The Rhetorics of US Immigration

In the current geopolitical climate—in which unaccompanied children cross the border in record numbers, and debates on the topic swing violently from pole to pole—the subject of immigration demands innovative inquiry. In The Rhetorics of US Immigration, some of the most prominent and prolific scholars in immigration studies come together to discuss the many facets of immigration rhetoric in the United States.

The Rhetorics of US Immigration provides readers with an integrated sense of the rhetorical multiplicity circulating among and about immigrants. Whereas extant literature on immigration rhetoric tends to focus on the media, this work extends the conversation to the immigrants themselves, among others. A collection whose own eclecticism highlights the complexity of the issue, The Rhetorics of US Immigration is not only a study in the language of immigration but also a frank discussion of who is doing the talking and what it means for the future.

From questions of activism, authority, and citizenship to the influence of Hollywood, the LGBTQ community, and the church, The Rhetorics of US Immigration considers the myriad venues in which the American immigration question emerges—and the interpretive framework suited to account for it.

Along with the editor, the contributors are Claudia Anguiano, Karma R. Chávez, Terence Check, Jay P. Childers, J. David Cisneros, Lisa M. Corrigan, D. Robert DeChaine, Anne Teresa Demo, Dina Gavrilos, Emily Ironside, Christine Jasken, Yazmin Lazcano-Pry, Michael Lechuga, and Alessandra B. Von Burg.

“In its careful analysis of the rhetoric surrounding immigration, The Rhetorics of US Immigration astutely links historical and current rhetorical strategies to shed light on the complexity of an increasingly polarized public debate. This work gives readers pertinent examples for practical application in rhetorically shaping how immigration is discussed and ultimately addressed politically.”—Jacob Perry, Cisneros Center for New Americans

E. Johanna Hartelius is Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Pittsburgh.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

E. Johanna Hartelius

Part 1 Activism and Public Campaigns

1 Facing Ghosts, God, and Nature: Affect, Naturalization, and the “No Más Cruces” Border Campaign

Terence Check and Christine Jasken

2 Faithful Sovereignty: Denationalizing Immigration Policy in the 2003 Pastoral Letter on Migration

Anne Teresa Demo

3 Protecting LGBT Migrants: The Rhetoric of Identity and the Expansion of the Prison-Industrial Complex

Karma R. Chávez

Part 2 Identity Struggles and DREAMers

4 Dropping the “I-Word”: A Critical Examination of Contemporary Immigration Labels

Claudia Anguiano

5 “American” Children’s Success and Global Competitiveness: The Racial Paradox of Bilingualism as Cultural Capital

Dina Gavrilos

6 Documenting Dreams: A Rhetorical Performance of Inclusive Citizenship and Collaborative Expertise

Yazmin Lazcano-Pry

Part 3 (Hi)stories of Exclusion

7 Constituting Enemies Through Fear: The Rhetoric of Exclusionary Nationalism in the Control of “Un-American” Immigrant Populations

Emily Ironside and Lisa M. Corrigan

8 Defining the Right Sort of Immigrant: Theodore Roosevelt and American Character

Jay P. Childers

9 Immigration as Histories of Mob-ility: Personal Storytelling in the Where Are You From? Project

Alessandra B. Von Burg

Part 4 Affect and Media Imagery

10 Battling Identity Warfare on the Imagined US/México Border: Performing Migrant Alien in Independence Day and Battle: Los Angeles

Michael Lechuga

11 Affect, Emotion, and Immigration Rhetoric, or What Happens When a Minuteman Lives with Unauthorized Immigrants?

J. David Cisneros

Afterword: Tracking the “Shifting Borders” of Identity and Otherness; Productive Complications and Ethico-Political Commitments

D. Robert DeChaine

About the Contributors

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Communication Studies

           Rhetorical Studies

           Political

History

           U.S.

Political Science

           American Politics

           International Relations

Sociology

Rhetoric