^aUniversity of California, Los Angeles

Abstract

This essay explores the historical genealogy of Latino immigrant detention in the United States. As a critical enforcement practice within the history of racialization and criminalization of nonwhite immigrants in the US, noncitizen detention pursuant to the deportation of immigrants has been utilized throughout the 20th century at the nexus of national crises, xenophobia, and racism. While episodes of detention expansion are often viewed in light of particular national security crises, this essay discusses the parameters and societal impacts of Latinos in detention, as a process possessing historical continuity, links to other racialized immigrants, and one that underscores the structural inequality of all noncitizens, documented and undocumented, before the law.