Targeting Immigrants: Government, Technology, and Ethics

Targeting Immigrants is concerned with the government of “illegal” immigration since passage of the U.S. Immigration Act of 1965. It explores how certain mentalities and intellectual machineries have rendered illegal immigrants as targets of government. It goes on to examine how authorities of various kinds – from social scientists, politicians, and government bureaucrats to policy analysts and the public at large – have created knowledge about and constructed illegal immigration as an ethical problem to be addressed and rectified. Targeting Immigrants analyzes the tactics that have been deployed to govern immigration and to reform the conduct of illegal immigrants in order to prevent illicit border crossings, particularly at the US-Mexico border.

Drawing from printed source materials, including government publications, archival documents, newspapers, and popular magazines, this book traces the languages, voices, and subsequent actions of those authorized to make truth claims about illicit immigration. Targeting Immigrants will be invaluable to those studying immigration, the government of social life, and socio-cultural anthropology of the United States.