“They see us like Trash”: How Mexican Illegality Stigma Affects the Psychological Well-being of Undocumented and US-born Young Adults of Mexican Descent

Real, Deisy Del

doi:10.1108/s1057-629020190000019010

Cited by 15 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…which factors are the most consequential among a nationally representative sample of non-Hispanic white respondents. We confirmed prior qualitative evidence that Mexicans are highly suspected of being undocumented, especially in Western states (Asad and Rosen 2018;Del Real forthcoming;García 2014;García 2017;Patler 2014). But we also found that other Latin Americans (especially Salvadorans), Syrians, and to some extent Africans are highly suspect as well.…”

Section: Summary Of the Resultssupporting

confidence: 87%

Who are the “Illegals”? The Social Construction of Illegality in the United States

2018

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Immigration scholars have increasingly questioned the idea that "illegality" is a fixed, inherent condition. Instead, the new consensus is that immigration laws produce "illegality." But can "illegality" be socially constructed? When initially judging who is an "illegal immigrant," common observers and even authorities typically do not rely on an individual's documentation. Instead, people rely on shared stereotypes to assign "illegality" to certain bodies, a condition we refer to as "social illegality." Ethnographers have documented that individual traits like occupation or national-origin may trigger illegality suspicions, but it is not clear how widespread these stereotypes are, or whether all stereotypes are equally consequential. To address this question, we examine the personal attributes shaping perceived "illegality." We apply a paired conjoint survey experiment on a nationally representative sample of 1,515 non-Hispanic white U.S. adults to assess the independent effect of each dimension. We find that national origin, social class, and criminal background powerfully shape perceptions of illegality. These findings reveal a new source of ethnic-based inequalities-"social illegality"that may potentially increase law enforcement scrutiny and influence the decisions of hiring managers, landlords, teachers, and other members of the public.

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Section: Summary Of the Resultssupporting

confidence: 87%

Who are the “Illegals”? The Social Construction of Illegality in the United States

2018

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“…Indeed, Latinx men, particularly young men, are vulnerable to police violence and more likely to be killed by police than white men (Edwards et al, 2019). Research suggests that undocumented Latinx youth are aware of these negative perceptions about them, with detrimental impacts on their psychological well-being (Del Real, 2019). Moreover, in-depth scholarship has uncovered that Latinx immigrants’ perceptions of police are influenced by multiple factors, including experiences with police and the justice system in their home countries, their social networks and their expectations about police in the U.S., and contact with U.S. immigration officials (Menjívar & Bejarano, 2004).…”

Section: Study’s Goals and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trauma exposure and trauma symptoms as predictors of police perceptions in Latinx youths.

Venta¹,

Cadenas²,

Mercado³

et al. 2022

Psychology of Violence

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Objective: The Latinx immigrant youth population composes nearly a quarter of all children in the U.S. and are a high-risk group for police encounters. Based on perceptions of Latinxs as criminals, increased enforcement actions against Latinxs in the U.S., and failures of policing and police brutality in immigrants’ home countries, we expected that immigrants who reported increased trauma exposure and symptoms would have more negative perceptions of police. Method: This study utilized data from 107 recently immigrated Latinx youth to examine how trauma exposure (Child Trauma Screen) and symptoms (Child PTSD Symptoms Scale) related to perceptions of police (Criminal Sentiments Scale–Modified). Results: Consistent with the proposed hypotheses, trauma symptoms evidenced a significant main effect in relation to perceptions of police, B = .115, t = 2.35; p = .021, such that greater trauma symptoms were associated with more negative perceptions of law enforcement. Though trauma exposure did not evidence a significant main effect in relation to perceptions of police, B = .254, t = 1.46; p = .146, moderation analyses indicated that trauma exposure was associated with more negative perceptions of police, B = −.019, t = −2.08; p = .040. However, this interaction effect indicated that when both trauma symptoms and trauma exposure were high, less negative perceptions of police were observed. Conclusion: The present study provides novel data on police perceptions in young Latinx immigrants. Findings highlight the need for improved community relations and culturally responsive strategies between law enforcement and communities of color.

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“…This type of stigmatization often rests on superficial associations and stereotypes. Mexican national origin in the United States today, for example, is often conflated with undocumented status (Del Real, 2019), which is in turn conflated with criminality (Del Real, 2019; Simes & Waters, 2014). Studies also show that negative social outcomes related to stigmatization of certain social groups is common.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

A study of pandemic and stigma effects in removal proceedings

Peacock

Ryo

2022

J Empirical Legal Studies

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This study examines how a rapid change in social perceptions of a national‐origin group triggered by the COVID‐19 pandemic influenced immigration judges' decision‐making in US removal proceedings. Using originally compiled court data on removal proceedings decided between 2019 and 2020, we applied a difference‐in‐differences framework to produce three key findings. First, consistent with theory of event stigma, Chinese respondents experienced a significantly higher removal rate during the early pandemic period. Second, consistent with theory of associative stigma, East and Southeast (E/SE) Asian respondents also experienced a significantly higher removal rate during the early pandemic period. Third, the removal rate declined for both Chinese and E/SE respondents during the later pandemic period, but this decline was more gradual and lagged for E/SE Asian than for Chinese respondents. Finally, increases in the number of cases involving Chinese respondents increased the removal rate for E/SE Asian respondents during the early months of the pandemic. The last two findings suggest that associative or indirect stigmatization may be harder to combat than direct stigmatization owing to the implicit nature of bias underlying associative stigma. This study highlights the socially constructed nature of national origin groups, and the importance of both direct and indirect stigmatization in the production of social inequality.

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“They see us like Trash”: How Mexican Illegality Stigma Affects the Psychological Well-being of Undocumented and US-born Young Adults of Mexican Descent

Cited by 15 publications

References 27 publications

Who are the “Illegals”? The Social Construction of Illegality in the United States

Who are the “Illegals”? The Social Construction of Illegality in the United States

Trauma exposure and trauma symptoms as predictors of police perceptions in Latinx youths.

A study of pandemic and stigma effects in removal proceedings

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