Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines immigration policy reforms enacted since 1996, with a particular emphasis on the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act (IIRIRA). It illustrates how the permanent division of mixed status families has affected and will continue to affect the welfare of children, who in many cases are American-born children of the Hispanic immigrant "other". The book synthesizes the key findings of the integrated sociopolitical and psychological analysis of contemporary American immigration policy and White Nativism. Immigration policy has since become a highly politicized, contested and divisive national issue, used by politicians on the right and left of the political spectrum to legitimize their own political public platforms.