The U.S. immigration system reflects society’s values and priorities and shapes the makeup of the country. Since the earliest immigration laws and continuing through today, people with disabilities have been targeted for exclusion and expulsion. This Article employs philosopher Louis Althusser’s theory on ideology to analyze and explain how U.S. immigration law not only reflects an ableist ideology, but actively reinforces it. We coin a new term, “exclusionary ableism,” to describe this phenomenon.

Althusser identified two crucial aspects of how ideology is replicated throughout society. First is the Ideological State Apparatus, which influences people every day through institutions such as family, religion, and schools. Second is the Repressive State Apparatus, which enforces ideology through violent and coercive institutions such as the police, courts, and military. Exclusionary ableism reflects these two components, as this concept both (1) describes the dominant ideology in the United States that rejects and fears people with disabilities and is apparent in our immigration law and policy, and (2) explains how that ideology is actively reproduced through the U.S. immigration system, which functions to exclude and expel noncitizens with disabilities.

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