I began my legal career representing people in deportation proceedings at the El Centro Detention Center by the border in the Imperial Valley. I represented hundreds, if not over a thousand, there. From my personal experience, I can attest that this is true. Clients who were darker-skinned, wherever they were from, were treated distinctly different than those with lighter-skin. That was a long time ago (mid-80s), but my friends still practicing, and the study cited by the Nation, shows that this has not changed. Our first immigration law (The Chinese Exclusion Act) was explicitly racist, and every immigration law since has been based on racism and enforced in a racist manner. Immigration and Racism are entertwined in our country.