America’s Homo Sacer

Abstract

Border politics became a high priority for the U.S. government following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and illegal immigration became the "problem" of the southern border dominating the news. The perceived loss of Americans' safety, jobs, and health care was pinned to the "problem" of illegal immigration. The new border/security policies, with the onset of the War on Terror, further criminalized immigration law and heightened enforcement of illegal immigration. The authors examine the administration of "illegal" immigration policies to test Agamben's State of Exception and Homo Sacer theoriesused here to describe and explain U.S. immigration and deportation policy.

Archeology of Exclusion: Counter-Mapping Sites of Exclusion and Oppression in the Administrative State Using Gis

“…On the contrary, Garret and Storbeck's (2011) study offers important insights into the livedrealities of Brownsville residents vis-à-vis the Fence Act of 2006. Likewise, Pope and Garrett's (2012) study of Arizona's SB 1070 (a restrictive 2010 anti-immigrant law) highlights the abjection of Latinos living in Arizona. Nevertheless, to focus solely on the borderland is to ignore the reiterations of the exception-the oppression and dehumanization of the Otherjust as it is to sidestep candid conversations about the politics of exclusion and the coloniality of power in other contexts.…”

CONSTRUCTING THE REFUGEE AS VILLAIN: An Analysis of Syrian Refugee Policy Narratives Used to Justify a State of Exception

“…The state of exception, unlike a state of siege, is a permanent condition based on no tangible threat but merely a perceived one. Agamben's observation asserts that the state of exception is a purely political position and is not grounded in the law or Constitution (Pope and Garrett 2013, 169). Salter (2008) suggests that Agamben's state of exception theory argues there is a temporary suspension of the rule of law based on the presentation of a state of danger—which then becomes a permanent condition.…”