The Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992: Student Immigration and the Transpacific Neoliberal Model Minority

Abstract

ABSTRACT:This article examines the enactment of the Chinese Student Protection Act (CSPA) of 1992. This US immigration law granted over 54,000 Chinese nationals permanent residence after the 1989 Political Turmoil in China. Although the CSPA was promoted as a form of humanitarian relief legislation, my research shows instead that the CSPA embodied a neoliberal rationale that reinforced the racialized selectivity in the US immigration regime. Marking a transition from Cold War politics to neoliberal globalization, Chinese student immigration exemplified the neoliberal and transnational features of the model minority racialization, transforming Chinese America into a space of transnational capitalism and a bridge between American whiteness and Chinese elitism.