Crisis, subjectivity, and the polymorphous character of immigrant family detention in the United States

Crisis, subjectivity and the polymorphous character of immigrant family detention in the United States. Territory Politics Governance. This article expands on research into the politics of ‘immigration crises’ by bringing feminist insights to bear on how one understands the political unfolding of immigration crises. In order to do so, it draws on ethnographic research and media and policy analysis to trace the 2014 ‘immigration crisis’ surrounding unauthorized family immigration and detention in the United States. In doing so, it is argued that in order to understand the shifting spatialities and mechanisms of border enforcement we must also attend to the way in which these processes play out in relation to different forms of subjectivity; cultural and legal frameworks surrounding precisely who can be detained and how detention can play out shapes the legal and practical options available to policy-makers and border enforcement agencies. Moreover, in examining both the proliferation of brick-and-mortar family detention centres as well as the adoption of geographically unfixed enforcement strategies, this article illustrates the constantly evolving and polymorphous character of immigrant family detention in the United States.