Long before the establishment of America, people passed from one area of North America to another, following nature. After the Mexican-American war, a line was drawn in the sand dividing our borders at the Rio Grande. Over time these borders have become a polarizing social issue that incorporate so much more than just land ownership. This border has been influential in helping generate a division between the Latino and American communities. By erecting a wall at the border to limit the migration of people and nature from one side to another, we are not only creating more animosity towards the Latino identity, we’re also harming the current citizens in the process.
Before I go any further I want to point out that I have no experience when it comes to the complex sociopolitical structure of immigration and its incorporation with the U.S. infrastructure. Of course, protecting and controlling a border is important for the safety of a country. However, what is happening right now is a racially motivated abuse of power.
With the Election of Donald Trump came a swift movement to reinforce the Mexico-America border with a physical wall. This was one of his biggest platforms during his campaign and it not only represented the attitude of his followers but also the attitude American policy would take towards immigration. Trump’s supporters were loud and proud whilst declaring that we needed a wall to separate the “dangerous criminals” pouring over the border. However, many of the people calling for this action have no direct ties to the communities where many immigrants settle. They simply operate under the assumptions made for them by the media they watch and the people they interact with. By creating this harsh physical divide between Latinos and Americans a cultural divide has been created.
The cultural rhetoric around Latinos is a clear indication of the attitude many people have towards most POC that try and enter our country. Using terms like “Aliens” and “Illegals” already sets the tone of immigration as hostile. These descriptors work to dehumanize migrants trying to seek refuge and justify the brutality inflicted upon them by institutions such as the Border Patrol Agency and ICE. A report of one incident in Arizona between Border Patrol agents and group Latino migrants accounts the killing of one migrant (Cruz) by an Agent. The story itself is hazy and differing stories of what actually happened were collected from both the agents and the other Latinos who were accompanying the deceased.
One section form the agents’ report is as follows:
“Staheli told investigators that the man in front of him was shorter than he was but appeared to outweigh him and that he was wearing an “older army style camo” that, in his mind, indicated that he was working for a Mexican drug cartel and thus likely to put up a fight. According to his autopsy, the man in question, Cruz Marcos, was 5 feet, 4 inches tall, and weighed 159 pounds.”
This excerpt demonstrates the way policy and public discourse influence the way Latinos are perceived by law enforcement agencies. In this section, the agents assumed that the man he killed was working for the cartel because of the camo he was wearing and because he was Latino. There were no other indications of Cartel involvement (such as a weapon or drugs) but regardless, Cruz was deemed a threat from the beginning and lethal force was deployed with little hesitation.
These events are not uncommon and are directly tied to the way Latinos are characterized as “drug dealers, criminals and rapists” in social discourse. If you start off by seeing Latinos as guilty by association then confirmation bias will take over and you’ll only see what you want to see. Many innocent Latinos just trying to escape their past lives and get a fresh start in America are automatically considered criminals. Even though the “proper” immigration process is convoluted and financially unattainable for many, anyone who doesn’t comply is automatically lumped into the same category as a murderer. When in reality all they’re doing is crossing an invisible line we’ve created at the wrong intersection.
Years and years of unfair characterization and stereotyping of the Latino people in American culture have come to a boiling point. We’re now faced with the harsh reality that’s been created for us. We must work to break down the divide between our cultures and realize that the Latino community has been a prominent part of our history in America and just recently has this division come to place.
Sources
Devereaux, Ryan. “Joe Biden Detained Tens of Thousands of Asylum-Seekers in the Last Year.” The Intercept, The Intercept, 21 Apr. 2022, https://theintercept.com/2022/04/21/joe-biden-immigration-detention-asylum/.
Devereaux, Ryan. “The Trauma of Trump's Border Wall.” The Intercept, The Intercept, 31 Oct. 2020, https://theintercept.com/2020/10/31/trump-border-wall-legacy/.
Devereaux, Ryan. “‘This Is America Motherfucker’: Witnesses Describe Border Patrol Killing of Mexican Migrant.” The Intercept, The Intercept, 12 May 2022, https://theintercept.com/2022/05/12/border-patrol-migrant-killing-coverup/.
Hi Keelan, I really love that you emphasized the language used about migration emphasizes the criminalization of Latinos. "Illegal" and "Alien" are legal terms that when applied, make any undocumented immigrant a criminal, but because many undocumented immigrants belong to the ethnic/racial category "Latino/Hispanic" these fears and definitions of those undocumented become attributed to all people belong to the Latino/Hispanic category.
Great introduction on the Mexico and Us border situation that really has caused just more than a division but a whole contempt, judgment, discrimination, and hatred against Latinos. The stereotyping at its finest of Latinos and Hispanics as you mentioned ‘drug dealers’, ‘criminals’, and even ‘rapist’ is hard to take when referring to us. Because yeah, that not only happens in our country but everywhere! Great job, Keelan!