Citation: De Graauw, E. (2020), City Government Activists and the Rights of Undocumented Immigrants: Fostering Urban Citizenship within the Confines of US Federalism. Antipode, Vol. 0 No. 0 2020 ISSN 0066-4812, pp. 1–20, doi: 10.1111/anti.12660.
Abstract/Description: With the US federal government more aggressive in its efforts to find, detain, and deport undocumented immigrants, certain government officials in American cities have promoted urban citizenship for undocumented immigrants in their jurisdictions. Often acting on demands from community organisations, these activist city officials have developed policies and practices that include undocumented immigrants in public service provision, formal rights protections, and democratic participation modes. Drawing on scholarship on urban citizenship, urban politics, and multi-level governance, this article analyses how we can understand these officials’ actions in a system where the federal government has monopoly power over immigration and citizenship matters. Based on the recent experiences of New York City and San Francisco, this article shows that government activists in these cities have promoted urban citizenship for undocumented immigrants by pushing against the confines of US federalism while also reaffirming traditional understandings of national citizenship, thus practicing disruption and conformity simultaneously.
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This is NOT a C-MISE publication: this website hosts links to external publications and resources selected by the C-MISE team on the basis of their relevance for city authorities interested in service provision to migrants with irregular status, and are only presented here as suggested readings. External publications are the product of the authors there mentioned, and are not in any way the product of the C-MISE initiative, nor are they related or endorsed by the C-MISE initiative.
