Stanley-Eric-Captive-Genders-Trans-Embodiment-and-Prison-Industrial-Complex

Captive GendersTan went on to describe how ICE agents took her away “like a criminal.”She continued with her account of her concern for her family: “Allthe while, my family was first and foremost the center of everything on mymind. How would Jay work and take care of the kids if I was not there?Who would continue to take care of Jay’s ailing mother—the mother Ihave come to love—if I was not there? Who would continue to take careof my family if I was not there? In an instant, my family—my Americanfamily—was being ripped away from me.”As Tan told her story, she received constant support and affirmationfrom Senator Leahy. At one point, when Tan’s son showed visible signs ofanguish, the senator stopped the proceedings to ask if the child neededto go into another room, saying, “I have a grandson the same age,” and“Young man, I want you to know your mother is a very brave woman.”Tan went on plead to the UAFA with these words, “We have a hometogether. Jay has a great job. We have a pension, mortgage, friends, and acommunity. We have everything together and it would be impossible to[re-]establish elsewhere. We have followed the law, respected the judicialsystem, and simply want to keep our family together.”Tan’s emphasis on the American-ness of her family was obviouslystrategic, even if she was also sincere in her emotions. A plea for clemencyto an inherently conservative immigration process that values an adherenceto American values cannot deconstruct the very foundation uponwhich that process rests. But it’s also inarguable that the lengths she wentto paint herself as not a criminal also threw into relief the figure of the“illegal alien,” a figure that is the flashpoint of so much contentious debate.Or, as Rachel Tiven, executive director of IE put it to People magazinewith no subtlety, “They are exactly the kinds of immigrants you want inthis country” [emphasis mine].Tan’s version of her story also made it appear that her status as anundocumented person did not define her existence but that, instead, herbrush with ICE was simply a minor blip in an otherwise “almost perfectlife,” in which she moved about in complete freedom, blissfully unawareof her status. In fact, despite her assertion of having “respected the judicialsystem,” it’s unlikely that the lawyer she hired did not tell her that herapplication had been rejected. Given her access to legal expertise and herpartner’s career in Information Technology, a field filled with highly educatedforeign nationals and immigrants, she had to be aware of the rudimentsrequired for an extended stay in the United States. It’s also unlikelythat she would not have inquired into getting a green card, or wondered128