Abrego, Leisy, et al. “Making Immigrants into Criminals: Legal Processes of Criminalization in the Post-IIRIRA Era.” Journal on Migration and Human Security, vol. 5, no. 3, 2017, pp. 694–715., Web.
Abrego et al.’s article shows that much evidence states that immigration is not associated with increased crime rates and that migrants are not criminals. The authors argue that many immigration policies are based on stereotypes rather than substance. The authors show that most immigrants fall into prejudices and fears from the United States policymakers about their image of the immigrants. The article clearly shows how immigrants face double standards of being strictly treated based on the consequences of criminal acts.
The authors indicate that Immigrants who find themselves in the criminal justice system tend to be detained indefinitely, and they find themselves being expelled from the country and find it very hard to return to the United States as they are barred from returning. Abrego et al.’s article fits in my research as it has clearly outlined that not all immigrants are criminals. The authors seem to portray that the United States government has precisely defined criminality for immigrants as a serious offense, and signifies the effects do not apply to the United States citizens. The authors conclude by saying that unauthorized immigrants have even more reason not to break the law given the high risks of deportation due to a lack of legal status. The authors disagree with the term “criminal alien” being used by the immigration authorities to intensify and propagate the misconception of the relationship between crime and immigration.
The article was helpful in my research as it talked about prejudices and fears most immigrants face due to the harsh immigration policies that have helped me shape my argument about crime and immigration. The article has also assisted in my research as it discusses that immigrants come to the United States to build better lives and look for educational and economic opportunities for themselves and their families, usually unavailable in their country of origin; therefore, immigrants do not see any need to engage in unlawful practices. The article has influenced my thinking about the fears and hard lives the immigrants always experience when in the United States.
Bosworth, Mary, and Sarah Turnbull. “Immigration detention, punishment and the criminalization of migration.” The Routledge handbook on crime and international migration. Routledge, 2017, pp. 91-106.
Bosworth and Sarah note that the extent to which the federal government’s ambition to criminalize immigration and increase the capacity to which enforcement dragnet becomes very seeming when propagating immigration policies, laws, and implementation mechanisms has been pursued over the past decades. The book also offers insight that in 1996, Congress passed two bills that stand as the most blatant modern illustrations of laws creating a justice system for non-United States citizens different from the method applied to United States citizens (101). The authors show that the authorities often justify this unrelenting deportation campaign as a fight against illegality, usually against illegal immigrants.
The authors’ ideas disagree with the justification given by authorities on the crackdown on immigration because they do not explain the deportation of lawful permanent residents from the United States who committed traffic offenses. The authors conclude that since their families are still based in the United States, the justification explains the failure to follow the due process when handling the immigrants ensnared in deportation proceedings. The book is essential and fits in my research as it shows that the basic principles of equal treatment and fairness under the law are usually left out as a result. Further, the book has helped me shape my argument as it emphasizes equality and justice in the treatment of both immigrants and citizens of the United States.
The book has enabled me to change how I think about immigrants as it asserts that there should be equality and fairness between immigrants and citizens of the United States.
Ewing, Walter A., Daniel Martinez, and Rubén G. Rumbaut. “The criminalization of immigration in the United States.” Washington, DC: American Immigration Council Special Report, 2015.
Ewing et al.’s records have confirmed the two powerful yet straightforward truths regarding the link between crime and immigration. The article indicates that native-born immigrants are less likely to commit crimes or be incarcerated. The authors also show that high immigration rates are related to lower property crime rates or violent crime, which applies to both unauthorized and legal immigrants regardless of their level of education or country of origin. The article indicate that the Obama Administration witnessed over two million deportations, in the process needlessly tearing many communities and families apart. The authors complain that billions of dollars have been spent on interior and border enforcement. The article concludes that these tragedies can be avoided if only the United States Congress could introduce some humanity, discretion, and proportionality into the immigration system. The authors show that many migrants die in the mountains and deserts of the southwest as they try to cross into the United States through Mexico and other times while joining with their families residing in the United States.
The authors assert that most immigrants are not involved in crime and that harsh immigration policies do not do any justice in eradicating crime in American society because the immigration policy is usually crafted more by stereotypes and fear than practical evidence. Their ideas seem to disagree with the way laws and enforcement mechanisms treat immigrants and how immigrants are viewed as a threat, even facing deportation as punishment for minor offenses. The article shows that there is even a new class of “felonies” is created for immigrants, and deportation has been used to punish even minor offenses. The article describes the punitive and unreasonable policies used by the United States government meant to end unauthorized immigration. The article by Ewing et al. was helpful in my research as it helped me relate crime and immigration and the immigration policies in the United States. Further, the article has helped me shape my argument as I am now familiar with the crime and immigration policies.
The article has been helpful in my research as it provides an in-depth understanding of crime in the United States and has helped me change the way I used to think that almost all immigrants are criminals as many immigrants are not criminals. Thus, they should be treated well without discrimination.
Vega, Irene I. “Toward A Cultural Sociology of Immigration Control: A Call for Research”. American Behavioral Scientist, vol 63, no. 9, 2019, pp. 1172-1184. SAGE Publications, Web.
Vega’s excerpt points out the increasing immigration disciplinary policies are only operative as the enforcement measures on immigration support them and have dramatically expanded for the last three decades. Her work shows that immigrants have been trapped by the old and new execution mechanisms from worksite forays to secure communities. The article shows that the detention and eventual deportation system are designed to arrest and banish non-violent people, including legal residents who have worked and raised their families in the United States for many years. The author indicate that the policy cannot act as an adequate substitute for immigration reform that can make the immigration system in the United States responsive to the social and economic forces that drive migration in the first place. The author also points out that recently, politicians in the United States have capitalized on rhetoric that conflates immigrants with criminality, especially refugees and asylum seekers from the Middle East and Central America and the undocumented male laborers from Latin America.
Vega argues that Immigrants are detained then contained in a growing countrywide private network, for-profit prions, before being expelled from the United States. The article is helpful in my research as it shows how criminal immigrants are ill-treated before being deported from the United States. The author indicates that the United States immigration policies develop more “criminal aliens,” the deportation and detention machinery tend to grow big as well, forming a flaring dragnet over the country’s migrant population searching for anyone who can be deported. This article provides evidence that there has been the employment of technologically advanced systems whereby being stopped by a traffic officer with a broken tail light car is considered a severe offense that can lead to deportation.
I find it vital to include this article in my study as it discusses the deportation of criminal immigrants and immigration policies. The article is helpful in my research as it shows how criminal immigrants are ill-treated before being deported from the United States. The article tends to change how I think about immigration policies and the lives of the immigrants who live in the United States.