'Bad Hombres': The Effects of Criminalizing Latino Immigrants through Law and Media in the Rural Midwest

Abstract

In this article we explore the policy and legal build-up that led to the 2017 Executive Orders targeting Latino/a immigrant families and communities. We provide a historical backdrop for the merging of criminal and immigration laws that has contributed to the criminalization of the behaviors, bodies, and communities of Latino/a immigrants. We then look at the media narratives that burry immigrants’ complex identities and reproduce daily the demonization of Latino/as as criminals. Together, these factors contribute to socially construct a “Brown Threat” which reproduces anxieties and fears about crime, terror, and threats to the nation, affecting the everyday lives of immigrants and non-immigrants alike, though in different ways. Based on an 18-month ethnography in a small Kansas town carried out before and after the signing of Executive Orders in 2017, we examine the spill-over effects of this environment on Guatemalan immigrant families as well as on non-immigrant Anglo-white residents in a rural community.

Documentation status and psychological distress among New York City community college students.

“…Future studies should also look into how media and the timing of political movements, policies, and culture regarding immigration may be associated with psychological well-being. Media and politics may influence the mainstream discourse regarding immigration, influencing both the overarching social context, perceptions of immigrants, as well as concrete policies affecting immigrants (Alfaro & Bui, 2018; Cadenas et al, 2018; Cervantes & Menjivar, 2018). As these contexts shift, they may affect differences in outcomes by immigration status.…”

“We Understand You Hate Us”: Latinx Immigrant‐Origin Adolescents' Coping with Social Exclusion

“…Some adolescents understood that racism and xenophobia fueled toxic rhetoric (e.g., “they are drug dealers, criminals, rapists”) and oppressive immigration policies. This is not surprising, as scholars have uncovered a series of exclusionary immigration policies targeting Latinx immigrants (e.g., Cervantes & Menjivar, 2018; Menjívar, 2021; Toomey et al., 2014). Participants with undocumented status were particularly aware of these exclusionary efforts as they noted being structurally excluded from economic and educational opportunities (e.g., Abrego, 2006; Gonzales, 2011; Terriquez & Gurantz, 2015).…”

“…Today, society links being Latinx with being undocumented, with a stronger association to those from Mexico and Central America (e.g., Menjívar & Abrego, 2012). Regardless of legal status, Mexicans and Central Americans, particularly men, have been connected to being “criminals,” “rapists,” and “illegals” (Cervantes & Menjivar, 2018; Washington Post Staff, 2015). Scholars argue that these long‐standing messages are thinly veiled racist beliefs, with white supremacy at the core (e.g., Huber et al., 2008).…”

Crime and Violence Studies in the Immigration Field: Interactions between Disciplines and Emerging Concepts

“…It is argued that the moral panic about immigration has contributed to unprecedented levels of new legislation and intensified enforcement practices (Zatz & Smith, 2012). For instance, there is a relationship between perceived immigration problematization in society and deportation rates (King & Obinna, 2018), but these types of public discussions and policies also put extra pressure on immigrants, which results in feelings of isolation and being unwanted (Leyro & Stageman, 2018) as well as distrust of the police and other institutions (Cervantes & Menjivar, 2018). Pisarevskaya et al (2020) examine the topical development of migration studies and look into detail regarding what type of issues were studied and how different disciplines approached these issues.…”