Behind Crimmigration - by Felicia Arriaga

About the Book

"In recent years, dozens of counties in North Carolina have partnered with federal law enforcement in the criminalization of immigration-what many have dubbed 'crimmigration.' Southern border enforcement still monopolizes the national immigration debate, but immigration enforcement has become common within the United States as well. While Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations are a major part of American immigration enforcement, Felicia Arriaga maintains that ICE relies on an already well-established system-the use of local law enforcement and local governments to identify, incarcerate, and deport undocumented immigrants"--

Book Synopsis

In recent years, dozens of counties in North Carolina have partnered with federal law enforcement in the criminalization of immigration--what many have dubbed "crimmigration." Southern border enforcement still monopolizes the national immigration debate, but immigration enforcement has become common within the United States as well. While Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations are a major part of American immigration enforcement, Felicia Arriaga maintains that ICE relies on an already well-established system--the use of local law enforcement and local governments to identify, incarcerate, and deport undocumented immigrants.
Arriaga contends that the long-term partnership between local sheriffs and immigration law enforcement in places like North Carolina has created a form of racialized social control of the Latinx community. Arriaga uses data from five county sheriff's offices and their governing bodies to trace the creation and subsequent normalization of ICE and local law enforcement partnerships. Arriaga argues that the methods used by these partnerships to control immigration are employed throughout the United States, but they have been particularly visible in North Carolina, where the Latinx population increased by 111 percent between 2000 and 2010. Arriaga's evidence also reveals how Latinx communities are resisting and adapting to these systems.

Review Quotes

"Arriaga offers a novel and important contribution to contemporary research examining the interconnectedness of local law enforcement officials (LEOs) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)."--Ethnic and Racial Studies

"Behind Crimmigration explores the racialized effects and human costs of a local law enforcement agency's decision to collaborate with ICE. . . . [A]n essential window into present politics."--Inquest

"A rich critique of the actors and organizations in North Carolina that facilitate crimmigration. . . . The text expertly demonstrates how all crimmigration is local. . . . [and] Arriaga excels in taking readers to lesser-known settings and contexts to consider how 287(g) was conceptualized and contested through the everyday machinations of local government and electoral politics"--Sociology of Race and Ethnicity

"An important regional study on the criminalization of immigration. . . . This volume will interest students in the fields of crimmigration, criminology, sociology, legal studies, and immigration studies. Highly recommended"--CHOICE