The United States of Immigration: A Nation in Crisis. How Fear Has Shaped Immigration Law and Has Led Us to Question Basic Constitutional Rights, 45 J. Marshall L. Rev. 205 (2011)

The John Marshall Law Review Volume 45 | Issue 1 Article 9 Fall 2011 The United States of Immigration: A Nation in Crisis. How Fear Has Shaped Immigration Law and Has Led Us to Question Basic Constitutional Rights, 45 J. Marshall L. Rev. 205 (2011) Patrycja Rynduch Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.jmls.edu/lawreview Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, Immigration Law Commons, and the Legal History Commons Recommended Citation Patrycja Rynduch, The United States of Immigration: A Nation in Crisis. How Fear Has Shaped Immigration Law and Has Led Us to Question Basic Constitutional Rights, 45 J. Marshall L. Rev. 205 (2011) http://repository.jmls.edu/lawreview/vol45/iss1/9 This Comments is brought to you for free and open access by The John Marshall Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in The John Marshall Law Review by an authorized administrator of The John Marshall Institutional Repository. THE UNITED STATES OF IMMIGRATION: A NATION IN CRISIS HOW FEAR HAS SHAPED IMMIGRATION LAW AND HAS LED US TO QUESTION BASIC CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS PATRYCJA RYNDUCH* I. INTRODUCTION Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!1 Emma LazaruS 2 You cannot spill a drop of American blood without spilling the blood of the whole world ...3 Herman Melville4 * Patrycja Rynduch was born and raised in Poland. The author moved to Chicago in 1991. She has been calling Chicago home for over twenty years. As a J.D. Candidate, she is currently finishing her studies at the John Marshall Law School and will graduate May 2012. In the near future, the author hopes to join the noble ranks of Illinois attorneys and serve the local communities with passion and dedication. The author would like to take this opportunity and thank her parents: Zofia and Jerzy Rynduch, whose journey inspired the topic for this Comment; her best friend and sister, Klaudia Rynduch, for keeping her motivated. The author would like to extend her thanks to a very important person in her life: Brad E. Karlin. Lastly, this Comment would not be possible without the support of Professor Corinne Morrissey. 1. The poem was chosen to be inscribed on the base of the Statute of Liberty, the monument the poem celebrates, and it remains the most moving and eloquent expression of an American ideal. LIBERTY STATE PARK, http://www.libertystatepark.comlemma.htm (last visited Dec. 7, 2011). 2. See Emma Lazarus Biography, ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD BIOGRAPHY, http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ki-LolLazarus-Emma.html (last visited Nov. 3, 2011) (summarizing the life of Emma Lazarus, a poet, who was born in New York City on July 22, 1849). She dedicated part of her life on behalf of Jewish immigrants. Id. Cancer cut her career short. Id. She died on November 19, 1887. Id. 3. See THOMAS ALEXANDER ALEINIKOFF ET AL., IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP 161 (6th ed. 2008) (providing a history of immigration law and major developments in this particular area of law). 4. See Herman Melville, THE LITERATURE NETWORK, http://www.online205 206 The John MarshallLaw Review [45:205 In 2004, John Doe lost his job and accrued a certain amount of debt while living in Puebla, Mexico.5 These circumstances forced him to take extraordinary measures in order to get back on his feet. 6 He heard a rumor that Moises Rodriguez was looking for workers to bring to the United States.7 Soon enough, John and many others found themselves in Phoenix, Arizona.8 From there, they were transported to what can only be described as a labor camp in Hudson, Colorado.9 The camp did not have drinkable water; only one toilet out of four was functional; people had to sleep on the floor; and the units were infested with insects.10 Mr. Rodriguez finally "informed the workers that they each owed him $1,300 in smuggling fees[,]" 11 but because the workers were paid below minimum wage, they were unable to pay off their debt. 12 In his wildest dreams, John never imagined that someday he would be a slave.1 s Even though John and the other workers eventually took a stand against Mr. Rodriguez 4 -were freed, and received T15 visas-for John, the American Dream became a nightmare. literature.com/melville/ (last visited Nov. 4, 2011) (exploring the life of Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick). 5. See Patricia Medige, The Labyrinth: Pursuing A Human Trafficking Case in Middle America, 10 J. GENDER, RACE & JUST. 269, 273-78 (2007) (noting that when a group of migrant farm workers decided to stand up to their abusive farm labor contractor and the grower who employed him, they started what came to be a groundbreaking case in Colorado). These workers suffered from debt bondage, involuntary servitude, threats of retaliation, and other intimidation. Id. at 269. When they finally decided to fight back, they faced constant challenges in bringing forward their case. Id. This turned out to be "the first Colorado group case to claim violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA)." Id. While the efforts to expose these violations and other unlawful conduct ultimately were successful, they also revealed a complicated system in need of extensive improvements. Id. at 282-83. 6. Id. at 273-74. 7. Id. at 274. 8. Id. 9. Id. at 275. 10. Id. 11. Id. 12. See id. at 277 (explaining that workers were not paid for all hours worked and "earned far less than the federally mandated minimum wage of $5.15 per hour"; sometimes workers were paid $2.90 per hour for more than sixty hours of work in a week). 13. Id. at 276-77. 14. Id. at 278. 15. See id. at 272 (describing a situation in which survivors of trafficking, who cooperate with law enforcement agencies in investigating a crime, may be eligible to apply for a four-year '"T-visa" with a future possibility of obtaining lawful permanent residence status). To be eligible for a T-visa, the candidate must fulfill the following requirements: (a) the survivor must be a victim of trafficking; (b) the survivor must be physically present in the U.S. territory as a result of trafficking; (c) the survivor must have actively assisted and complied with law enforcement agencies' requests in investigation and prosecution of trafficking; and (d) the survivor would suffer "extreme The United States of Immigration 2011] 207 This Comment argues that today, the American Dream-the ideal expressed by Emma Lazarus that is preserved at the entrance of the greatest nation in the world' 6-has been twisted and distorted by confusion, injustice, prejudice, and fear. Our immigration system is in major crisis; it is screaming for help in the name of those who, in this land of the free, have no voice. Part II of this Comment details the historical journey of the development of our immigration system, and what has led to the current crisis. Part III analyzes what challenges we (...truncated)