Banned - by Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Winner, 2020 Best Book Award, Law Category, given by the American Book Fest

Examines immigration enforcement and discretion during the first eighteen months of the Trump administration

Within days of taking office, President Donald J. Trump published or announced changes to immigration law and policy. These changes have profoundly shaken the lives and well-being of immigrants and their families, many of whom have been here for decades, and affected the work of the attorneys and advocates who represent or are themselves part of the immigrant community. Banned examines the tool of discretion, or the choice a government has to protect, detain, or deport immigrants, and describes how the Trump administration has wielded this tool in creating and executing its immigration policy.

Banned combines personal interviews, immigration law, policy analysis, and case studies to answer the following questions: (1) what does immigration enforcement and discretion look like in the time of Trump? (2) who is affected by changes to immigration enforcement and discretion?; (3) how have individuals and families affected by immigration enforcement under President Trump changed their own perceptions about the future?; and (4) how do those informed about immigration enforcement and discretion describe the current state of affairs and perceive the future? Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia pairs the contents of these interviews with a robust analysis of immigration enforcement and discretion during the first eighteen months of the Trump administration and offers recommendations for moving forward.

The story of immigration and the role immigrants play in the United States is significant. The government has the tools to treat those seeking admission, refuge, or opportunity in the United States humanely. Banned offers a passionate reminder of the responsibility we all have to protect America's identity as a nation of immigrants.

Review Quotes

"Banned is a significant witness to this unprecedented time in immigration policy."-- "William Stock, Founding Partner, Klasko Immigration Law Partners, and Past President, American Immigration Lawyers Association"

"Banned presents a fascinating discussion of the significant immigration policy changes undertaken by the Trump administration, from the Muslim travel ban to asylum and detention issues. Having represented individuals subject to the travel ban, I have personally seen the tragedies caused by an inhumane and discriminatory policy. Shoba Wadhia shines a bright light on the depth of the drastic changes being made to a country founded by and for immigrants."--Mahsa Khanbabai, Khanbabai Immigration Law

"Banned ... [provides] valuable insight into the many layers of discretion that impact persons crossing borders, beginning with the first encounter that migrants have with border officials, and extending all the way to the highest levels of an administration that has sought to implement far-reaching changes in policy without regard for longstanding rules against arbitrary and capricious behavior."-- "International Journal of Refugee Law"

"Banned is a thoughtful look at the immigration initiatives of the Trump administration. Shoba Wadhia critically examines immigration enforcement and the exercise of discretion in immigration matters by the new administration . . . Banned is a definite "must read" for anyone interested in what perhaps has been one of the most rapid periods of change in immigration enforcement ever."--Kevin R. Johnson, Dean, School of Law, and Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and Chicanx Studies, University of California, Davis

"Banned is an excellent book for a general audience reader hoping to gain a quick understanding of immigration changes under Trump, as well as for a reader more familiar with immigration law who will appreciate seeing the major currents organized and described so deftly in a short space."-- "International Migration Review"

"From separating families to banning Muslims to countless other cruelties, President Trump has claimed an almost limitless power to banish immigrants and refugees from our land. The nation's leading expert on immigration enforcement eloquently exposes the illegality of these policies and their devastating impact on immigrant and refugee families."-- "Stephen H. Legomsky, John S. Lehmann University Professor Emeritus, Washington University in St Louis School of Law, and former Chief Counsel, US Citizenship & Immigration Services"

"Now more than ever we need experts such as Professor Shoba Wadhia to make sense of the senseless immigration policies put forth by the Trump administration. Banned combines thoughtful analysis of immigration law and policy with insightful case studies and interviews, culminating in a powerful reminder of the human toll taken on individuals and families caught in the crossfire of prejudice and fear. Banned is a clarion call to reassert humane immigration policy as a core American value."--Chris Coons, United States Senator

"Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia is an ideal chronicler of how the architecture of immigration law has dramatically changed under the Trump Administration. After the Muslim ban was announced, Wadhia became an indispensable part of the network of lawyers and activists who mobilized in response. In Banned, Wadhia uses accessible language and a community-centered approach to explain the impact of the Muslim ban, family separation, temporary protected status, and other immigration policies on the daily lives of people. Banned is a vital resource for activists, organizers, lawyers, and practitioners seeking to better understand the current political moment."--Deepa Iyer, Author of We Too Sing America; South Asian, Arab, Muslim and Sikh Immigrants Shape Our Multiracial Future

"Shoba Wadhia provides a great deal of food for thought for readers."-- "Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Book Reviews"

"This meticulously argued work succeeds in illuminating with plain language what the immigration system obscures behind jargon and steel bars."-- "STARRED Library Journal"

"Very accessibly written, the book will be a great resource for those with little concrete knowledge of immigration issues in the Trump era. Minimal use of jargon makes the book valuable to a very wide audience, including readers across the entire spectrum of higher education."-- "Choice"

"When he began separating immigrant children from their parents, what President Trump did not count on was that the resistance would include the sharp eye and careful pen wielded by the erstwhile Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, in her splendid work, Banned: Immigration Enforcement in the Time of Trump. Professor Wadhia is the best counterpoint to the President, as she has gathered all the evidence of his political perfidy, and has shown clearly how his attempts to upend international norms have failed to gain traction."--Michael A Olivas, author of No Undocumented Child Left Behind: Plyler v. Doe and the Education of Undocumented Schoolchildren

About the Author

Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia is the Samuel Weiss Faculty Scholar and Founding Director of the Center for Immigrants' Rights Clinic at Penn State Law in University Park, Pennsylvania, and author of Beyond Deportation.