Breaking the Stigma Around “Illegal” Immigrants

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Overview

From powerful government officials to underpaid laborers, immigrants exist in every level of America. Whether it’s cooking delicious, authentic food in restaurants; taking care of your lawn, roof, and cars; or cleaning your house; they are essential. Recently, however, there has been an increased stigma against these individuals that are the backbone of American society. With the Trump administration’s emphasis on the mass deportation of these laborers, increasingly hostile ICE raids in schools, houses, work, and other private places are infringing on the safety of not only undocumented immigrants and turning America into a hostile country for the entire Latino community. Since the beginning of the decade, immigration to America has drastically increased. This increase is often attributed to former president Biden’s more lenient border policies. From 2020 to 2023, over 2 million have immigrated to the US per year. These include the 60% who have entered illegally.

The reasons for immigrating vary; in most cases, it is to flee violence and instability in their home country. Over the past few years, immigration worldwide has seen an influx of Venezuelan immigrants, with the US receiving just 260,000 of the 7.7 million. The turmoil these citizens seek to escape is reflected across a majority of the countries that the US receives immigrants from, including Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Ukraine. As humanitarian crises continue to multiply throughout the globe, so will the levels of immigration rates, as long as America continues to provide refuge.

Besides the immigrants who arrive here seeking a safe haven, many view the “land of opportunity” to live up to its name. In an interview with the New York Times, Laura, a Rio Grande Valley resident with limited legal status, stated that she “vividly remembers the morning many years ago when her mother told them she wanted to offer them a better life than the one they had in Matamoros, Mexico.” This is the case for many families, especially ones in Latin America. When considering proximity, it is not shocking that about half of all immigrants from 1965 to 2023 have been Latino. Of those who enter the US, the underlying sentiment remains: “We do this out of need, not because we want to, and that is it.” The previous statement, made by a Peruvian man who attempted jumping over the border, mirrors others’ desperation: “Going back to Haiti means going back to death,” as stated by Rose Joseph, another migrant. Despite their struggle, these sentiments do not seem to sway the opinions of steadfast Republican legislators.

What Are Trump’s Policies?

Over many years in the public eye, Trump and his advisors have been adamant regarding their anti-immigrant rhetoric, being extremely open with their distaste for “illegals.”

In opposition to Biden’s border policies, Trump has slammed down with an iron fist since day one. Within an hour of his inauguration, CBP One—an app that allowed migrants to schedule appointments to legally enter the US—was shut down, cancelling all existing appointments. Not only did this devastate people looking for a better life in America, but it brought disdain to Democrats who were in support of this app. Implemented by the Biden Administration, the app is attributed to the 70% decrease in Border Patrol apprehensions along the southwest border during 2024. The slashing of this program reflects the real intentions of the Trump administration: they don’t want to make legal immigration easier, nor do they want to grant citizenship to immigrants already contributing to America.

Stereotypes Around the Undocumented

The media often portrays illegal immigrants as dangerous criminals. Some of the most infamous rhetoric warns that they “brutally slaughter” American citizens with the most popular story being the murder of Laken Riley.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of this young woman, who lost her life at 35 years of age–but my heart also goes out to the families of the 37 people who lose their life in drunk driving incidents every day. My heart goes out to Candi Miller, Amber Thurman, Josseli Barnica, and Nevaeh Crain who lost their life because of extreme abortion bans that denied them emergency care. With this said, these stories aren’t nearly as publicized as Laken Riley.

It is pure hypocrisy to condemn immigrants on the basis of safety and to not provide the same amount of advocacy for abortion bans, gun restrictions, and alcohol regulations. The most ironic thing is that undocumented immigrants aren’t nearly as dangerous as they’re advertised. In fact, as the foreign-born population increases, the rate of murder actually decreases.

Moreover, American-born citizens are proportionally over 2 times more likely to be arrested for violent crimes, 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and over 4 times more likely to be arrested for property crimes. Stigma around immigrants need to be addressed over the media and negative stereotypes against them need to be detested. “Illegal” immigrants are not all criminals: they are fathers, working under minimum wage to insure a stable life for their families and others; uncles, mothers, older siblings, and children, striving to find a better life in America. They are not all dangerous.

Legal Immigrants

Another opinion in support of mass deportations of illegal immigrants shares that they took the “easy way” in comparison to legal immigrants who “rightfully immigrated here.” However, the truth is that most immigrants that are currently in the US initially immigrated here “illegally” on visas before they got their greencards. Melania Trump, for example, first came here in the 1990s, and the legitimacy of her immigration status before she obtained her green card in 2001 is unclear. The same story goes for Elon Musk; he immigrated to Canada from South Africa, then crossed the Canadian border illegally on a visa. This story isn’t uncommon—a majority of immigrants obtain their legacy through illegal entry or a visa overstay. Before, migrants didn’t have to apply for citizenship, greencards, permanent residency, or to immigrate to America at all; the process was simply to state where you could live and where you would work. There was no such thing as an “illegal immigrant.”

Even after obtaining documents, “legal” immigrants are put at risk by this negative rhetoric. Recently, Trump’s administration threatened the safety of those who, by constitutional law, are US citizens. In a targeted raid, ICE detained a native seafood wholesaler in Newark, New Jersey who was a US citizen and a military veteran. The wholesaler’s owner who was also detained was Puerto Rican. ICE is not singling out “illegal aliens,” they are detaining individuals based on race instead of immigration status.

Deportations have also caused fear among many legal immigrants who have hispanic features. One immigrant tells a reporter, “…even though you are holding valid documents that allow you to work and be in the US, this guidance makes you vulnerable to being picked up by immigration agents and arrested at any time.” It’s clear, then, that the stigma around undocumented immigrants is completely racially based. Illegal immigrants from Europe, such as Melania, and even from bordering countries, such as Elon Musk, are not nearly met with the aggression and inhumane treatment that hispanic citizens are met with. As such, the case for “legal” versus “illegal” immigrants justify treating certain humans as animals.

Conclusion

With this in mind, it’s unlikely that the American citizen can wholly cast aside their biases. Now, America is more politically divided than ever. The reality is that views on immigration should not be polarized: it should be accepting that everybody is entitled to basic human rights, and learning to exercise compassion and empathy.

The reality is that there is nowhere to place the “illegal” immigrants. Citizens are told that they will send immigrants back to their countries. The truth is, however, that plans from the Biden administration for hundreds of deportation camps are being put into action. Recently, a Texan state official promised 1400 acres of land to Trump to build these camps, funded mainly from taxpayer money.

The reality is that our economy will suffer. Terms that characterize people as eligible for deportation, such as “undocumented” or “unauthorized” also include 40% of people who have current authorization to work legally in the US Nearly half of the agriculture workforce is composed of undocumented workers who are exploited because businesses feel they can pay them less. Mass deportations take away workers, decreasing production and, in turn, decreasing production creating more demand that leads to a rise in grocery prices. Not only this, but the deportations themselves aren’t exactly free. As stated by the American Immigration Council, “Trump’s mass removal policy could impose a staggering one-time cost of $315 billion on the US.” Deporting 1 million people a year could cost up to $88 billion annually.

The harsh reality, some argue, is that America is turning into an apathetic country. Racism towards immigrants from Central America and Latin America has intensified in recent years. Empathy for these families has been almost non-existent, especially when the media is so adamant about desensitizing its users. One-third of Americans are willing to deport immigrants even if it involves separating families, sending them to countries other than their countries of origin, and even deporting undocumented children. This month, the US was added to a human rights watch list on “Declining Civil Liberties.” America views “illegal” immigrants as subhumans and aliens instead of living, breathing, human beings. What they fail to realize is that we are all the same. Everyone is trying to find opportunity and prosperity in a country that has promised it. America is turning into a country of hatred and close-mindedness instead of a country of life, liberty, and freedom.