The Immigrant Experience in Atlanta: Navigating the Arduous Path Toward Citizenship Public
Blackman, Olivia (Spring 2021)
Abstract
Immigration has been at the forefront of political debates for decades and the prevalence of these issues has certainly intensified in the last several years. Atlanta has become an emerging destination for immigrants, with the first major influx of immigrants arriving prior to the 1996 Olympics in order to help build venues for the games. Today Atlanta is home to a diverse array of immigrant communities and this study will explore the lives of these individuals. Through semi-structured interviews and observation of local citizenship classes, I explore first-generation immigrants’ experiences adjusting to life in the United States, navigating immigration law, and interacting with the American legal system more generally. Findings from this study illustrate that the path to citizenship is arduous and often marked by frustrating bureaucratic indifference, deprivation of certain core rights, intense fear of institutionalized authority, structural racism, and prejudice. Immigrants simultaneously mourn the sense of belonging they had in their home country, even in cases where dangerous threats or unsafe living conditions forced them to leave. While many immigrants are successful in overcoming these barriers and obtaining their citizenship, this is largely reliant on their access to insiders with greater connections and resources. Much of the conversation regarding immigration is often centered around policy and politics, but culture and values are also entrenched in these institutional interests. It is my hope that this research can give a voice to an often-silenced demographic and illuminate the challenges immigrants face navigating life in the United States and accessing the American legal system.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………………...1
1.1 Personal Interest …………………………………………………………………………………………………………....3
Chapter 2: A Review of the Literature on Legal Consciousness and Immigration ………………………………….…4
2.1 Legal Consciousness ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4
2.2 Accounts of US Immigration Law ………………………………………………………………………………………..6
2.3 Atlanta as a Site for Immigration ………………………………………………………………………………………..8
2.4 The Punitive Turn and the Rise of the Carceral State ……………………………………………………………...12
2.5 Anti-Blackness ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………...15
Chapter 3: Methodology …………………………………………………………………………………………………………..18
Chapter 4: “Jennifer” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………....20
Chapter 5: “Anna” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………........… 26
Chapter 6: Citizenship Class …………………………………………………………………………………………………..… 30
Chapter 7: Results and Discussion ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 35
7.1 National Belonging and the Ambivalence of Citizenship …………………………………………………………..36
7.2 Social Capital and the Power of Institutionalized Authority …………………………………………………...… 39
7.3 The Capriciousness of Law and Authority ……………………………………………………………………………..42
7.4 The Inhumanity of Bureaucracies and the Punitive Turn …………………………………………………………..47
7.5 English Language …………………………………………………………………………………………………………....49
7.6 Individual Responsibility …………………………………………………………………………………………..……...55
7.7 Living Undocumented ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 59
7.8 Racism and Anti-Blackness ………………………………………………………………………………………..………62
Chapter 8: Discussion …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….... 67
Chapter 9: Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………………………………...… 70
Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….................… 72
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