Advancing Immigrant Rights in Houston (PLAC: Political Lessons from American Cities)

By: Els de Graauw and Shannon Gleeson

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Synopsis: Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the United States and has long been a prime destination for international migrants from Latin America, Asia, and more recently, Africa. However, the city is politically mixed, organizationally underserved, and situated in a relatively anti-immigrant state. This makes Houston a challenging context for immigrant rights despite its rapidly diversifying population. In Advancing Immigrant Rights in Houston, Els de Graauw and Shannon Gleeson recount how local and multi-level contexts shape the creation, contestation, and implementation of immigrant rights policies and practices in the city. They examine the development of a city immigrant affairs office, interactions between local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement officials, local public-private partnerships around federal immigration benefits, and collaborations between labor, immigrant rights, faith, and business leaders to combat wage theft. The case study of Houston provides a bellwether for how other U.S. cities will deal with their growing immigrant populations and underscores the importance of public-private collaborations to advance immigrant rights.