Of the many issues polarizing societies today, immigration is one of
the most contentious. In the United States, as in Europe, immigration
was a defining issue in recent national elections. Immigration not
only involves government policies but also the human rights of
millions of people. American Presidents, Deportations, and Human
Rights Violations studies how recent immigration policies in the
United States developed during the Obama administration and are now
being expanded in the first months of the Trump presidency.
Documenting the harsh treatment of immigrants over the past twenty
years, Bill Ong Hing shows how mass detention and deportation of
immigrants, from Clinton's two terms and the Bush administration,
have escalated even higher. This book questions what price the United
States is willing to pay for such harsh immigration policies in terms
of our national values, and the impact on the lives of the millions
of immigrants who deserve the full protection of universal human
rights obligations.
