Entitled to Nothing : The Struggle for Immigrant Health Care in the Age of Welfare Reform

Lisa Sun-Hee Park

ISBN 10: 0814768024 / ISBN 13: 9780814768020

Published by New York University Press Sep 2011, 2011

About this Item

Neuware - In Entitled to Nothing, Lisa Sun-Hee Park investigates how the politics of immigration, health care, and welfare are intertwined. Documenting the formal return of the immigrant as a 'public charge,' or a burden upon the State, the author shows how the concept has been revived as states adopt punitive policies targeting immigrants of color and require them to 'pay back' benefits for which they are legally eligible during a time of intense debate regarding welfare reform. Park argues that the notions of 'public charge' and 'public burden' were reinvigorated in the 1990s to target immigrant women of reproductive age for deportation and as part of a larger project of 'disciplining' immigrants. Drawing on nearly 200 interviews with immigrant organizations, government agencies and safety net providers, as well as careful tracking of policies and media coverage, Park provides vivid, first-person accounts of how struggles over the 'public charge' doctrine unfolded on the ground, as well as its consequences for the immigrant community. Ultimately, she shows that the concept of 'public charge' continues to lurk in the background, structuring our conception of who can legitimately access public programs and of the moral economy of work and citizenship in the U.S., and makes important policy suggestions for reforming our immigration system.

Seller Inventory # 9780814768020

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Entitled to Nothing : The Struggle for Immigrant Health Care in the Age of Welfare Reform
• Publisher: New York University Press Sep 2011
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0814768024
• ISBN 13: 9780814768020
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 228W x 161H x 13D millimeters 228 millimeters width by 161 millimeters height by 13 millimeters depth
• Weight: 308 grams

About this title

Synopsis

In Entitled to Nothing, Lisa Sun-Hee Park investigates how the politics of immigration, health care, and welfare are intertwined. Documenting the formal return of the immigrant as a “public charge,” or a burden upon the State, the author shows how the concept has been revived as states adopt punitive policies targeting immigrants of color and require them to “pay back” benefits for which they are legally eligible during a time of intense debate regarding welfare reform.
Park argues that the notions of “public charge” and “public burden” were reinvigorated in the 1990s to target immigrant women of reproductive age for deportation and as part of a larger project of “disciplining” immigrants. Drawing on nearly 200 interviews with immigrant organizations, government agencies and safety net providers, as well as careful tracking of policies and media coverage, Park provides vivid, first-person accounts of how struggles over the “public charge” doctrine unfolded on the ground, as well as its consequences for the immigrant community. Ultimately, she shows that the concept of “public charge” continues to lurk in the background, structuring our conception of who can legitimately access public programs and of the moral economy of work and citizenship in the U.S., and makes important policy suggestions for reforming our immigration system.

About the Author

Lisa Sun-Hee Park is Professor and Chair of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is the author of Entitled to Nothing: The Struggle for Immigrant Health Care in the Age of Welfare Reform as well as co-author of The Silicon Valley of Dreams: Environmental Injustice, Immigrant Workers, and the High-Tech Global Economy and The Slums of Aspen: Immigrants vs. the Environment in America’s Eden.