'Limited Legality' By John Torpey Summary

324 Words1 Page

In John Torpey’s article “Coming and Going: On the State Monopolization of legitimate Means of Movement” he points out that through the use of documents such as international passports, internal passports, and identifications card such as driver licenses, the state control movements. By constructing rules and regulations the states are able to monitor and regulate who come can come in and who can’t. However, Sadiq in his article addresses illegal immigrants in a way that Torpey, failed to mention in his article. Sadiq in in his article, “Documentary Citizenship” brings forth an argument that focuses on illegal immigrants and their visibility within a nation-state. Being illegal one does not have any legal documents which means, they are invisible to the state. Though, illegal immigrants can buy identification documents in the black market that can give them social, political, or economical rights that will give them visibility within the state. I agree with Sadiq, that in order to fit in and to have rights in society you need some sort of …show more content…

Menjivar, brings up the term “liminal legality” which refers to people who are given temporary protection to be able to work in the United States for a limited amount of time. Throughout the articles Menjivar, describes three major effect of liminal legality, which are family and networks, churches, and artistic expressions. Even though, Menjivar mentions individual cases in her article, I don’t think it’s still not enough evidence to generalize all Guatemalans and Salvadorans. It seems like the trauma is far greater than the reward in the case of the Guatemalans and Salvadorans when they move to the Unites States. What are some factors that allows them to succeed in the United States? and What makes United States more attractive to work in rather than other

Open Document