US Latinx Activism and Protests: From the Farm to the (Legislative) Table

Dehumanization of Migrants

Illegal, Aliens, Unlawful, Criminals. These are only a few words used in the communication of the United States government with agencies within it and the public outside of it when referring to immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants, entering the country. These terms reduce immigrants to their legal status, ignoring their inherent dignity and humanity, and equates the nature of the immigration, of their existence, as criminal.

This rhetoric has made it so that "illegality" is seen as equal to Latino/a immigrants, as policy and media reinforces the synonymy. Language that dehumanizes or marginalizes immigrants perpetuates negative biases, making it more difficult to empathize with their experiences and challenges. It reflects and reinforces existing power dynamics in society and influences how immigrants are treated and valued within the United States. Historically, immigrants are used to supplement the work of Americans who aren't willing to do the jobs at the low salaries corporations offer in agricultural, construction and other industries. For example, the bracero program that imported Mexican agricultural workers with false promises to consolidate the loss of work due to World War 2 and increase profits with meager pay. This choice of language also reinforces the exclusionary measures current immigration policy is. Such as the separation of children at the border, where the cruel policy was used as a deterrent for future immigrants that fear of being separated from their children would prevent them from crossing. This is also seen in the allowance of border vigilante groups such as The Minutemen, citizens that take it upon themselves to protect "their" land from being invaded by illegal immigrants. These people who participate in, what is essentially, the hunting of immigrants are influenced by this dehumanization.


 

 

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  1. Migration Christopher Gilman

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