'Vast Hordes...Crowding in Upon Us': The Executive Branch's Response to Mass Migration and the Legacy of Chae Chan Ping
23 Pages Posted: 25 Sep 2015
Date Written: September 23, 2015
Abstract
In this essay, we consider how Chae Chan Ping v. United States influences the Executive Branch’s policy response to mass migration, even today. The fear of mass migration reflected in the opinion, and the Court’s articulation that our government must protect its citizenry from “vast hordes...crowding in upon us,” is a message that still resonates. When it comes to policy, the Chinese Exclusion case is more modern than one might expect. In fact, we see the fingerprints of Chae Chan Ping in the Obama Administration’s current practice regarding the detention and processing of family migrants from Central America, and in the government’s arguments defending this policy.
Keywords: immigration, migration, asylum, detention
JEL Classification: K10, F22
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation