Migration and Reinterpreted Sovereignty in the US and Mexico: Inspiration from Third World Transnational National Identities

Abstract

Building on doctrinal analysis of legal sovereignty and migration in US immigration law and Mexican foreign relations law, this Third World and International Law (TWAIL) presentation examines how: 1) international law like the World-System denies history and perspectives from the Third World (i.e. periphery) and "natives" and 2) international migration, a transnational process often from the Third World, inspires new forms of national identity in migrants and states (both migrant-sending and migrant-receiving). Focusing on international law and culture and international law and people from the Third World, this presentation questions if these new identities offset what international law previously denied. It relates global themes, such as Eric Wolf's "Europe and the People Without History" and Benedict Anderson's "Imagined Communities," to the common reality of third world persons who migrate internationally.

The presentation argues changes in legal interpretation of sovereignty are influenced by changes in culture, i.e. national identity, and changes in national identity influenced by legal re-interpretations of sovereignty.

The presentation examines sovereignty-based legal doctrines such as the plenary power (PPD) in US immigration law and non-intervention (NIV) in Mexican foreign relations law. Due to concerns for absolute sovereignty, PPD excluded migrants from constitutional protections and NIV prohibited a foreign policy on migrants. Specific US examples include the judicial canon of avoidance applied to re-interpret and limit the PPD and recent legal and policy discussions to re-define birth right citizenship in the US. Examples in Mexican foreign relations law include: lobbying of US lawmakers for changes to US immigration law, dual-nationality regime, an active program representing migrants through Mexican consulates, and seeking an immigration agreement with the US.

Doctrinal Working Paper Title: "Sovereignty Migrates in US and Mexican Law: Transnational Influences in Plenary Power and Non-Intervention"

Available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=985012

Keywords: sovereignty, immigration, foreign relations, transnational, non-intervention, Mexico, migration, international law, TWAIL, cultural studies, national identity, nationalism, imagined communities