Gustavo Cano, Mexico-North Research Network, Washington D.C. and Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, University of California, San Diego
Alexandra Delano, Oxford University
Abstract: This paper addresses the relationship between the Mexican government and the organised Mexican immigrant community in the US from a historical perspective and within a framework of transnational politics. We argue that transnational relations between the Mexican government and Mexican immigrants in the US are not new; however, the characteristics of these connections have varied across time depending on the evolution and characteristics of migrant organizations, political and economic circumstances in Mexico and foreign policy considerations involving US-Mexico relations. …

Tomás R. Jimenez, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, University of California – San Diego
Abstract: The United States long has been a nation of immigrants, but its policies are out of step with this reality. Public policies with regard to the foreign-born must go beyond regulating who is admitted and under what circumstances. The nation needs an immigrant-integration policy that effectively addresses the challenges and harnesses the opportunities created by today’s large immigrant population. It is not in the best interests of the United States to make integration a more difficult, uncertain, or lengthy process than it need be. Facilitating the …

Laurie A. Brand, University of Southern California
Introduction: In July 1995, Hisham bin `Abdallah al-`Alaoui, the nephew of King Hassan II of Morocco, published an article entitled “Etre Citoyen dans le Monde Arabe.”1 In it, the Moroccan prince discussed several factors that he regarded as having played key roles in thwarting the emergence of full citizenship in the region. Among them was the failure or lack of will on the part of the modern Middle Eastern state to displace or erase previous forms of authority and loyalty, such as tribal, ethnic, and religious ties, and the evolution of a form of …

Jon E. Fox, University of Bristol
Abstract: Over the past fifteen years, Hungarian nationalists have been redefining membership in the Hungarian nation to include all Hungarians in the region, irrespective of citizenship. This deterritorialised notion of the nation has been given increased discursive and institutional legitimacy. But ethnic Hungarians from Romania who have gone to Hungary in search of work have not discovered national unity. Rather, the vision of national inclusion preferred by elites has been met by the reality of economic and national exclusion engendered through labour migration. The migrants’ national self-understandings have taken shape not in accordance with the …

Jan Rath, University of Amsterdam
Abstract: Urban public space is obviously a key site of host-immigrant encounter. The heated debates in Europe about the establishment of purpose-built mosques or in Canada about monster houses show the deeper impact of changes in the urban streetscape consequent upon immigration. The establishment of ethnic shopping malls or commercial precincts, such as Chinatown or Klein Turkei, with their specific shop windows, street furniture and the whole shebang, is another, perhaps more promising case. The proliferation of these precincts is interesting because it is—at least partly—driven by commercial intentions and ties in with the emerging service …

Gordon H. Hanson, University of California – San Diego
Abstract: In this paper, I selectively review recent literature on illegal migration from Mexico to the United States. I begin by discussing methods for estimating stocks and flows of illegal migrants. While there is uncertainty about the size of the unauthorized population, new data sources make it possible to examine the composition of legal and illegal populations and the time-series covariates of illegal labor flows. I then consider the supply of and demand for illegal migrants. Wage differentials between the United States and Mexico are hardly a new phenomenon, yet illegal migration …

Sebastian Sunderhaus, Koeln/New York
Abstract: The study describes and analyzes the features and outcomes of regularization programs (also referred to as amnesty or legalization) for undocumented migrants in 16 countries distributed among all continents. It gives a general survey on reasons and expectations of governments conducting regularization drives, the different forms that the programs have taken, features and eligibility requirements most frequently used as well as a summary of the implementation and problems associated with this policy tool. The paper also tries to answer how governments might deal with the undocumented flow of people tomorrow. A country comparison table (53 pages) …

April Linton, University of California – San Diego
Introduction: Language policies – established via legislation, court decisions, executive action, or other means – may 1) determine how languages are used in public, 2) abet the cultivation of language skills needed to meet national priorities, or 3) affirm and protect the rights of individuals or groups to learn, use, and maintain languages. They may also deal with a government’s own language use, e.g., by facilitating clear communication, guaranteeing due process, fostering political participation, and/or providing access to public services. The United States has never had a federal language policy. There is no …

Monica W. Varsanyi, Arizona State University
Abstract: The matrículas consulares are identity cards issued by the Mexican government to its nationals living abroad. Since 9/11, businesses, local, and state governments in the US have started accepting them as a valid form of identification for undocumented immigrants living in their communities, who otherwise do not have any form of acceptable identification. In this article, I first outline the history and context of federal jurisdiction over immigration and naturalization policy in the United States, and then expand upon the case study of the consular ID cards. I argue that the increasing acceptance of …

Mikhail A. Alexseev, San Diego State University
Abstract: Starting in the mid-1990s, human rights groups, scholars, government agencies, and the media in the Russian Federation have documented a rising wave of individual and group acts of violence, destruction or intimidation targeting ethnic and/or religious “others.” In addition to massive brutality in Chechnya, Russia in recent years has witnessed skinhead riots and street raids by chain-and-rod wielding thugs; torchlight marches and attacks on mosques and synagogues; murders and beatings of foreign residents and diplomats; desecration of Jewish cemeteries and intimidation of Chinese traders by whip-cracking Cossack gangs. In 2000, the Moscow Helsinki …