'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

See all articles by Margaret H. Taylor

Margaret H. Taylor

Wake Forest University School of Law

Kit Johnson

University of Oklahoma - College of Law

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

Taylor, Margaret H. and Johnson, Kit, 'Vast Hordes...Crowding in Upon Us': The Executive Branch's Response to Mass Migration and the Legacy of Chae Chan Ping (September 23, 2015). Oklahoma Law Review, Vol. 68, 2015, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2664668

Margaret H. Taylor

Wake Forest University School of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 7206
Winston-Salem, NC 27109
United States
(336) 758-5897 (Phone)
(336) 758-4496 (Fax)

Kit Johnson (Contact Author)

University of Oklahoma - College of Law ( email )

300 Timberdell Road
Norman, OK 73019
United States

HOME PAGE: http://kitjohnson.net

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