The Impacts of U.S. Immigration Policies

What?

Throughout the reading Migrating to Prison the author, Garcia Hernandez, advocates for the idea that immigration law is broken and how the system intends to “punish, stigmatize, and marginalize” individuals through the immigration imprisonment system. (Hernandez, 13).

Hernandez starts by telling the story of a man named Diego Rivera Osorio. Diego had spent most of his life locked in the Berks Family Residential Center, “baby jail,” and even after receiving a special visa for children, the federal government still pushed to have him deported. The author explains how Diego and his family came to America to be free, but “on crossing the Mexican border… they were sent to the Berks facility” (Hernandez, 1).

There has been a rise in security when it comes to immigration policy and immigration imprisonment has become “far reaching.” For example, Hernandez tells the story of a man who served in the military and then was deported back to his country. Hernandez emphasizes how this man’s “military service proved his love for the United States, but to immigration law, it’s the passport, not the heart, that matters” (Hernandez, 5). Immigrants are being taken and hidden without letting anyone who is close to them know. This sets up a scary precedent for the family. It is becoming more than just a legal issue; it is a human rights issue where there is no decency between people.

There are so many reasons that the government can utilize to remove immigrants from the country and this is unfair. Individuals without the federal government’s permission to be in the United States can be detained, if you cross paths with the criminal justice system you can be deported, and individuals who are apprehended near the boarder who are unable to prove that they have been in the United States for over two weeks can be removed as well. The only way an immigrant can stay in the country is if they are able to prove that if they were sent back they would be tortured or killed.

There is almost no way to get American citizenship unless you are basically going to get killed by your government and have proof. This leads to people making desperate decisions and almost embracing the repercussions because even that is better than life in their home country. Immigrants come across in any way possible — boxes, trains, planes, etc. Physically crossing can be extremely horrific because of poor environment, lack of resources, and basically starving on their journey. But nothing is in place to prevent that and immigration is not going to change until the countries outside of the U.S. become stable. Getting citizenship and applying the normal way can take years. There isn’t enough space to take as many as there are who want to come in, so the system is backed up.

Often, immigrants are detained even with a visa because the immigration law treats these individuals as if they are “worthy of confinement” (Hernandez, 7). It is dehumanizing to force innocent human beings behind bars due to our fears and stereotypes about who they may be based on where they are from and the color of their skin. For example, Hernandez tells the story of a gay man who was beaten and tortured by homophobic thugs in his community. He fled to New York with a visa and was still detained for a period of time due to these fears we still have instilled in us about immigrants. We think that migrants are “too dangerous” and this is why we keep them locked up.

The United States has adopted two crimes about migration: “illegal entry which punishes those entering the US without the federal government’s permission; and illegal reentry, which punishes those doing that after having been deported” (Hernandez, 8). Back then, these were both largely ignored. Now, “illegal entry and reentry make up the crimes that federal prosecutors pursue most often” (Hernandez, 8). These migrants are locked up and end up in the prison system for long periods of time awaiting for the courts to hear their cases. They are chained up like criminals and people “do not talk to them how they should, as a human being” (Hernandez, 9). They are dehumanized and treated horribly as they are held to a higher standard than citizens that are born into the U.S. The government finds the most minor reasons to deport migrants and to chain them up. They aim to violate these immigrant’s human rights while terrorizing the immigrant communities.

Hernandez explains how “less than 6 months into the Trump administration, congress increased funding for ICE detention and federal prosecutors charged with pursuing criminal convictions against migrants who came to the United States without the federal government’s permission” (Hernandez, 11). Trump is a Republican and does not want a great surge of people coming into the U.S. ICE began breaking into people’s homes by knocking on doors in order to find illegals. They are performing unethical spying exercises against suspected foreigners to determine whether they are legal or not. He is promoting racism with all of this hysteria around people of color, and our fears are being built based on these stereotypes.

It is important that we develop a critical consciousness around these concepts in order to fight these racist beliefs. If we let the surveillance and exclusionary policies of the United States go rampid then we will begin to go against our prime constitutional reasons for existing: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We need to avoid criminalizing minorities based on simply the color of their skin and where they are from. There are these myths that all immigrants are job thiefs or people bringing in drugs. We horribly stigmatize them based on race and they are treated differently because there is a bias. By experiencing these communities ourselves, we are able to fight these structures and myths that get put in our heads. It is important to be educated on these topics because people need to know that immigrants are not always here to “cause trouble” and many are just seeking a better life.

At the Canal Community Knowledge session they discussed the importance of understanding the history and issues of racial inequity that impacts the daily lives of the Latinx community. By developing a critical consciousness about the Mexican migrant community we will be able to learn how to better approach this population when encouraging them to fill out the census. Due to all of the racism against immigrants, they tend to fear being deported and do not open their doors. To motivate this community, it is necessary to have empathy and emphasize how the Canal can benefit from the census. They will be able to have more education, funding for schools, support within districts, and better access to resources. The speakers advocated for the importance of having a knowledge of these immigration policies and how they negatively affect the individuals within the Canal and the census. These policies instill fear and the migrants in the Canal feel afraid to be acknowledged within their community.

So What?

Immigration has become a large problem in the United States because the system is broken. As of right now, when an illegal immigrant tries to cross, the child cannot be deported but the adult can. As a result, families end up separated and children are put into poor, unfunded “care” which appear more like prisons.

Often, the adults normally are not actually the parents, they’re normally mules who get paid to bring children across the border. So, it’s some sort of scheme which people are abusing in order to gain money. This is literal exploitation of Mexican families who only want to find a better life, but are forced to send their children away because of corrupt governments, like in Venezuela, and life threatening environments.

But even in the United States, illegal immigrants cannot apply for amnesty without being at risk of being deported. When you apply for amnesty you have to set up your own court case, get your own lawyer, get someone to even handle the case in the first place, which is normally extremely expensive and unreliable. This leads to people who pretend to be helpful to illegals trying to get citizenship. They can simply run off with their money, which is very limited because they only have what they brought to the United States.

Immigrants can’t do anything about this because they are unable to ask the government for any help. So, this results in a limbo between “should I even try to apply for amnesty” because they don’t have the money and they risk sacrifice. The worst part is if they apply and they don’t receive citizenship, now they’ve revealed themself as illegal and can possibly be deported. Immigrants cannot get citizenship even if they want it and are abused politically because they’re deprived of their right to even attempt to get voting rights/etc. Commonly, they end up working in fishy areas/businesses that are secretive with the government because they could be deported under an actual industry they were discovered. Throughout the reading, Migrating to Prison, Garcia Hernandez explains how “immigrants … lived with the fear that employers might team up with immigration officials” (Hernandez, 53). This leads to immigrants doing domestic chores, labor, etc. because they do not want to apply somewhere which requires proof of citizenship because they do not have it. But when they do labor normally there’s no real contract.

Let’s say a rich lady has an immigrant doing her house chores. She pays them below minimum wage because she doesn’t have to pay them a lot and the immigrant cannot complain because they are desperate. When the immigrant poses the idea of rebelling/leaving then the boss can threaten to expose them. There is no serious punishment for the owners taking in immigrants, so they often abuse this system for cheap labor.

These concepts have impacted many individuals and they have also impacted members of my family as well. When visiting my family in Colombia I was able to meet my great aunt and she told us about her story coming into the United States. My great aunt is from Colombia, South America. When she was young she got together with a Mexican National and moved to South Carolina with him. Her children were then born in the United States. Unfortunately, she ended up being in an abusive relationship and they did not stay together. She did not not have the necessary paperwork filled out to stay in the United States after the separation, so she lost custody of her children and they remained in the United States once she got deported back to Colombia.

Additionally, I have a second cousin that stayed in the United States two weeks past the time they were allowed to. They were deported because of this and now they are unable to come back into the United States for 10 years. Because of this, they are unable to visit their siblings and relatives that remain in the United States.

Again, immigration policies in the United States are iniquitous and families often end up getting separated. These policies damage families and young children. It is sickening how our government is given the authority to keep these families apart and how they are unwilling to support them. Immigration imprisonment has devastating effects on the detained and their family. Hernandez highlights that it is important to understand that “migrants are just people. They are fallible, imperfect human beings. Their passports might differ from the US citizens,’ but the skeletons in their closets don’t” (Hernandez, 16–17). This inhumane separation can have many negative mental and physical health implications for immigrant families, and we should encourage critical consciousness about these issues in order to spread awareness about these heartbreaking acts.

Now What?

Today, immigration imprisonment is considered the norm. Hernandez explains how “during the last thirty years, both the federal and state governments have increasingly tapped their powers to incarcerate people for how they move across the borders. As a result, the United States has the world’s largest immigrant detention system” (Hernandez, 10–11). The federal and state governments are becoming more strict across the border and the government is taking more power over who can cross it and who can’t. The United States was growing in the 1800s as a free country when they wanted people to come in, and as time progressed they started to turn away individuals coming into the U.S. due to overpopulation.

We have started to “lock up half a million people annually” (Hernandez, 17). The government has become heavily involved in immigration law and these policies work to impoverish migrants. These prisons are then surrounded in secrecy and the government is beginning to expand immigration imprisonment by building new jails and enlarging facilities. Hernandez emphasizes how if we lose prisoners the income will go down, and that “we need everybody to be employed. We need those prisoners” (Hernandez, 16). They are keeping the innocent locked up with those who are actually guilty in order to receive more financial gain.

Similarly, mass incarceration is a major issue that is affecting the Black community. Structural racism exposes Blacks to more contact with the criminal justice system and causes there to be profound differences in income and education when it comes to race. Both immigrants and people of color are held to double standards when compared to White people in this country. It is clear that there is a disproportionate number of African Americans placed behind bars as well as Mexican immigrants. We have the tendency to stereotype individuals based on their characteristics which can lead to the issue of mass incarceration. There is a bias towards different ethnicities, immigrants and African Americans, and people are structured to believe that a certain race is more guilty than another. With both immigrants and African Americans, we have this fear that they are “dangerous” or “criminals,” and in reality they are human beings that deserve access to the same rights as any other person. We are forcing those who are marginalized to be stuck behind bars and we consider them a risk. United States officials are treating these individuals horribly, and they are being herded and kept in one place like cattle.

While on the walk in Marin City, Mariah highlighted some of the unkept promises and how these social structures have affected the community. In order to push the residents in Marin City out, the government has turned to dehumanizing the members of the community.

For example, the Golden Gate Village housing units are extremely damaged and need to be renovated. While these buildings are sturdy, there is no provided maintenance and the community is forced to live with leaks, damaged buildings, etc. This is a government tactic for them to not fix these damages in order to push out the residents. They have recreation centers and other facilities; however, these buildings are also not maintained or kept up. Everything that the residents strive for is a constant fight where they have to vouch for what they need in their community. These unkept promises in Marin City are surrounded in secrecy, like the iniquitous immigration policies, and people that are outside of the community are unaware about these structural issues. Personally, I had no idea about some of these injustices done in the community until I had started volunteering at WHAP.

Furthermore, the government has also gotten rid of the dumpsters in the community to push the people out. Because of this, they have to keep trash in their yards. They are in a national park with lots of wild animals and these animals get attracted to this trash. The government wants these people to live is nasty and filthy environments, and in poverty. Even though they are located in a wealthy area like Marin County, they are still treated like an impoverished community. They are forced to live like animals and are surrounded by their trash. They are failing to treat them more like a society and are treating them like animals. It is like they are telling them to live in their own filth. The community is denied their basic human right for cleanliness. Cleanliness is a basic need for health in general so it is almost like the government is saying “we don’t care whether you live or die.”

To counter this dehumanization, Royce opened a school in Golden Gate Village and put it on the national registry to fight against tearing down the community. Since this school, WHAP, and the housing are now considered a historical landmark, they cannot take it down. Royce and the community are able to fight against the people in power that make these obstacles intentionally in order to be sure that the community in Golden Gate village faces all kinds of challenges in life so that they cannot succeed.