JACOBIN MAGAZINE, excerpt from introduction.
Stories of non-US citizens caught in the jaws of the immigration bureaucracy and subject to indefinite detention are in the headlines daily. These men, women, and children remain almost completely without rights, unprotected by law and the Constitution, and their status as outsiders has left them vulnerable to the most extreme forms of state power. Although the rhetoric surrounding these individuals is extreme, the US government has been locking up immigrants since the late nineteenth century, often for indefinite periods and with limited ability to challenge their confinement.
“We have long needed a history of immigrant detention, and Forever Prisoners delivers. Drawing on archival documents as well as his own experience as an expert witness in recent asylum cases, Young brilliantly continues the dismantling of America’s ‘nation of immigrants’ myth.” —Erika Lee, author of America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States
“Forever Prisoners is a crucial book for anyone interested in the convergence of prison and immigration regimes.” —A. Naomi Paik, author of Bans, Walls, Raids, Sanctuary
“We have long needed a history of immigrant detention, and Forever Prisoners delivers. Drawing on archival documents as well as his own experience as an expert witness in recent asylum cases, Young brilliantly continues the dismantling of America’s ‘nation of immigrants’ myth.” —Erika Lee, author of America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States
“Forever Prisoners is a crucial book for anyone interested in the convergence of prison and immigration regimes.” —A. Naomi Paik, author of Bans, Walls, Raids, Sanctuary
