Table of Contents

Introduction: Advocating For Those Who Suffer 1. Arbitrariness, Discretion and Nonenforcement 2. Translating the Utterances of Undocumented Immigrants in a Hostile Discourse Marketplace 3. ‘First Encounters’ with Host Country Officials 4. Entering the System, from the Arrest to Formal Sentencing 5. Incarcerations, Public and Private Conclusion: Deportation, and Return to the Host Country? Or Open Borders?

About the Author

Robert F. Barsky is a Professor at Vanderbilt University. He has published widely in areas relating to language theory, Convention refugee adjudication, and border studies, and he is the author of a trilogy of books about the milieus of Noam Chomsky and Zellig Harris.

Reviews

"This richly investigated book will be eminently useful to a broad audience including scholars of critical discourse, legal studies, and migration as well as the general public. Barsky’s theoretical depth and approachable writing style would also make this book a valuable addition to academic syllabi for both undergraduate and graduate courses."
Stephanie Maher, Western Washington University, Border Criminologies"Drawing on a broad array of academic studies, Barsky argues that in many countries, many actions that are taken against undocumented migrants are arbitrary—exercised by officials who can and do exercise considerable discretion, both positive and negative. These decisions are complicated by a situation where the migrant’s pathway into, and inside of, the host country is strewn with language issues relating to intercultural communication, interpretation, gossip, hearsay, and the challenges of peddling linguistic wares in the social discourse marketplace."
Law and Social Inquiry Journal