Jak Allen:What is a “Desirable Citizen?” The Standards for Immigrants in the U.S.Judiciary,1915-1951
Channel: GIRES-Global Research Institute
Date: 2021-05-27

Jak Allen is an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Kent. Broadly, his research examines the role of the American judiciary in twentieth century and the politicisation of courts in both scholarship and wider society. He is interested in U.S. constitutional and legal theory, political pressure on courts, disputes over civil liberties, and the depiction of judges - both past and present. Jak is a member of the Advisory Committee of GIRES-Global Institute for Research Education & Scholarship.

ABSTRACT
The early twentieth century saw a dramatic shift in the immigration debate in the U.S. as a vast increase in citizen arrivals prompted calls for greater centralised controls. Scholars have placed particular emphasis on the role of presidential rhetoric, congressional committees, and new legislation in creating a culture of increased restriction regarding immigration. However, this conclusion has overlooked the crucial role courts played in interpreting and shaping various areas of law in this period.
This paper addresses part of this incomplete picture by highlighting the attempts of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to reconcile the liberal values of its judges with the expectation of stricter immigration standards. Based in New York City, a central hub for new entrants into the country, the court faced a flurry of new issues that tested arriving entrants’ “good moral character.” The paper will explore a series of cases before two judges, cousins Learned and Augustus Hand, who looked both at citizenship applications and deportations under this new regulatory framework. By exploring legal documents and private papers of the Hands, alongside details of various immigrants’ stories, the paper will show how the two judges attempted to incorporate their humanitarian leanings into a variety of legal standards. These cases spoke directly to questions of what constituted a “desirable citizen” in this period, how to gauge the standard of “moral expectations” in American society, and themes of democratic process and subjectivity in political legislature.

CONFERENCE INFORMATION
"Humanitarian Organizations: (Hi)Stories, Impact and Challenges"
Organizer: GIRES-Global Institute for Research Education & Scholarship  
Date: 20-21 February 2021
Place: Amsterdam (Virtual)
More information: https://www.gires.org/activities/conferences/humanitarian-organizations-histories-impact-and-challenges/