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1. The Making of Modern US Citizenship and Alienage: The History of Asian Immigration, Racial Capital, and US Law

   https://doi.org/10.1017/S0738248023000019  

   Dhillon, Hardeep (February 2023, Law and History Review)

   Abstract This article unravels an important historical conjuncture in the making of modern US citizenship and alienage by drawing on the state's regulation of naturalization as it relates to Asian immigration in the early twentieth century. My primary concern is to examine the socio-legal formations that constructed the thick distinctions between the modern US citizen and alien along the lines of racial difference and racial capital. Specifically, this article argues that Asian immigration to the United States remade the modern US citizen and alien in two significant and interconnected ways. First, it underscores how the adjudication of race in US courts and connected political campaigns re-mapped race in the United States and sharpened the racialization of Asia and Europe in profound ways that ultimately produced immigrants from southern, central, and eastern parts of Asia as the modern US alien. Second, the debate over Asian immigrants’ eligibility to naturalize refashioned legal status as a normative avenue to sustain a regime of racial capital. It cast citizenship as a legal avenue for White men and families to acquire and protect a proprietary interest in citizenship and recast some Asian immigrants as permanent aliens in a period when alienage came to signify disposable immigrant labor. The article concludes by distinguishing how the struggle for US citizenship by Asian immigrants frames the epistemological parameters and political vocabulary of immigration and naturalization reform. 

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2. To Be Or Not To Be On H-1B: Engineers from India in the United States

   https://doi.org/10.1163/15691497-12341557  

   Varma, R (September 2020, Perspectives on global development and technology)

   null (Ed.)

   Foreign-born scientists and engineers are increasingly present in technology companies in the United States. Some of them are immigrants, that is, aliens admitted to the US for lawful permanent residence; others are non-immigrants, that is, aliens admitted to the US for a specific period of time for temporary work. Whether immigrant or non-immigrant, an overwhelming majority of foreign-born scientists and engineers enter the US technology sector through one single H-1B visa program. Using a case study of Indian engineers, this article shows different sub-paths of the H-1B visa program, which leads to significant differences in their immigration, work, and socio-economic experiences. The article is based on the secondary sources and 40 in-depth interviews conducted with Indian engineers working in US technology companies. 

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3. Asian Indian Engineers on H-1B Visa in the United States

   Varma, R. (March 2020, American Society for Engineering Education-Gulf-Southwest Section)

   null (Ed.)

   Under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, the H-1B visa allows technology companies to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. This paper presents a case study of Asian Indian engineers on H-1B visas working in technology companies in the United States. They enter the U.S. technology sector through one single H-1B visa program, yet they follow different sub-paths of H-1B visa. Depending on how they enter the U.S. technology sector, Asian Indian engineers differ significantly in their working conditions and socio-economic experiences. The paper is based on both primary data and secondary sources. Primary data comes from a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded study on return migration of Asian Indian engineers from the United States. 

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4. Asian Indian Engineers on H-1B Visas in the United States

   Varma, Roli (April 2020, Proceedings of American Society for Engineering Education Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference & Exposition.)

   Under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, the H-1B visa allows technology companies to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. This paper presents a case study of Asian Indian engineers on H-1B visas working in technology companies in the United States. They enter the U.S. technology sector through one single H-1B visa program, yet they follow different sub-paths of H-1B visa. Depending on how they enter the U.S. technology sector, Asian Indian engineers differ significantly in their working conditions and socio-economic experiences. The paper is based on both primary data and secondary sources. Primary data comes from a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded study on return migration of Asian Indian engineers from the United States. 

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5. Social, psychological, and demographic characteristics of dehumanization toward immigrants

   https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1921790117  

   Markowitz, David M.; Slovic, Paul (April 2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

   This study extends the current body of work on dehumanization by evaluating the social, psychological, and demographic correlates of blatant disregard for immigrants. Participants (n= 468) were randomly assigned to read a scenario where 1) an immigrant or 2) an immigrant and their child were caught illegally crossing the southern border of the United States, and then rated how long they should spend in jail if convicted. Participants reported that they would sentence the immigrant to more jail time than the immigrant and child. Those who sent immigrants to jail for more time also viewed them as socially distant and less human, described immigration in impersonal terms, and endorsed other social harms unrelated to immigration (e.g., the death penalty for convicted murderers). Crucially, endorsed social harms accounted for explained variance beyond simply holding conservative views. We position these data within the current literature on dehumanization theory and immigration issues. 

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