Identity in Oaxacalifornia," in Smith and Feagin (eds.), The Bubbling Cauldron (Minneapolos: University of Minnesota Press, 1995) and Nina Glick Schiller, Linda Basch and Cristina Szanton Blanc, "From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration," Anthropological Quarterly 1995 (68:1), 48-63.
21. Jacqueline Maria Hagan, Deciding to Be Legal, and Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo and Ernestine Avila, " 'I'm Here, but I'm There': The Meanings of Latina Transnational Motherhood," Gender and Society 1997 (11:5), 548-571, and Michael Kearney, "The Effects of Transnational Culture, Economy, and Migration on Mixtec Identity in Oaxacalifornia," in Smith and Feagin (eds.), The Bubbling Cauldron (Minneapolos: University of Minnesota Press, 1995) and Nina Glick Schiller, Linda Basch and Cristina Szanton Blanc, "From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration," Anthropological Quarterly 1995 (68:1), 48-63.
22. Jacqueline Maria Hagan, Deciding to Be Legal, and Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo and Ernestine Avila, " 'I'm Here, but I'm There': The Meanings of Latina Transnational Motherhood," Gender and Society 1997 (11:5), 548-571, and Michael Kearney, "The Effects of Transnational Culture, Economy, and Migration on Mixtec Identity in Oaxacalifornia," in Smith and Feagin (eds.), The Bubbling Cauldron (Minneapolos: University of Minnesota Press, 1995) and Nina Glick Schiller, Linda Basch and Cristina Szanton Blanc, "From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration," Anthropological Quarterly 1995 (68:1), 48-63.
23. Jacqueline Maria Hagan, Deciding to Be Legal, and Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo and Ernestine Avila, " 'I'm Here, but I'm There': The Meanings of Latina Transnational Motherhood," Gender and Society 1997 (11:5), 548-571, and Michael Kearney, "The Effects of Transnational Culture, Economy, and Migration on Mixtec Identity in Oaxacalifornia," in Smith and Feagin (eds.), The Bubbling Cauldron (Minneapolos: University of Minnesota Press, 1995) and Nina Glick Schiller, Linda Basch and Cristina Szanton Blanc, "From Immigrant to Transmigrant: Theorizing Transnational Migration," Anthropological Quarterly 1995 (68:1), 48-63.
24. 1990 Immigration Act. P.L. 101-649,104 Stat. 4978, November 29, 1990.
25. Roger Waldinger and Mehdi Bozorgmehr (eds.), Ethnic Los Angeles (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1996), and Beth Baker-Cristales, El Hermano Lejano: The Transnational Space of Salvadoran Migration to the United States (Ph.D Dissertation, University of New Mexico, 1999).
26. Roger Waldinger and Mehdi Bozorgmehr (eds.), Ethnic Los Angeles (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1996), and Beth Baker-Cristales, El Hermano Lejano: The Transnational Space of Salvadoran Migration to the United States (Ph.D Dissertation, University of New Mexico, 1999).
27. Quote from draft of Comunidades by-laws distributed at meeting on 4/24/96.
28. "Un país diferente," La Opinión, June 27, 1998, p. 7A. See also Waldinger and Bozorgmehr (eds.), Ethnic Los Angeles and Baker-Cristales, El Hermano Lejano.
29. "Un país diferente," La Opinión, June 27, 1998, p. 7A. See also Waldinger and Bozorgmehr (eds.), Ethnic Los Angeles and Baker-Cristales, El Hermano Lejano.
30. "Un país diferente," La Opinión, June 27, 1998, p. 7A. See also Waldinger and Bozorgmehr (eds.), Ethnic Los Angeles and Baker-Cristales, El Hermano Lejano.
31. Cecilia Menjívar, Julie DaVanzo, Lisa Greenwell and R. Burciaga Valdez, "Remittance Behavior Among Salvadoran and Filipino Immigrants in Los Angeles," International Migration Review 1998 (32:1), 99. See also Juan José García, "Hacia una interpretación del impacto económico y sociocultural de las migraciones a Estados Unidos y las remesas familiares," Polítíca Económica 1994 (26), 1-29, and Segundo Montes Mozo and Juan Jose Garcia Vasquez, Salvadoran Migration to the United States: An Exploratory Study (Washington, D.C., Center for Immigration Policy and Refugee Assistance, Georgetown University, 1988), and Segundo Montes, El Salvador 1989: Law Remesas que Envian los Salvadoreños de los Estados Unidos (San Salvador, UCA Editores, 1990) and Carlos Orellana Merlos, "Migración y Remesas: Una Evaluación de su Impacto en la Economía Salvadoreña," Política Económica 1992 (1:11), 2-23, and Rivera Campos (1996).
32. Cecilia Menjívar, Julie DaVanzo, Lisa Greenwell and R. Burciaga Valdez, "Remittance Behavior Among Salvadoran and Filipino Immigrants in Los Angeles," International Migration Review 1998 (32:1), 99. See also Juan José García, "Hacia una interpretación del impacto económico y sociocultural de las migraciones a Estados Unidos y las remesas familiares," Polítíca Económica 1994 (26), 1-29, and Segundo Montes Mozo and Juan Jose Garcia Vasquez, Salvadoran Migration to the United States: An Exploratory Study (Washington, D.C., Center for Immigration Policy and Refugee Assistance, Georgetown University, 1988), and Segundo Montes, El Salvador 1989: Law Remesas que Envian los Salvadoreños de los Estados Unidos (San Salvador, UCA Editores, 1990) and Carlos Orellana Merlos, "Migración y Remesas: Una Evaluación de su Impacto en la Economía Salvadoreña," Política Económica 1992 (1:11), 2-23, and Rivera Campos (1996).
33. Cecilia Menjívar, Julie DaVanzo, Lisa Greenwell and R. Burciaga Valdez, "Remittance Behavior Among Salvadoran and Filipino Immigrants in Los Angeles," International Migration Review 1998 (32:1), 99. See also Juan José García, "Hacia una interpretación del impacto económico y sociocultural de las migraciones a Estados Unidos y las remesas familiares," Polítíca Económica 1994 (26), 1-29, and Segundo Montes Mozo and Juan Jose Garcia Vasquez, Salvadoran Migration to the United States: An Exploratory Study (Washington, D.C., Center for Immigration Policy and Refugee Assistance, Georgetown University, 1988), and Segundo Montes, El Salvador 1989: Law Remesas que Envian los Salvadoreños de los Estados Unidos (San Salvador, UCA Editores, 1990) and Carlos Orellana Merlos, "Migración y Remesas: Una Evaluación de su Impacto en la Economía Salvadoreña," Política Económica 1992 (1:11), 2-23, and Rivera Campos (1996).
34. Cecilia Menjívar, Julie DaVanzo, Lisa Greenwell and R. Burciaga Valdez, "Remittance Behavior Among Salvadoran and Filipino Immigrants in Los Angeles," International Migration Review 1998 (32:1), 99. See also Juan José García, "Hacia una interpretación del impacto económico y sociocultural de las migraciones a Estados Unidos y las remesas familiares," Polítíca Económica 1994 (26), 1-29, and Segundo Montes Mozo and Juan Jose Garcia Vasquez, Salvadoran Migration to the United States: An Exploratory Study (Washington, D.C., Center for Immigration Policy and Refugee Assistance, Georgetown University, 1988), and Segundo Montes, El Salvador 1989: Law Remesas que Envian los Salvadoreños de los Estados Unidos (San Salvador, UCA Editores, 1990) and Carlos Orellana Merlos, "Migración y Remesas: Una Evaluación de su Impacto en la Economía Salvadoreña," Política Económica 1992 (1:11), 2-23, and Rivera Campos (1996).
35. Cecilia Menjívar, Julie DaVanzo, Lisa Greenwell and R. Burciaga Valdez, "Remittance Behavior Among Salvadoran and Filipino Immigrants in Los Angeles," International Migration Review 1998 (32:1), 99. See also Juan José García, "Hacia una interpretación del impacto económico y sociocultural de las migraciones a Estados Unidos y las remesas familiares," Polítíca Económica 1994 (26), 1-29, and Segundo Montes Mozo and Juan Jose Garcia Vasquez, Salvadoran Migration to the United States: An Exploratory Study (Washington, D.C., Center for Immigration Policy and Refugee Assistance, Georgetown University, 1988), and Segundo Montes, El Salvador 1989: Law Remesas que Envian los Salvadoreños de los Estados Unidos (San Salvador, UCA Editores, 1990) and Carlos Orellana Merlos, "Migración y Remesas: Una Evaluación de su Impacto en la Economía Salvadoreña," Política Económica 1992 (1:11), 2-23, and Rivera Campos (1996).
36. Public letter issued by FMLN working group in Los Angeles, April 6, 1996, p. 1.
37. Jorge Durand, Emilio A. Parrado and Douglas S. Massey, "Migradollars and Development: a Reconsideration of the Mexican Case, " International Migration Review 1996 (30:2), 424.
38. Orellana Merlos, "Migración y Remesas," 5.
39. Public letter issued by FMLN working group in Los Angeles, April 6, 1996, p. 1.
40. Sergio Díaz-Briquets and Jorge Pérez-López, "Refugee Remittances: Conceptual Issues and the Cuban and Nicaraguan Experiences," International Migration Review 1997 (31:2), 411.
41. See Durand, Parrado and Massey, "Migradollars and Development."
42. ASOSAL, "La Conferencia: El Salvador y Los Salvadoreños en Estados Unidos," California State University, Northridge, September 11, 1999, Conference Program, p. 3.
43. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Gobierno de la República de El Salvador, La Ley NACARA: Paso a Paso para los Salvadoreños, Versión Popular (San Salvador, El Salvador, 1999). Attorneys have commented that this pamphlet is an excellent source of information about the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act.
44. See Michael J. Churgin, "Mass Exoduses: The Response of the United States," International Migraton Review 1996 (30:1), 310-25.
45. The entire text of this motion, as recorded at a naturalization ceremony in Los Angeles on June 26, 1996, is: "Your Honor, the Government is presenting to this Honorable Court 4,000 candidates for citizenship. These candidates have met the requirements of good moral character and the attachment to constitutional principles. The government moves at this time that each candidate be admitted to United States citizenship, subject to taking the oath of allegiance, and that their prayers for change of name be granted."
46. Mark Fritz, "Making a Profit from Portable Patriotism" Los Angeles Times April 6, 1998, A14, and Mark Fritz, "Pledging Multiple Allegiances," Los Angeles Times April 1, 1998, A1, A14-A15, and Bill Maurer, "Cyberspatial Sovereignties: Offshore Finance, Digital Cash, and the Limits of Liberalism," Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 1998, (5:2), 493-519.
47. Mark Fritz, "Making a Profit from Portable Patriotism" Los Angeles Times April 6, 1998, A14, and Mark Fritz, "Pledging Multiple Allegiances," Los Angeles Times April 1, 1998, A1, A14-A15, and Bill Maurer, "Cyberspatial Sovereignties: Offshore Finance, Digital Cash, and the Limits of Liberalism," Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 1998, (5:2), 493-519.
48. Mark Fritz, "Making a Profit from Portable Patriotism" Los Angeles Times April 6, 1998, A14, and Mark Fritz, "Pledging Multiple Allegiances," Los Angeles Times April 1, 1998, A1, A14-A15, and Bill Maurer, "Cyberspatial Sovereignties: Offshore Finance, Digital Cash, and the Limits of Liberalism," Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 1998, (5:2), 493-519.
49. The settlement agreement in American Baptist Churches v. Thornburgh, 1991, 760 F. Supp. 796 (N.D. Cal) permitted certain Salvadorans and Guatemalans to apply for political asylum under special rules designed to ensure a fair hearing of their asylum claims. While waiting for asylum interviews with INS, class members are entitled to apply for Employment Authorization Documents, or EADs. EADs must be renewed annually. The renewal fee is currently $100.
50. "Estrategias no gubernamentales para la defensa de los salvadoreños inmigrantes en los Estados Unidos," El Defensor del Pueblo September 3, 1997, 7.
51. Calavita, "Employer Sanctions Violations."
52. Segundo Montes, El Salvador 1989, p. 139.