The Specter of Racism in the 2005–6 Immigration Debate: Preserving Racial Group Position

Abstract

In the heated debate regarding 'illegal immigration' in the US, arguments and accusations have abounded regarding economics, citizenship, criminality, and culture, but race has remained conspicuously sidelined in public discussion.

“It is just SICKENING”: Emotions and discourse in an anti-immigrant discussion forum

“…Consistent with previous research on anti-immigrant sentiment, the ALIPAC forum participants and the main Web site creators engage in social movement framing, constructing illegal immigration as negative for a host of reasons, including claims of increased crime, perceived negative cultural outcomes, and economic strain (Chavez 2001;Coutin and Chock 1997;Dietrich 2012;Feagin 1997;Ono and Sloop 2002). ALIPAC members are encouraged to write op-eds for local papers, contact politicians, and participate in the group discussion in order to advocate for laws and law enforcement that would be more punitive to undocumented immigrants.…”

Dreams Deterred: The Collateral Consequences of Localized Immigration Policies on Undocumented Latinos in Colorado

“…The Department of Homeland Security recently revealed plans to step up efforts to expedite deportations at Trump's directive, no doubt fueled by narratives of immigrant criminality (Sohoni and Sohoni ) as well as negative perceptions of Latinos (Meyerhoffer ) and immigrants (Carter and Lippard ) more broadly. These perceptions not only raise the specter of racism (Dietrich )—they are also dog whistles (Lasch ) used to justify enhanced enforcement to the public. Additionally, with the introduction of Trump's executive orders in 2017, federally based immigration enforcement expanded its reach, affecting immigrants regardless of local context and further criminalizing them (Alvord, Menjívar, and Gomez Cervantes 2018, 1–2).…”

Running on Fear: Immigration, Race and Crime Framings in Contemporary GOP Presidential Debate Discourse

“…Excerpts were selected by coding for major issue terms (such as ''immigration,'' ''race'' or ''ethnicity,'' ''crime,'' ''terrorism,'' and ''national security'') and then subjected to grounded theory coding (Glaser and Strauss 1967) wherein a careful process of repeated, close re-reads were used to generate the final coding scheme. Because of the sometimes repetitive nature of political speech, and the dissembling character of modern RDAs, excerpts were also subjected to ''statement level analysis'' (Dietrich 2011) meaning that each was treated as a unique utterance (even in cases where the same appeal is repeated on different dates) and each was analyzed separately from other statements made by that same candidate (for example, an RDA is not simply ''cancelled out'' by a later apologies or professions of support for racial equality).…”

“…Of these, the largest number, 137 (or 70 %) framed migrants as potential terrorists. Although most immigration appeals in this sample tended to elide the categories ''undocumented immigrant'' and ''Hispanic'' (see also Dietrich 2011), statements which linked undocumented immigration with the threat of terrorism usually (although not exclusively) presumed a Muslim subject instead. Out of 137 excerpts dealing with immigration and terrorism, 120 (87.5 %) openly labeled Muslim migrants as the primary source of danger.…”

“…Although ''illegal'' immigrants are no more likely to engage in non-immigration related law violations than other groupsindeed, evidence suggests they are less likely to do so (Lee and Martinez 2009), they are nonetheless seen as a particularly crime-prone segment of the population (Wang 2012). This misperception is partially driven by their eponymous assignation to a criminalized master status (Dietrich 2011). However, policy responses, including the militarization of the southern border, a shift to incarceration pending removal, and a persistent bipartisan push to step-up deportations of aliens with (often minor) criminal convictions, reinforce perceptions of the undocumented as dangerous (Chebel d'Appollonia 2012), as does dire political rhetoric, such as 2012 presidential candidate Hermann Cain's promise to construct an electrified border fence to keep the undocumented from ''killing our citizens'' (Wyatt 2011) and 2016 candidate Donald Trump's assertions that Mexico was using the U.S. as a ''dumping ground'' for criminals and ''rapists'' (Feeney 2015).…”