Migration and Migrants in the United States: The Case for a Fifth Immigration Phase

This chapter argues that the United States has entered a new, fifth phase of immigration characterised by a highly divisive discourse and rapidly-changing policies of fear rooted in three key developments. It focuses on the sorts of discursive and policy developments that might lie in store during the fifth phase of immigration. Industrialisation was a key force that shaped demographic change during the first and second immigration phases. M. Romero hits the nail on the head in saying that 'concern over immigration to the United States is inseparable from stereotyping Mexicans as "illegal aliens" and socially constructing Mexicans as criminal, foreign, and the other'. Deservingness in the fifth phase of immigration means, first and foremost, that for an immigrant to be good, they must also be legal. The discourse and actions of President Trump during the fifth phase of immigration have led to polarising interpretations of what it means to be an American.