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Carl Lindskoog, Detain and Punish: Haitian Refugees and the Rise of the World's Largest Immigration Detention System. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2018. xi+ 206 pp. (Cloth US$84.95)
This book, in which Carl Lindskoog documents the continuing debates over immigration policy and national identity that punctuate the history of the United States, could not have come at a more appropriate time. Fundamental concerns such as who can enter the country, who can claim citizenship, and, ultimately, who belongs to the nation have fueled various iterations of the debates. Lindskoog's case study of the U.S. reaction to the wave of Haitian migrants and asylum seekers that began arriving on its shores in the early 1970s illustrates the ongoing dilemma. The reaction to the influx of unwelcomed migrants prompted a reexamination of pre-1954 detention policies and led to what has become a vast immigration detention system. Detain and Punish traces the debates that shaped policies affecting the treatment of Haitian immigrants and sheds light on the historical, political, legal, social, and ethical components of the discourse surrounding immigration. An important contribution of the book is its well-documented description...