ABSTRACT
Passage of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act marked the end of an era. The legacy of race-based exclusion in immigrant entry into the United States came to a close. After nearly 100 years of restrictions against migration from Asia, entry and full citizenship were now accessible to generations of Asian Americans. Half a century after the historic Civil Rights legislations, the enforcement of racial exclusion through legal mandate requires a revisit. Political belonging has been intimately tied to labour entry throughout U.S. history. The legacy of this interdependence continues in contemporary practices of criminalizing workers through immigration laws. However, in this “post-racial” moment, the making of social boundaries through the regulation of migrant entry is obfuscated. Further inquiry is demanded into the complicity of immigration policies for excluding successions of migrants from rights to national belonging.
