ABSTRACT
The last thirty years witnessed a dramatic rise in the number of noncitizens who were detained and deported from the United States, yet social scientific research on this topic remains limited. This chapter aims to provide a background for understanding the growth and consequences of detention and deportation in the United States. Following legal scholars and social scientists, we show that immigration enforcement policies developed in, and continues to be motivated by, efforts to exclude racialized “others.” We then present recent developments in the study of immigration detention that link the experiences of detained persons to those of imprisoned individuals more broadly. We argue that although detention is legally considered a non-punitive administrative program, it is functionally punitive, with collateral consequences that impact both detained persons and their families and communities. Finally, we turn to an emerging body of research on the aftermath of deportation that sets its sights beyond U.S. borders and focuses on the divergent post-deportation reintegration experiences in countries of nativity. We conclude with an assessment of the state of existing theory on detention and deportation and suggest theoretical, topical, and methodological directions for future research.
