PDF Yasodhara; the Wife of the Bodhisattva: The Sinhala Yasodharavata (The Story of Yasodhara) and the Sinhala Yasodharapadanaya (The Sacred Biography of Yasodhara) by Ranjini Obeyesekere in History

Description

The Illegal Immigration Relief Act (IIRA); passed in the small Rustbelt city of Hazleton; Pennsylvania in 2006; was a local ordinance that laid out penalties for renting to or hiring undocumented immigrants and declared English the city’s official language. The notorious IIRA gained national prominence and kicked off a parade of local and state-level legislative initiatives designed to crack down on undocumented immigrants. In his cogent and timely book; Undocumented Fears; Jamie Longazel uses the debate around Hazleton’s controversial ordinance as a case study that reveals the mechanics of contemporary divide and conquer politics. He shows how neoliberal ideology; misconceptions about Latina/o immigrants; and nostalgic imagery of “Small Town; America” led to a racialized account of an undocumented immigrant “invasion;” masking the real story of a city beset by large-scale loss of manufacturing jobs. Offering an up-close look at how the local debate unfolded in the city that set off this broader trend; Undocumented Fears makes an important connection between immigration politics and the perpetuation of racial and economic inequality.