Latina/o immigration

"The Criminalization of Immigration: Contexts and Consequences explores these competing narratives and the consequences of criminalizing immigration in the United States and abroad. It examines the impact of national, state, and local legislation on the psychosocial well being of immigrants. The book explores key ways in which immigration is criminalized, and examines how the problematization of immigration becomes a political tool. The first chapters of the book explore the criminalization of immigration through the lens of pacification and the theater of cruelty. In both chapters, the authors seek to understand the process of “othering” members of the immigrant population to exact social control and to mollify the public. These front chapters set the tone for remainder of the book. They provide the impetus for why states have enacted, or have attempted to enact state level immigration laws that make it nearly impossible for the undocumented to live within the boundaries of these states. In section two, three U.S. states are highlighted: Arizona, Alabama, and Indiana. While the chapters on Arizona and Alabama summarize key aspects of state laws, author Sujey Vega highlights the life of one undocumented immigrant as she navigates life in the Heartland.

The book then turns its focus to the criminalization of immigration in a socio-political context. Here, four chapters provide explorations of the criminalization of immigration on labor standards enforcement, immigrant detention, the right wing perspective in the United States and in Europe, and white supremacy. Labor standards impact the rate by which undocumented immigrants are paid, which in turn impacts their health and safety within and outside the workplace, protections from workplace discrimination, and collective activity protections. The criminalization of immigration erodes many of the workplace and labor protections that we have come to view as essential. Similarly, the privatization of corrections has influenced the incarceration and detention of many undocumented immigrants and has even influenced the very laws described in section two of this book. If not for the possibility of profiting off of the detention of the undocumented, many of immigration related laws would not have come to fruition.

The next section of the book provides a transnational and international context to the criminalization of immigration. With chapters focusing on human rights violations, the transnational dimensions of Mexican migration, the making of the Maras, and the criminalization of immigration in the United Kingdom, these chapters ask the reader to examine the criminalization of immigration from a broader perspective. The reader learns how national issues become international and, likewise how international immigration issues influence national policy.

The final chapters of the book put the human face on the criminalization of immigration. Each chapter represents a case study of a specific aspect of the criminalization of immigration. They approach the issue from the viewpoint of a day laborer, an undocumented woman who has become a victim of domestic violence, a child whose parents are undocumented, and a detention officer who wrestles with his decisions to continue his job. Regardless of which chapters one reads, the raw emotion felt by placing oneself in each context is overwhelming.

Overall, The Criminalization of Immigration: Contexts and Consequences provides a complete examination of an issue that cuts through emotional value conflicts. It provides the facts and knowledge essential for a fair and balanced debate"

Though the drive to border U.S. citizenship often takes shape through the symbolic and material exclusion of “aliens,” immigrants engage in rhetorical struggles over the limits of the U.S. civic imaginary. This essay examines one such challenge to the bordering logics of U.S. citizenship-- La Gran Marcha, one of the largest immigration protests of 2006. Rather than see the protest as wholly “alien,” as it was conceived of by anti-immigrant forces, or as purely “American,” as an attempt for mere recognition, La Gran Marcha can best be understood as performing a hybrid U.S. citizenship. This hybrid rhetoric problematizes contemporary understandings of citizenship and elucidates immigrants’ agency within the U.S. civic imaginary.

Governmentality, Immigration, illegality. This book frames the study of immigration within the Michel Foucault inspired theories of governmentality. Specifically, it focuses on the government of migrant illegality. It is concerned, on the one hand, with the kinds of knowledge, the specific problematizations, and the various authorities that have constructed “illegal” immigrants as targets of government; and, on the other, with the specific tactics, techniques, and programs that have been deployed to manage this population. The book, in short, is concerned with how “illegal” immigrants have been problematized as objects of knowledge and governmental intervention.

In one of the first volumes to address social work practice with this emergent and often marginalized population, practitioners and scholars specializing in transnational issues develop a framework for transnational social work practice. They begin with the historical and environmental context of transnational practice and explore the psychosocial, economic, environmental, and political factors that affect at-risk and vulnerable transnational groups. They then detail practical strategies, supplemented with case examples, for working with transnational populations utilizing this population's existing strengths. They conclude with recommendations for incorporating transnational social work into the curriculum.

In this article, the authors contribute to the ongoing discussions of integration by articulating a theoretical framework that attends to the complex and dynamic relationship between immigrant and non-immigrant populations as they interact within and with the spaces that have come to known as -new destinations.‖ The proposal is based on the re-conceptualization of integration that, first, defines it as necessarily distinct from assimilation, second, engages and is informed by an analysis of space as dynamic, contested, and racialized and third, focuses on re-spatialization as an opportunity for re-politicization. The authors ‗posit that integration must involve substantive inclusion of both immigrant and non-immigrant populations (in their heterogeneity) in the public sphere.

When Glo ria, a long-time domes tic work er from El Sal vador liv ing in the San Fran cisco Bay Area, com plained about the depres sion and night sweats she had been expe rienc ing since quit ting her job, it was for a pecu liar rea son. She had worked as a person al care atten dant for an elder ly cou ple in their pri vate home for sev er al years, until the elder ly wife became so sick she had to be tak en to a nurs ing home for inten sive care, and Glo ria was left only to care for the hus band. She was con tract ed by one of their chil dren, a daugh ter. Glo ria loved her job because she had grown to love her patients and on most days, she joy ful ly spent most of her wak ing hours in this family's home doing house work and attend ing to their needs. One day, she left her job and nev er went back after her long time client, the hus band in the rela tion ship, tried to force him self on her sex u al ly in exchange for her week ly pay. She shud dered as she recount ed the way he placed the enve lope on his lap. She felt as though this man had changed from one day to the next. She jet ted out of the house with out pick ing up the check she had right ful ly earned. Still, it was not the par tic u lar instance of sex u al harass ment that had shak en her nerves, she con fessed, but the loss of some one who she cared for, which had left her feel ing bereft and con fused.

As baby boomers begin to retire, the U.S. economy will become even more dependent on immigrant labor-illegal or not. Amid the current immigration debate, one U.S. community decided to hold public hearings to explore how residents viewed this issue. This article presents the findings from a qualitative study, using content analysis from records from three public hearings, about a community's perceptions of illegal immigration. Four key themes were identified that describe residents' views and concerns about illegal immigration. These themes include: concern over immigrants' assimilation and acculturation, the economics of immigration, the demographics and cultural changes caused by immigration, and the conception of this country's self-identity. Additionally, this article presents recommendations from community residents regarding the above-mentioned issues, and implications for human service professionals and educators are also provided.

How do marginalized ethnic communities assert their presence in the American urban space? This article examines maps and location descriptions found in 'Rock Angelino' concert flyers, lyrics of songs, and spoken word multimedia pieces as examples of 'mapping from below' practices from the 1990s to the near present, which Latinxs have used to place themselves in the historical geography and cultural imaginary of Los Angeles. While people of Latin American descent have been part of Los Angeles since its founding, their presence has often been neglected and diminished in the maps created by government agencies, and in more recent times, by gentrifying real estate enterprises that inaccurately portray the past and present of Los Angeles as a White space with few selective geographical locations of communities of colour. By employing critical geography and cultural history methodologies, this piece demonstrates how Latinxs have been cartographers of their own communities. Most significantly how Latinxs employed their words and sounds as mapping tools with which to chart, examine, narrate and make visible the rich layered histories of Latinxs and communities of colour in Southern California.

In this article, the authors contribute to the ongoing discussions of integration by articulating a theoretical framework that attends to the complex and dynamic relationship between immigrant and non-immigrant populations as they interact within and with the spaces that have come to known as -new destinations.‖ The proposal is based on the re-conceptualization of integration that, first, defines it as necessarily distinct from assimilation, second, engages and is informed by an analysis of space as dynamic, contested, and racialized and third, focuses on re-spatialization as an opportunity for re-politicization. The authors ‗posit that integration must involve substantive inclusion of both immigrant and non-immigrant populations (in their heterogeneity) in the public sphere.

This essay analyzes the campaign for California Proposition 227, a 1997 ballot initiative outlawing bilingual education, in the discourse of the movement’s Republican organizer Ron Unz. Unlike previous Republican campaigns which were targeted exclusively at Latina/os, Proposition 227 had to appeal to both Latina/o and Anglo voters. As a result, the campaign used argument from transcendence and identification to resolve the difficult tensions in language policy and party politics and to portray Proposition 227 as a pro-Latino and pro-assimilation initiative. Analysis of this campaign enriches our understanding of argument from transcendence and complicates scholarship on Republican campaigns targeting Latina/o voters.

Through the inspiring stories of 16 students—from seniors in high school to graduate students—William Perez gives voice to the estimated 2.4 million undocumented students in the United States, and draws attention to their plight. These stories reveal how—despite financial hardship, the unpredictability of living with the daily threat of deportation, restrictions of all sorts, and often in the face of discrimination by their teachers—so many are not just persisting in the American educational system, but achieving academically, and moreover often participating in service to their local communities. Perez reveals what drives these young people, and the visions they have for contributing to the country they call home.

Latino Heritage in Southeast Seattle Narrative Report & Annotated Bibliography By Irene Sanchez
El Centro de la Raza www.elcentrodelaraza.org
2011
Prepared for:
City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods
Historic Preservation Program www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/preservation/southeastseattle

Americans by Heart examines the plight of undocumented Latino students as they navigate the educational and legal tightrope presented by their immigration status. Many of these students are accepted to attend some of our best colleges and universities but cannot afford the tuition to do so because they are not eligible for financial aid or employment. For the few that defy the odds and manage to graduate, their status continues to present insurmountable barriers to employment. This timely and compelling account brings to light the hard work and perseverance of these students and their families; their commitment to education and civic participation; and their  deep sense of uncertainty and marginality. Offering a rich in-depth analysis, the author presents a new framework for educational policies that recognizes the merit and potential of undocumented Latino students and links their situation to larger social and policy issues of immigration reform and higher education access.