Through the Back Door: Applying Theories of Legal Compliance to Illegal Immigration During the Chinese Exclusion Era

This article applies theories of legal compliance to analyze the making of this country's first “illegal immigrants”—Chinese laborers who crossed the U.S.‐Canadian and U.S.‐Mexican borders in defiance of the Chinese exclusion laws (1882–1943). Drawing upon a variety of sources, including unpublished government records, I explore the ways in which Chinese laborers gained surreptitious entry into the United States during this period and ask, what explains their mass noncompliance? I suggest that while an instrumental perspective is useful for understanding these border crossings, it overlooks other important determinants of noncompliance: normative values and opportunity structures. Specifically, the exclusion laws were widely perceived by the Chinese as lacking social and moral legitimacy, and thus not worthy of obedience. In addition, the existence of smuggling networks and liberal immigration policies in Canada and Mexico played a critical role in facilitating noncompliance. The article concludes with a discussion about the benefits and challenges of using this theoretical framework to analyze noncompliance in immigration law.     

论我国移民、非法移民概念的界定

我国现行法律、法规中没有关于移民、非法移民的相关规定,学界的相关研究也大多是研究中国作为移民输出国的移民问题,涉及中国作为移民输入国的移民问题,特别是其中非法移民问题的成果少见。研究我国外来非法移民的相关问题,必须从法律上界定“非法移民”的概念,这就必须首先界定”移民”的概念;同时,还必须进一步理解“非法移民”与“三非人员”、“难民”等相关概念的关系。     

Out of Africa: The human trade between Libya and Lampedusa

Smuggling and trafficking in persons is ipso facto illegal. Is this criminal activity organised or diffuse? Recent objective indicators show that between 2000-2005 the reported incidence of people trafficking and smuggling from North Africa to Europe has escalated. The article examines the nature of criminality involved in people smuggling and trafficking with specific reference to the sea route between Libya and the Italian island of Lampedusa, 180 miles north of the Libyan coast. In 2006 almost 19,000 illegal migrants arrived on this small island. Recent major operations conducted by the Italian anti-mafia unit and the state police suggest transnational criminal organisation of the trade. The networks involved in this trade, however, do not conform to mafia-like hierarchical organisations but rather smaller, more complex and fluid criminal networks. The article aims to cast light on how people are smuggled and trafficked. The background to the rise in illegal immigration from Libya is sketched underlining the ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors involved in the human trade. The article’s chief objective is to provide a greater understanding of the mechanisms and processes involved in smuggling/trafficking. A better knowledge of the processes involved is vital if domestic, regional and international authorities and bodies are to counter the practice and/or to formalise it.     

Exploitation in Human Trafficking and Smuggling

This article explores the mechanisms that underpin human smuggling and trafficking. It argues for the continued analytical relevance of the distinction between “trafficking” and “smuggling”, as posited by the 2000 UN Protocols. While this distinction has come under sustained criticism from several authors over the last 15 years, it nonetheless continues to capture the essential features of two distinct phenomena (control over a human being vs. illegal entry into a country), and acknowledges the role of agency in smuggling. The paper goes on to discuss three different scenarios that may emerge as a result of the interplay between smugglers and smuggled persons, and it specifies the role of exploitation in each scenario. In addition, the paper offers empirical evidence of the key building blocks of smuggling — namely the search for reliable information and the reaching of an agreement in regard to the service offered — and of how smuggling can turn into trafficking. This work concludes by drawing out the relevant policy implications.     

‘Are the ‘others’ coming?’: Evidence on ‘alien conspiracy’ from three illegal markets in Greece

In the early 1990s Greece accepted a large number of immigrants from a variety of contexts. Since then ‘organised criminality’ has become an important aspect of the immigration nexus in the country, and ethnicity has been viewed as an extremely important-if not the primary–explanatory variable. Simultaneously, there has been very little empirical research on ‘organised crime’ in Greece in general and ‘organised crime’ and ethnicity in particular. The purpose of this article, which is based on previous research that the author has conducted on three illegal markets in Greece (a. migrant smuggling business, b. the cigarette black market, and c. the market of stolen cars and car parts), is to show the extent to which these illegal markets are controlled by foreign nationals, and establish whether there is such thing as an ‘alien conspiracy’ in the particular country.     

Assessing the Relationship between Immigration Status and Drug Use

The immigration–crime connection has been the basis for numerous immigration policy decisions. However, there are theoretical arguments and empirical evidence both for and against the positive relationship between immigration and crime. Moreover, much of this research has failed to focus specifically on illegal immigrants. The current study examines drug use patterns among 3,050 recently booked arrestees in Maricopa County, Arizona, from April 2007 to September 2008. Using logistic regression, the authors isolate the effects of immigration status on several types of drug use while controlling for relevant individual and situational characteristics. Findings show that illegal immigrants are generally less likely to use drugs when compared to US citizens, with the exception of powder cocaine use. The paper concludes with a discussion of the study's implications for the larger body of research on immigration and crime, as well for immigration and enforcement policy and practice.     

中国治理跨国贩运人口的现状及其发展

自中国实行改革开放、开始融入全球化以来,跨国贩运人口活动就与跨国非法移民、偷渡现象混杂在一起,不断蔓延。经过长期坚持不懈的努力,中国的综合治理策略已取得明显成效,跨国非法移民、偷渡和贩运人口活动已在很大程度上得到了遏制,案件总体上呈下降趋势。中国未来还应实施综合治理具体化战略,加强长效工作机制建设;修订、完善国内立法,使之与国际接轨;深化出入境管理体制改革,提升案件侦办力度;积极推动国际执法合作向执法一体化发展。     

Illegal entrepreneurs: a comparative study of the liquor trade in Stockholm and New Orleans 1920–1940

The 1920s were a golden period for smuggling in Nordic waters, as systems of prohibition were established in Finland, Norway and Iceland, while in Sweden an intricate system of rationing was implemented in 1917. A comparative study of the illegal liquor trade in Stockholm and New Orleans shows that the actual methods of smuggling were similar in the two cities. Mother ships brought the cargo to a point outside territorial waters, where it was shifted to smaller boats. These brought the liquor in through the archipelago of Stockholm or the bayous of the Mississippi delta. The relative lack of corruption in Sweden did not limit the extent of the black market. According to contemporary estimates, the amount of smuggled liquor was about the same in the two cities. The kind of alcohol that was brought in was different, however, and the value of the trade higher in New Orleans. Also, the organization of the trade differed, in terms of ownership and distribution. In neither city did the illegal entrepreneurs appear to be very violent. The fact that the rate of violence was much higher in New Orleans, than in Stockholm, did not seem to affect their business methods.     

Border Enforcement,Organized Crime,and Deaths of Smuggled Migrants on the United States – Mexico Border

In response to ever increasing numbers of illegal immigrants entering the United States from Mexico, the United States adopted a border enforcement strategy in the 1990s that sought to bring the problem under control. This strategy relied primarily on increasing the number of Border Patrol agents directly on the border, the erection of walls at heavy traffic areas, and insertion of electronic surveillance systems. While these efforts succeeded in making it more difficult for illegal migrants to gain entry into the United States undetected, it also resulted in an increased reliance on human smugglers. Thus, the nature of the problem has shifted from one of illegal immigration to one of human smuggling. In an effort to gain entry successfully, smugglers have continued to lead migrants through hazardous terrain along the border where surveillance is less intense. Anecdotal evidence is presented which suggests that smugglers' drive for profit often results in the abandonment and death of migrants. Implications for future border policing strategy and research are discussed. An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the International Conference on Organized Crime and Humanitarian Disasters at the initiative of the International Scientific and Professional Advisory Council of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme (ISPAC) in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Courmayeur Mont Blanc, Italy, December 3–5, 2004.     

Immigrant workers: health, law, and public policy

Immigrant workers are a large segment of the lower echelon of the U.S. labor force, and as many as 3.6 to 6 million of these workers and their families are living in the U.S. illegally. This paper examines who the recent immigrants are: explains why their current situation in the U.S. is an important public health matter; discusses the ethical and policy issues stemming from their health needs and from illegal status; and concludes with a brief look at some implications of the Simpson-Mazzoli Immigration and Reform Act, currently before Congress. The paper suggests that the illegal status of undocumented workers intensifies their health risks; that the immigrants' responsibility for budget short-falls in public services is not as clearcut as frequently assumed; and that legislation aimed at regulating the status of immigrant workers in the U.S. is unlikely to solve many of the central problems.     

UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS AS PERCEIVED CRIMINAL THREAT: A TEST OF THE MINORITY THREAT PERSPECTIVE*

The link between immigration and crime has garnered considerable attention from researchers. Although the weight of evidence suggests that immigration is not linked to crime, the public consistently views immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants, as criminal and thus a threat to social order. However, little attention has been paid to why they are perceived this way. By drawing on the minority threat perspective, this article investigates the effects of objective and perceptual measures of community context on perceived criminal threat from undocumented immigrants. Analyses of data collected from four Southwest states and the U.S. Census show that the perceived size of the undocumented immigrant population, more so than the actual size of the immigrant population and economic conditions, is positively associated with perceptions of undocumented immigrants as a criminal threat. Additional analyses show that objective measures of community context do not affect native respondents’ perceptions of the size of the undocumented immigrant population. The study's findings and their implications for theory, research, and policy are discussed.     

They watch for color: mixed-status couples experience with the police

This research qualitatively examines experiences with the police for 42 interracial mixed-status couples, living or originating mainly from the Southern United States. Race-based policing operates within a structure of racist nativism where white skin is a marker of U.S. citizenship, and brown skin is an indication of being foreign-born. Law enforcement at all levels, including the local level, situated their attention toward Latino immigrant men, especially those perceived as working-class, when compared to white U.S. citizen wives. The penalties for racial profiling included family strain through detention and deportation of Latin-American born men. In addition to human rights violations for undocumented Latino immigrants, U.S. citizens are serving as collateral damage in an already broken immigration system that racially profiles Latino immigrant men. Couples’ precariousness situations contest the rhetoric that police are only protecting citizens’ national security. Framed by racist nativism, the findings have implications for anti-oppressive, evidence-based immigration policy.     

Race,Immigration, and Policing: Chinese Immigrants’ Satisfaction with Police

A considerable body of research focuses on racial and ethnic minorities’ perceptions of police, yet non-Black, non-Hispanic minority groups, Asians in particular, are largely overlooked. Meanwhile, despite a fast growing immigrant population and the increasing demand on local police to enforce immigration law, research on police–immigrant relations remains limited. Using data from over 400 Chinese immigrants, this study examines the issues of race/ethnicity, immigration, and policing with a focal concern on Chinese immigrants’ attitudes toward police. Results indicate that the majority of Chinese immigrants rate police positively in overall performance and specific areas of effectiveness, integrity, and demeanor. Both universal and immigrant-specific factors are important predictors of immigrants’ attitudes. Chinese immigrants’ evaluations of police are not only affected by exposure to media coverage of police misconduct, neighborhood conditions, and city context, but also are intertwined with their opinions of their home country police and perceptions of US immigration authorities.     

Bound for the Golden Mountain: The social organization of Chinese alien smuggling

This paper describes and analyzes the structural and operational features of Chinese alien smuggling. Interviews with aliens, smugglers and law enforcement officials in China, Hong Kong and the U.S. reveal this activity to be a complex process comprising a number of distinct operational stages. Our data suggest Chinese alien smuggling groups vary in their level of organization but most are best understood as task forces, or small groups of people assembled to perform a particular piece of work. These task forces are typically linked to international social networks characterized by overlapping, dyadic relationships; a high level of role differentiation; and a limited degree of hierarchy. Such groups are highly responsive to changing socio-legal and market constraints.The study was supported in part by a grant from California State University. The authors are grateful to John Galliher for his comments and suggestions, and would like to thank Jorge Guzman and Darwin Chen of the U.S. INS for their assistance with the project. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Miami, 1994.     

Citizenship Status and Arrest Patterns for Violent and Narcotic-Related Offenses in Federal Judicial Districts along the U.S./Mexico Border

Media reports routinely reference the drug-related violence in Mexico, linking crime in communities along the Southwest U.S. Border to illegal immigrants. The primary purpose of the current research is to examine whether the media assertions can be supported. Logistic regression models were run to determine the impact of citizenship on the likelihood of disproportionate arrest for federal drug and violent crimes, along the U.S./Mexico border. In arrests for homicide, assault, robbery, and weapons offenses, U.S. citizens were disproportionately more likely than non-citizens to be arrested. The only federal crime where non-citizens were disproportionately more likely to be arrested than were U.S. citizens was for marijuana offenses. Results of the current study challenge the myth of the criminal immigrant.     

Crimes committed by terrorist groups: Theory,research, and prevention

Statement of Purpose: A decline in state-sponsored terrorism has caused many terrorist organizations to resort to criminal activity as an alternative means of support. This study examines terrorists' involvement in a variety of crimes ranging from motor vehicle violations, immigration fraud, and manufacturing illegal firearms to counterfeiting, armed bank robbery, and smuggling weapons of mass destruction. Special attention is given to transnational organized crime. Crimes are analyzed through the routine activity perspective and social learning theory. These theories draw our attention to the opportunities to commit crime and the criminal skills necessary to turn opportunity into criminality. Through these lenses, the research appraises the “successes” and “failures” of terrorists' engagement in crime. Because “failures” can result from law enforcement efforts to (1) interrupt criminal skill development, and/or (2) remove criminal opportunities via technologies and transportation systems, the research represents a best practices approach to the study and control of terrorism. This project was supported by Grant No. 2003-DT-CX-0002 awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.     

The production of the "battered immigrant" in public policy and domestic violence advocacy

In the context of U.S. public policy, battered immigrant signifies a person who is eligible to adjust his or her status under immigration law if he or she can demonstrate they have suffered domestic violence in the United States perpetrated by a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident. Among community organizers, the term battered immigrant signifies a broader range of people for whom legal immigration status plays a role in their options for safety planning and/or leaving an abuser, the potential threat of deportation, and the eligibility for public benefits. Based on an ethnographic study of domestic violence advocacy with South Asian immigrants in Seattle and around the United States, this article examines how the difference in signification has direct social and political consequences with regard to who may access the benefits and protection offered to victims of domestic violence in the United States.     

SAME SEX,DIFFERENT RIGHTS: AMENDING U.S. IMMIGRATION LAW TO RECOGNIZE SAME‐SEX PARTNERS OF REFUGEES AND ASYLEES

Overcoming a long history of anti‐gay sentiment preserved in federal immigration law, the United States has made admirable advances during the past two decades in the protection it affords gay immigrants. Despite this promising progress, and in contrast to the practices of all other industrialized democracies, the United States remains firm in its refusal to federally recognize any form of same‐sex partnership, a decision which bears directly on those relationships considered valid for immigration purposes. The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) represents the closest any proposed legislation has come to successfully granting immigration rights to gay immigrants. However, through its restrictive provisions, the UAFA fails to fully account for the needs of refugees, asylees, and their same‐sex partners. This Note argues that, while the UAFA is a step in the right direction, it does not go far enough to protect gay refugees and asylees. It further proposes that legislation be enacted which provides this unique segment of the immigrant population the opportunity to share their lives together, free from fear of persecution. It advocates for the use of the conjugal partner provision set out in Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act as a template for changes to U.S. immigration law, thereby expanding the category of relationships viewed as valid for the purpose of immigration.     

THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

Domestic abuse allegations have become a serious problem in our society. They present our court system with difficult decisions and problems. This becomes an even more difficult situation when the abused is an illegal immigrant. Many of the abused are too frightened or intimidated to go to the authorities for help. This article examines how the U.S. government is attempting to protect these immigrants .     

From Triads to snakeheads: organised crime and illegal migration within Britain's Chinese community

This article revisits the continued existence of organised crime within the Chinese community, with particular reference to snakeheads and the trafficking or smuggling of illegal migrants. This article begins by exploring the history of Chinese organised crime within the United Kingdom and situates its continued existence within an ever more diverse ‘Chinese community’. It then draws on research involving three sets of qualitative data: one set is based on 60 interviews with law enforcement personnel based in China and the United Kingdom as well as key stakeholders within the Chinese community; the other set is based on structured questionnaires issued to 25 Chinese residents currently illegally residing in the United Kingdom; the final set is a review of the five free Chinese newspapers analysed over a 2-week period for relevant advertisements relating to migration. It then explores the mechanisms which enable illegal migrants to obtain criminal employment and discusses the motivations of those involved.