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Show THERE ARE NO IMMIGRANTS IN THE WORLD 23 "immigrant threat" which stems from a stereotype that immigrants are dangerous and out to harm U.S. citizens (Chavez, 2001). This belief is supported by U.S. immigration policy like the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act that created a list of felonies that were only felonies if committed by non-citizens (Coleman, 2007). Under the new laws, which were retroactive, unauthorized reentry to the U.S. became the number one felony committed by Latinos (Coleman, 2007). Research done on the relationship between violent crime and immigrants shows a negative correlation between immigrants and violent crime (Hagan & Palloni, 1999). Communities with large numbers of new immigrants have violent crime rates lower than the national average (Hagan & Palloni, 1999). More immigrants are incarcerated than whites in the U.S., however, immigrants are incarcerated for crimes that are only crimes because of their immigration status and ethnicity (Lancaster, 2013). Exploitation and the Economy Throughout history, the U.S. has used some form of exploited labor for economic gain. The most obvious was the use of black slaves to build our capitalist economic system (Alexander, 2012). Since the abolishment of slavery and, later, the passage of the Civil Rights Act, society has continued to create new ways of discriminating against people of color in a postracist world (Alexander, 2012). The criminalization of people of color is a subject given much focus in regards to Black-Americans. However, Aviva Chomsky (2014) argues there are parallels to the treatment of undocumented immigrants of color. U.S. citizens depend on the cheap labor of undocumented workers to sustain their level of consumption. The implementation of NAFTA resulted in an increase in migration from Mexico as Mexican citizens fled the harsh living conditions in their communities caused by NAFTA (Bacon, 2013). The newly implemented border controls have done little to stop the influx of unauthorized immigrants, but they have |
