The "Oriental" problem: trachoma and Asian immigrants in the United States, 1897-1910.

This essay examines the period between 1897 and 1910, when trachoma, a contagious eye disease, became an "Oriental" problem that justified exclusionary immigration policy against Asians entering the United States. It also investigates the ways in which the public fear and alleged threat of the eye disease destabilized and undermined the rights of Asian immigrants. Many scholars have explored the link between trachoma and southern and eastern European newcomers, in particular Jews, but they have not paid much attention to Chinese or Japanese immigrants, for whose exclusion trachoma played a significant role. This is primarily because the number of Asian immigrants was much smaller than that of their European counterparts and because the Chinese Exclusion Acts, which had already been in place, functioned as a stronger and more lasting deterrent to Asian immigration than exclusion or deportation through medical inspection. Moreover, into the 1910s, medical and scientific innovations for detecting parasitic diseases (e.g. hookworm) helped American authorities exclude Asians in larger numbers. Still, the analysis of the discourses surrounding trachoma and immigration from Asia, though short-lived, demonstrates the role of medical inspection in controlling and regulating Asian immigrants, in particular Chinese and Japanese, into the United States and in constructing their legal and political rights. In 1906, the fear of trachoma justified an order to segregate Japanese students from white children in San Francisco even at the cost of compromising their rights as citizens. Along with fierce criticisms against immigration officials by the American public, the 1910 investigation of the San Francisco Immigration Office problematized the admission of trachoma-afflicted Asian immigrants. Those critical of the Immigration Office and its implementation of American immigration policy called for exclusionary measures to limit the privileges of exempt classes and domiciled aliens and hinder the exertion of their rights to leave and reenter their adopted country. The two examples show that trachoma was a convenient excuse to condemn inefficient immigration policy and regulate allegedly diseased Asian bodies. In 1910, the federal government made a decision to relegate to steamship companies full responsibility for medical inspection at Asian ports. Since they had to pay a fine for every immigrant excluded at American borders for medical reasons, including trachoma, steamship companies carried out more rigorous examinations. With medical advancements and growing interest in parasitic diseases, trachoma soon lost its appeal to immigration authorities. However, the association of immigration, race, and disease has continued to provide a rationale for immigration control beyond American borders.

Immigrants' health in Europe: a cross-classified multilevel approach to examine origin country, destination country, and community effects.

In this study, we examined origin, destination, and community effects on first- and second-generation immigrants' health in Europe. We used information from the European Social Surveys (2002­2008) on 19,210 immigrants from 123 countries of origin, living in 31 European countries. Cross-classified multilevel regression analyses reveal that political suppression in the origin country and living in countries with large numbers of immigrant peers have a detrimental influence on immigrants' health. Originating from predominantly Islamic countries and good average health among natives in the destination country appear to be beneficial. Additionally, the results point toward health selection mechanisms into migration.

A Decade Later: assessing successes and challenges in Manitoba's Provincial Immigrant Nominee Program.

During the past decade, Manitoba's Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) has increased immigration to the province and dispersed immigrants more widely within Manitoba. At the same time, the rapid growth of the program and the decentralized way in which it has been implemented have contributed to some challenges. This ten-year analysis of the MPNP finds that many places in Manitoba are experiencing settlement service gaps, and that immigrants and communities are taking on much of the burden for MPNP application and settlement. In addition, the analysis demonstrates that the fragmented way in which the MPNP has been marketed and implemented (i.e., by relying on particular employers, consultants, and ethnocultural organizations) has resulted in a sort of ethnocultural inequality where certain groups are ushered into the province-often to perform particular occupations-while others are bypassed.

Leaving to get ahead: assessing the relationship between mobility and inequality in Peruvian migration.

Analysis of the impact of international migration on the socioeconomic conditions of migrants and their families in Peru, using data from the Latin American Migration Project, suggests that international migration contributes to individuals' socioeconomic well-being. While those who migrate tend to come from relatively privileged backgrounds in the first place, they gain further relative economic advantage by moving out of the country. A possible implication of this is that the growing international migration observed today is likely to exacerbate rather than ameliorate the already uneven distribution of income and rigid socioeconomic hierarchy in Peru.

Sweat or no sweat: foreign workers in the garment industry in Malaysia.

In the last decade factory owners, in response to brand-name Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) parameters, have joined associations that verify (through a monitoring and audit system) that management does not exploit labour. There have been no reports of violations of codes of conduct concerning Malaysian workers but for foreign workers on contract there are certain areas that have been reported. These areas, including trade union membership, the withholding of workers' passports and unsuitable accommodation, generally escape notice because auditors who monitor factory compliance do not question the terms of contracts as long as they comply with national labour standards. This paper is based on research with foreign workers in Malaysia and argues that despite the success of the anti-sweatshop movement in a global context, the neo-liberal state in Malaysia continues to place certain restrictions on transnational labour migrants which breach garment industry codes of conduct. Available evidence does not support the assumption that CSR practices provide sufficient protection for both citizen and foreign workers on contract in the garment industry.

Outsourcing care: how Peruvian migrants meet transnational family obligations.

Migration from Peru has increased dramatically over the past decade, but the social and relational repercussions of these transnational movements have not yet been fully explored. Examination of the way migrants manage their responsibilities to dependent kin in Peru reveals that child fostering makes it possible for adults to migrate in search of better work opportunities by ensuring care for their children and company for their older relatives. For Peruvians engaging in labor migration, child fostering tempers some of the challenges of continuing to participate in established social networks from a distance.

Reflections on societal change, adjustments, and responses.

Building on Davis (1963) and subsequent work, we propose a conceptual framework that provides a guide for the organization of empirical demographic research. Our approach is based on the notion that changes in nuptiality, fertility, and migration are not objectives in and of themselves, but means for reducing welfare gaps - defined as the gaps between actual welfare and that which could be attained with altered demographic and/or other behavior. We clarify theoretical issues concerning three levels of analysis. At the highest level, societal change leads to welfare gaps for families and/or individuals. In turn, behavioral adjustments are made to reduce these gaps. Finally, demographic responses at the community level result when large numbers of families and/or individuals adjust behavior in a particular manner. We consider and exemplify relationships among demographic and other responses in historical, agricultural contexts.

Keeping our immigrants healthy: hygienist doctrine in the Hospedaria de Imigrantes da Ilha das Flores. / Como manter saudáveis nossos imigrantes: preceitos higienistas na constituição da Hospedaria de Imigrantes da Ilha das Flores.

The Hospedaria de Imigrantes (Immigrant Lodgings) da Ilha das Flores was established in 1883 in accordance with the hygienist thinking of the time. Immigrants were isolated on the east coast of Guanabara Bay because of the epidemics of yellow fever which returned to the Imperial capital every summer since 1849-1850. Hygienists attributed the disease to the precarious health conditions in the city of Rio de Janeiro, which enabled germs to multiply and infect the atmosphere. As physicians reinterpreted the disease in light of Pasteurian theory, new procedures were adopted to receive immigrants, changing the structure and function of the facility on Ilha das Flores.

A criação da Hospedaria de Imigrantes da Ilha das Flores, em 1883, esteve de acordo com os preceitos higienistas vigentes na época. O isolamento de imigrantes na costa leste da baía de Guanabara ocorreu em virtude das epidemias de febre amarela que retornavam à capital do Império todo verão, desde 1849-1850. Higienistas atribuíam a doença à precária condição sanitária da cidade do Rio de Janeiro, que propiciava a multiplicação do germe e infeccionava a atmosfera. Na medida em que os médicos reinterpretavam a doença à luz da teoria pasteuriana, foram sendo adotados novos procedimentos para a recepção de imigrantes, alterando a estrutura e o funcionamento da Hospedaria da Ilha das Flores.

Detention of Immigrant Children.

Immigrant children seeking safe haven in the United States, whether arriving unaccompanied or in family units, face a complicated evaluation and legal process from the point of arrival through permanent resettlement in communities. The conditions in which children are detained and the support services that are available to them are of great concern to pediatricians and other advocates for children. In accordance with internationally accepted rights of the child, immigrant and refugee children should be treated with dignity and respect and should not be exposed to conditions that may harm or traumatize them. The Department of Homeland Security facilities do not meet the basic standards for the care of children in residential settings. The recommendations in this statement call for limited exposure of any child to current Department of Homeland Security facilities (ie, Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities) and for longitudinal evaluation of the health consequences of detention of immigrant children in the United States. From the moment children are in the custody of the United States, they deserve health care that meets guideline-based standards, treatment that mitigates harm or traumatization, and services that support their health and well-being. This policy statement also provides specific recommendations regarding postrelease services once a child is released into communities across the country, including a coordinated system that facilitates access to a medical home and consistent access to education, child care, interpretation services, and legal services.

Relating European emigration and marriage patterns.

This article discusses a number of the ways in which marriage and migration interacted in European sending areas for migration in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It also speculates as to some of the ramifications of those changes in marriage and migration patterns. In particular, it uses sources from the Netherlands in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century to illustrate a few patterns, some quantitative ones already well known to scholars of demography and some qualitative ones which have received less attention, and poses some hypotheses which other researchers can pursue for other emigration regions and periods. Unlike international migrants from many sending regions, where single men dominated the migration of this period, those from the Netherlands at the turn of the century tended more often to move in family units. In discussing these issues, this article demonstrates the degree to which marriage in the sending country was affected by migration, offering a variety of insights into the way in which these changes were of a gendered nature.

Como manter saudáveis nossos imigrantes: preceitos higienistas na constituição da Hospedaria de Imigrantes da Ilha das Flores / Keeping our immigrants healthy: hygienist doctrine in the Hospedaria de Imigrantes da Ilha das Flores

Resumo A criação da Hospedaria de Imigrantes da Ilha das Flores, em 1883, esteve de acordo com os preceitos higienistas vigentes na época. O isolamento de imigrantes na costa leste da baía de Guanabara ocorreu em virtude das epidemias de febre amarela que retornavam à capital do Império todo verão, desde 1849-1850. Higienistas atribuíam a doença à precária condição sanitária da cidade do Rio de Janeiro, que propiciava a multiplicação do germe e infeccionava a atmosfera. Na medida em que os médicos reinterpretavam a doença à luz da teoria pasteuriana, foram sendo adotados novos procedimentos para a recepção de imigrantes, alterando a estrutura e o funcionamento da Hospedaria da Ilha das Flores.

Abstract The Hospedaria de Imigrantes (Immigrant Lodgings) da Ilha das Flores was established in 1883 in accordance with the hygienist thinking of the time. Immigrants were isolated on the east coast of Guanabara Bay because of the epidemics of yellow fever which returned to the Imperial capital every summer since 1849-1850. Hygienists attributed the disease to the precarious health conditions in the city of Rio de Janeiro, which enabled germs to multiply and infect the atmosphere. As physicians reinterpreted the disease in light of Pasteurian theory, new procedures were adopted to receive immigrants, changing the structure and function of the facility on Ilha das Flores.

Japan's hiropon panic: resident non-Japanese and the 1950s meth crisis.

BACKGROUND: This qualitative historical policy analysis explores Japan's early postwar market for hiropon (methamphetamine/meth) and the impact of its anti-hiropon campaigns. The paper traces the origins of medical methamphetamine production in prewar Japan; known at that time by its former brand-name, 'Philopon' (pronounced hiropon), and argues that the anti-meth 'shock-horror' campaigns of the 1950s were exacerbated by long-simmering animosity toward non-Japanese residents - especially Koreans and Taiwanese. METHODS: Through an analysis of both English- and Japanese-language source materials, the paper explores the gritty, frightening themes of Japan's 1950s-era anti-meth propaganda campaigns and the parallel effort by police to arrest, prosecute, and deport members of the resident Korean and Taiwanese communities. RESULTS: The author demonstrates that by incorporating a wider variety of contemporary Japanese-language sources such as news reports and anti-drug propaganda materials about the postwar hiropon trade, we may more fully appreciate the historic, underlying social tensions behind the swift and targeted public response. CONCLUSION: The author concludes that Japan's postwar federal and municipal governments, together with police and media agencies, cultivated a sensational 'drug panic' designed both to dissuade citizens from using hiropon and to fuel a concerted police campaign against non-Japanese involved in the meth trade.

The history and evolution of immigration medical screening for tuberculosis.

Identifying and managing TB in immigrating populations has been an important aspect of immigration health for over a century, with the primary aim being protecting the host population by preventing the import of communicable diseases carried by the arriving migrants. This review describes the history and development of screening for TB and latent TB infection in the immigration context (describing both screening strategies and diagnostic tests used over the last century), outlining current practices and considering the future impact of new advances in screening. The recent focus of the WHO, regarding their elimination strategy, is further increasing the importance of diagnosing and treating latent TB infection. The last section of this review discusses the latest public health developments in the context of TB screening in immigrant populations.

Modeling spatial accessibility of immigrants to culturally diverse family physicians.

This article uses accessibility as an analytical tool to examine health care access among immigrants in a multicultural urban setting. It applies and improves on two widely used accessibility models­the gravity model and the two-step floating catchment area model­in measuring spatial accessibility by Mainland Chinese immigrants in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area. Empirical data on physician-seeking behaviors are collected through two rounds of questionnaire surveys. Attention is focused on journey to physician location and utilization of linguistically matched family physicians. Based on the survey data, a two-zone accessibility model is developed by relaxing the travel threshold and distance impedance parameters that are traditionally treated as a constant in the accessibility models. General linear models are used to identify relationships among spatial accessibility, geography, and socioeconomic characteristics of Mainland Chinese immigrants. The results suggest a spatial mismatch in the supply of and demand for culturally sensitive care, and residential location is the primary factor that determines spatial accessibility to family physicians. The article yields important policy implications.

The concept of post-racial: how its easy dismissal obscures important questions.

Nearly all of today's confident dismissals of the notion of a "post-racial" America address the simple question, "Are we beyond racism or not?" But most of the writers who have used the terms post-racial or post-ethnic sympathetically have explored other questions: What is the significance of the blurring of ethnoracial lines through cross-group marriage and reproduction? How should we interpret the relatively greater ability of immigrant blacks as compared to standard "African Americans" to overcome racist barriers? What do we make of increasing evidence that economic and educational conditions prior to immigration are more powerful determinants than "race" in affecting the destiny of population groups that have immigrated to the United States in recent decades? Rather than calling constant attention to the undoubted reality of racism, this essay asks scholars and anti-racist intellectuals more generally to think beyond "the problem of the color line" in order to focus on "the problem of solidarity." The essay argues that the most easily answered questions are not those that most demand our attention.

A new inequality? Privatisation, urban bias, migration and medical tourism.

Access to health care in developing countries, the main destinations of medical tourists, is notoriously uneven, and often becoming more so. Medical tourism, urban bias and privatisation have combined to exacerbate this trend. This is exemplified in both Thailand and India, where regional areas have been disadvantaged by the migration of health-care workers to hospitals focusing on medical tourism, neo-liberal national financial provision for medical tourism (and related tourism campaigns) and evidence of trickle-down gains is lacking. Medical tourism challenges rather than complements local health care providers, distorts national health care systems, and raises critical national economic, ethical and social questions.

Remembering the SIEV X: who cares for the bodies of the stateless, lost at sea?

The SIEV X was a tiny fishing vessel traveling from Indonesia to Australia in 2001, carrying around four hundred people seeking asylum after fleeing from the warfare and persecution predominantly in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many were women and children trying to enter Australia to join fathers and husbands already granted refugee status but not allowed to bring in family members because of new Australian laws on "Temporary Protection Visas". Of these, 353 drowned when the boat sank in international waters. The conservative Australian government denied responsibility, using the event in an election campaign to play on fears about illegal entry and border defense in the Islamophobic climate in the aftermath of 9/11. Yet many everyday Australians eventually became involved in a collaborative design process to create a memorial to those asylum seekers. This article discusses the debates around memorials for those lost at sea, and particularly for those who might be portrayed as enemies or "illegal immigrants" whose coming threatens national borders. It identifies the conditions under which the campaign to commemorate those who died on the SIEV X moved from being a minority interest to become a cause so widely supported by Australians across the country that the memorial was eventually erected in the heart of the national capital.

The global household: toward a feminist postcapitalist international political economy.

The goal of this article is to introduce a new category into international political economy-the global household-and to begin to widen the focus of international political economy to include nonmarket transactions and noncapitalist production. As an economic institution composed of transnational extended families and codwellers (including international migrants and family members left behind in countries of origin), the global household is engaged in coordinating international migration, sending and receiving billions of dollars in remittances, and organizing and conducting market- and non-market-oriented production on an international scale. We first trace the discursive antecedents of the global household concept to theories of the household as a site of noncapitalist production and to feminist ethnographies of transnational families. In order to demonstrate the potential significance and effect of this newly recognized institution, we estimate the aggregate population of global households, the size and distribution of remittances, and the magnitude and sectoral scope of global household production. We then examine the implications of the global household concept for three areas of inquiry: globalization, economic development, and the household politics of economic transformation. Finally, we briefly explore the possibilities for research and activism opened up by a feminist, postcapitalist international political economy centered on the global household.