ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that United States immigration law is, in many ways, structured around perceptions of vulnerability in order to "privilege and protect some while tolerating the disadvantage and vulnerability of others". It uses the heuristic categories of need, fear, and desire: US immigration law attempts to address the need for immigrant labor and the fear of immigrant vulnerability by creating categories of desire, or desirable and undesirable immigrants. The chapter takes opportunity to investigate the particular role of labor in forming immigration law and, using a vulnerability analysis, to shed some light on this important factor. It focuses on fears around immigrant vulnerability and dependency, especially as they are written directly into the immigration laws, particularly because these fears are tied to ideas of autonomy and need for labor. Certain immigrant laborers are desired for inclusion in American community, while others are not; regulation of this desired composition maximizes benefit of immigrant labor while minimizing exposure to immigrant vulnerability.
