Latino Immigrants
Immigration in the U.S. has been an issue of concern for a long time. However, the African-Americans have been the central immigrants under discussion. The first idea that runs into the mind of someone who hears of immigration in the U.S. is how the African-Americans have grown in numbers in the U.S. However, the idea of immigration is slowly changing with a new class of immigrants emerging. The Latinos are the new talk in the issue surrounding immigration. In the article, “The New Latino Underclass: Immigration Enforcement as a Race-Making Institution,” Douglas Massey presents the argument that the Latins have outnumbered the African-Americans as the largest minority group in the U.S. the rapid population growth among the Latinos is associated with undocumented immigration from Mexico and Central America in the previous decades. Douglas Massey documents the continued demonization of the Latinos by the media, the emergence of harsh anti-immigration regimes, and declining socio-economic welfare among the Latinos.
The 2010 population estimates showed that the Latinos were the largest minority group. The shifting population compositions were associated with changes in the regulations governing immigration. The African-Americans were heavily impacted by the regulations hence their reduced number among the American population. Massey says, “Latino immigrants from the Caribbean are overwhelmingly legal residents or U.S. citizens,” P. 4. The Latinos continued growing in numbers owing to the lack of attention from critics of immigration.
Latin Americans had been migrating into the U.S. as a routine in the previous decades. The 20th century alone accounted for a significant number of documented immigrants into the U.S. However, the situation changed when restrictions came into place to restrict the number of immigrants entering the U.S.: “critics of immigration reform have demanded that U.S. authorities gain “control” of the Mexico-U.S. border before considering broader reforms.”. The restrictions were aimed at controlling the number of immigrants into the U.S. The impact did not give the expected results among the Latinos. Instead, the number of documented immigrants decreased while that of the undocumented immigrants grew significantly. The number of undocumented Latino immigrants has remained high since then.
The Latino Threat Narrative has appeared as a new perspective on the U.S. Generally, the issue of immigration has been used as a scapegoat for the problems affecting the U.S. The Americans have remained negative about the issue of immigration for several reasons: “Anti-immigrant
Hostility rises during periods of economic dislocation, ideological conflict, and
political uncertainty” Massey (11). Generally, the perception towards Latino immigrants has significantly changed, but the population of undocumented immigrants has continued to grow.
The war on immigration has been growing vigilant owing to the growing population of Latino immigrants. Besides, the media has been vigilant in creating negativity around the issue of immigration: “Alarmist depictions once again rose in the media and peaked in 1994 when voters in California passed Proposition” Massey (15). The war has continued to make life unbearable for the immigrants, but the Latino immigrants have continued to move into the U.S.
The state has become vigilant over the decades of the war against immigration. Both documented and undocumented immigrants have been on the receiving end of the fight against immigration: “…enforcement policies were steadily imposed, and a growing fraction of the
migrant workforce came to lack labor rights” Massey (25). The policies have only worked towards making life challenging among the immigrants instead of dealing with the issue of the growing immigrant population.
In sum, Douglas Massey documents the continued demonization of the Latinos by the media, the emergence of harsh anti-immigration regimes, and declining socio-economic welfare among the Latinos. The Latinos continued growing in numbers owing to the lack of attention from critics of immigration. The war has continued to make life unbearable for the immigrants, but the Latino immigrants have continued to move into the U.S.
The Article by Douglas Massey is a representation of the issue of immigration in the US. The Latino immigrants have outgrown the African-Americans in the previous years. Generally, Massey explains the policies that have been developed to curb the issue of immigration but have failed. The author used undocumented immigrants instead of illegal may be to show the way immigrants have skipped the legalization process deliberately despite having qualified as legal immigrants. The reason for skipping the legalization process could be due to the procedures involved in the process.
Works Cited
Massey, Douglas S. “The New Latino Underclass: Immigration Enforcement as a Race-Making Institution.” (2013).