Did you know that the United States’ border policy and power to deport people was invented to get rid of famine-era immigrants from Ireland? It’s a little-known chapter of history that challenges many current day stereotypes in anti-immigrant discourse. Naomi and Tim break it down in this new episode, featuring historian Hidetaka Hirota, whose book on the subject upended much of what was previously thought about the origins of US immigration policy. A surging nativist movement determined to root out the undocumented and deport immigrants deemed to be ‘undesirable’: it is a timely subject for the present day. We discuss how talk of raids and mass deportations by the new administration of Donald Trump is sparking fears among the thousands of undocumented Irish people living in the US.
Naomi and Tim dig deeper into this history in a bonus debrief episode available for supporters over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/halfpint-debrief-121365055
“There is a hidden, unspoken assumption that European immigrants were always legal… I always argue that that is a really wrong association in the first place. Undocumented immigration has always involved European immigration.” Patreon supporters can listen to the full interview with Hidetaka Hirota here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/deporting-poor-121367468
