Racism in America: How Illegal Immigration Affects Latino Citizens

As many know, racism has played a major role in American history and still does to this day. During these past few years, Donald J. Trump has spent a mass amount of time targeting the southern border and Mexico before announcing his presidency in June 2015, and because of that, many have accused him of being racist. Trump states that Mexico is “bringing their worst people” to the United States and also racially profiles them, saying they are “bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists” (need to give in-text citation).

Trump’s intentions are to deport illegal immigrants back to their countries, and due to his plans, however, many legal Latino citizens are being discriminated against, although they’re rightfully approved to live here. This drives the question, how is illegal immigration affecting Latino citizens in America? Some of these perspectives are the effects it is having on citizen children and their illegal parents, the discrimination that is taking place when Latino citizens buy houses, cars, etc., the effects it has on adult students, and the Latino citizens who are being denied reentry into the U.S. even though they were born here. These perspectives go to show that discrimination can happen to any Latino (a) in America, whether they are United States citizens or not.

In immigration, kids have always gotten the bottom of the barrel, and that is because they are not looked at in the equation. In fact, not only till recently was their final research on the effects that immigration has on kids. UNICEF talks about the children and says that most of the time, the migrant parents are separated from them because of deportation, QUOTE (author last name). A big part of deportation comes from racism, and most of the time, when the parents leave, they cannot take their children. Migrated or not, the children, mentally, are already affected because of the large leaving of family members. It especially takes a heavy toll if it is your parents.

In just September 2018, over 12,800 children were detained. Although there are many horrific things to come out of this. In some cases Second, Hispanic students are not getting the same opportunities as other students. In the article “Hispanics and Legal Education,” Latino students that have been accepted to law schools are very low, being only 1.5% of all students back in 1975. It received a 2% increase ten years later, but this is by no means many students. Latino students have also experienced pressure from other students who have attempted to dissuade them from achieving and pursuing their goals and higher education. The article states, “Unfortunately, many, if not most, law schools do little to accommodate Hispanic students’ needs” (American Bar Association).

This demonstrates just how little schools are accommodating Hispanics and why their chances of being successful are low, proving the low chances Latinos have of being successful. Hispanic students are receiving discrimination and are being insulted because of their race. Insulting messages from an article, “Latino students described as ‘mediocre’ and ‘pretty bad’ in a mass email,” through email are being sent to students like Hispanics because other students feel like they don’t belong there. Usually, it’s students who harass and insult others of a different race. Although, people with higher authority, such as professors, can also take part in this. Here, a professor’s daughter, who is a lawyer, takes part in coaching for a team/program.

A lawyer stated, “almost no Latino students on the team,” she said the Latino students were “not very qualified for the class” (Abigail Graber). People like Abigail Graber don’t appreciate Latinos in the way she has stated what she said. It is no surprise that incidents like this can happen at any time, anywhere. Third, Latino immigrants have a tremendous amount going on in their lives. They face racism, discrimination, etc., which is unjust. One of the main problems is that Latino immigrants are being differentiated from other people when trying to purchase a house or get a job. A poll taken from “One-third of Latinos say they have experienced discrimination in jobs and housing” illustrates that “a third of Latinos report being personally discriminated against in the workplace and when seeking housing.”

Basically, about 33% of the Latino immigrant population is afflicted by the discrimination they are receiving because they would find nowhere to live or make money to support themselves or their families. Legal Latino immigrants are becoming more alarmed over the debates occurring to change immigration laws causing a feeling that anti-immigrant belief is rising in the U.S. More in-depth, legal immigrants feel like they are not incapable/welcome to live in the United States even though they are legal immigrants. A quote from the source says, “Respondents overwhelmingly believe that undocumented workers help the economy and should be allowed to become legal residents and, ultimately, citizens,” and “They blame what they see as a wave of anti-immigrant feeling on racism toward Latinos and Asians.” Basically, what the text is trying to say is that the Latino immigrants who have taken the poll stress out and debate allowing immigrants to become legal citizens.

The respondents feel like this is a racist wave toward Latinos and Asians. The last perspective is the Latino citizens who are being denied reentry into the United States even though they were born here. A few months back, the Washington Post disclosed that the State Department is refusing passports to numerous men and women who have valid certificates showing they were born in the U.S. in the borderlands of southern Texas. Passports have been confiscated and revoked, leaving some holders stranded in Mexico. In addition, some people have even been arrested, sent to detention centers, and slated for deportation. The administration’s reasoning for denying so many passports dates back all the way to the 1990s when some Texas midwives revealed they accepted bribes to falsely allege that some Mexican infants were born in the U.S. And because it is impossible to tell the difference between the records, the Trump administration is withholding passports to people who they assume have falsified birth certificates.

The article in the Washington Post states that “The Trump administration appears to be denying passports simply because the applicant is Latino, was born in southern Texas, and was delivered by a midwife.” (Robinson). This shows the Trump Administration requires only a few amounts of criteria to make it “okay” to revoke these poor people of their passports and pretty their citizenship as Americans. This all associates with the thesis because although they are, in fact, U.S. citizens, they are still being denied reentry, justifying that the administration is, in fact, denying them solely on their race.

As stated before, discrimination can happen to any Latino (a) regardless of their legal status, and this really shows with Juan’s experience when being accused of having a fraudulent birth certificate. Juan made sure his last name remained confidential while being interviewed to ensure that he would not be “targeted by immigration enforcement.” In conclusion, unjust treatment and harassment are not new when incidents go public. Problems like these happen everywhere. Really, no place is new to racism in America, schools, jobs, etc. A child’s perspective is sad and depressing because of family separation. Kids that are usually no older than ten get affected mentally because of family or relative separation.

For example, Latino students are being sent inappropriate and disrespectful messages, and a professor’s daughter referred to a Latina student as “mediocre,” which is unacceptable. Buying sheltediscrimr for a Latino is difficult; around a third of Latinos reported being discriminated against when seeking shelter. They affect Latinos this way because most have big families and cannot support them. The final perspective for this is Latinos citizens that are being denied reentry because of beliefs that Latino citizens have false certificates. Overall, looking at how Latinos are seen in general by others, from the way they are treated, It doesn’t seem like they get discriminated against because of how they act, but it is simply because of where they come from and their appearance.

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