The Marginalisation of Asian and Latin Immigrants - Case Study Example

THE MARGINALISATION OF ASIAN AND LATIN IMMIGRANTS Introduction The immigrants’ debate undoubtedly has been one of the vital topics in the United States, particularly the Asian and Latin@s (Valentino, Brader & Jardina, 2013). Though immigration has been considered as a global phenomenon, the US immigrants are documented to hail from varied nationalities. However, despites the America having many immigrants, the issue has been narrowed down to the Asian and Latin issue as some of the undocumented immigrants who have been considered to bring more economic and social problems in the country. One of the raging debates is how the USA’s judicial system has been constructed to portray this group of immigrants as people who are always trouble makers and unable to follow the law (Fussell, 2014). The two groups have been targeted by policies and legal intervention that perceive the immigrants as criminals. Besides, the tactics of police legal intervention have also been constructed to portray the immigrants as criminal minded people and troublemakers. On the other hand, the policies have been constructed on the belief that the immigrants portray characters that justify the police intervention approaches that criminalize the Asians and Latino as having characters that explain the use of policies that perceive them as being trouble makers (Fussell, 2014). Therefore, it is imperative to compare and contrast how the Asian and Latin@ immigrants have been targeted by police intervention approaches with reference to certain scenarios to justify the claim that the two groups of immigrants have actually been criminalized in the USA through policies and legal interventions. The case scenarios The cop accused of targeting Latinos In one of the scenarios targeting Latinos, through law enforcement, a police sergeant hailing from the Long Island was apprehended for targeting the Latino drivers at the traffic stops and extorting money from them (Huang, 2104). In this case, the scenario was portrayed as another law enforcement approach targeting the Latinos. Therefore, the police were charged with the fourth degree of hate crime. News reports from the story also confirmed that the advocates and the authorities were confident that the Latino drivers were targeted and singled out because of their citizenship situation; that they are illegal immigrants and also reluctant to complain. On the other hand, this case was a similar to one where a police in the Salinas Valley town, King City, was once apprehended for stealing cars that did belong to the Latino immigrants (Huang, 2104). In this case, the police intervention tactics are seen to be constructed around the belief that the Latinos are immigrants and also reluctant to complain in case the law catches up with them. The USA PATRIOT ACT After the September 9/11 attacks, the USA law enforcement took a new twist towards the Asian immigrants especially those from Arab descent. Despite the calls from the international human rights community to develop policies that would respect fundamental human rights, the new law was set to decriminalize the Asian immigrants. The The USA PATRIOT ACT was, therefore, established to fight terrorism in America and was seen as a move of sacrificing civil rights at the expense of safeguarding the nations security (Kelso, Green, Guffey & Larson, 2011). The move was seen as a counter attack on the fight against terrorism that had seen many Americans lose their lives. Through the new legislation, the federal government had the mandate to abduct the Asian American individuals suspected to be terrorists and would also hold for questioning without their consent. Though the legislation was initially developed to fight against terrorism, it instilled a new perception about the Asian immigrants as they were soon exposed to all manner of discrimination from hate speech to frequent police harassments targeting them as criminal-minded group who are always there to cause trouble for the peaceful Americans. Therefore, after the 9/11 attack, the USA policy on intervention of terrorism introduced a new problem for the Asian immigrants as they were the target of law enforcers and would be harassed just for being people of the Asian or Arab descent(Valentino, Brader & Jardina, 2013). Criminalization of Immigration Before discussing how the Asians and Latinos have been the subject of targeted policy interventions, it is imperative to examine how the USA as a society perceives immigration. Whether immigration concerns the Mexicans or the Asian, immigration has been considered as an issue centered on breaking the law rather a social problem aimed at addressing economic issue at the global scale (Coleman & Kocher, 2011). Immigration came as a result of people seeking greener pastures in the USA soil as the country has been considered to be rich in terms of employment opportunities. However, immigration has been linked to crime, and this shows how the law enforcement has been heightened to control immigration (Pope & Garrett, 2013). On the other hand, immigration has become a serious issue because the immigrants are the most apprehended or incarcerate population. Nonetheless, the portrayal of the immigrants as being criminals been a perfect public relations strategy from the American authorities thus making it easier to deny them fundamental rights to privacy and as well as civil rights (Pope & Garrett, 2013). Besides, the practice has gone a notch higher where the Asian immigrants, for instance, are now labeled as terrorists. In return, the criminalization of the immigrants is the basis for the human rights violations like secret detentions of the suspected criminals and also military trials for the non-citizen civilians. Nonetheless, although the USA policy on immigration has also been to control immigration, the nation’s policy framework does not have the incentives of addressing immigration as a social and economic problem that the country is also much blamed for, but rather focuses on developing policies that would render some parts of the population as criminals (Coleman & Kocher, 2011). Therefore, immigration in the USA is portrayed as a security issue rather than a social problem that require prompt solution, and this explains why the policies are designed to address immigration as a lawbreaking issue. The discussions 1. Police/legal intervention Racial profiling Racial profiling is one of the policies that have been used to target the immigrants. By definition, it refers to the practice by the law enforcement authorities of targeting the individuals for crime suspicion based on their race, religion, ethnicity and nationality (Kelso, Green, Guffey & Larson, 2011). On the other hand, the USA law enforcers have also used criminal profiling practice to rely on a particular group of characteristics believed to be linked to criminal behaviors. Therefore, the profiling would enable the police to identify some of the unique characteristics of particular races that would render them legible for criminal acts. Racial profiling has been portrayed in the manner in which the traffic police in American select the drivers to stop for the minor violations (Valentino, Brader & Jardina, 2013). In the USA, the racial profiling is also used to identify the pedestrians believed to be in possession of contrabands. Most importantly, racial profiling was fully enacted after the 9/11 attacks and it has been used to target Muslims, Arabs, and South Asians where they are frequently detained for minor offences though they have no connections to the 2001 twin tower attacks (Coleman & Kocher, 2011). In this regard, the American law enforcement has been using racial profiling to criminalize particular communities (Gardner, 2014). For instance, it is always common to hear the news of teenagers or group of drivers targeted by the police because they are from a racial background perceived to be criminal minded. Racial profiling has, therefore, been used to stop the Asian origin drivers or pedestrians and searched even without their consent for being suspected to have the potential of engaging in crime like traffic rules violations and possession of weapons or even contrabands. Moreover, with the advent of technology, racial profiling has been used against ethnic groups believed to be members of particular gangs. Therefore, gang database racial profiling is a tactic used by the police to target mainly the Latinos and other groups such as the black Americans who are believed to be leading in crimes (Valentino, Brader & Jardina, 2013). In fact, the gang database racial profiling by the US’s law enforcers attracted the attention of the human rights groups who are now advising the federal government that it is wrong to profile some communities as being criminals or possessing such characteristics. Since the 9/11 attacks were carried by people from Muslim countries, the federal government used racial profiling to target this group (Coleman & Kocher, 2011). In response, the government had to conduct a counterterrorism campaign that mostly focused on Muslims and Arabs and even others who perceived to be of such origins including the South Asians and the Sikhs. However, the focus continues to date. In defense, the federal government has always claimed countless times that the anti-terrorism measures are not amounting to kind of racial profiling. On the contrary, the government continues to single out Arabs and Muslims for detention and questioning. On the other hand, there is selective application of strict immigration laws on the people from Muslim and Arab origins and this substantiate the claim that racial profiling is used to criminalize the Muslims in the fight against terrorism (Gardner, 2014). For instance, the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) was introduced and implemented in the year 2002 (Finn, 2013). The system requires that particular individuals, predominantly Muslims, entering the country would register with the federal government where they are to be photographed, fingerprinted and even interrogated. At one point, a human rights watch group confirmed that the NSEERS continues to affect the lives of communities and individuals it has been targeting (Finn, 2013). It has led to the deportation of individuals who fail to register because they are afraid after hearing the stories of interrogation, detention and even deportation of their friends and community members. Police brutality against Asians and Latin@ immigrants A lot of police brutality has been targeted towards the Asian and Latino immigrants, and there is substantive evidence that the brutal killings on these groups go unreported. For instance, Erick Garner and Michael Brown are some of the unarmed men who died in the hands of the law enforcers, the police (Huang, 2104). However, the killing of Zambrano-Montes, a migrant worker from Mexico went unreported and received least media attention. The particular immigrant had been shot by the police while trying to run away, unarmed, with his hands raised before receiving gunshots. Compared to with the cases of Garner and Brown, the Mexican is yet to receive the much-needed attention as one of the victims of police brutality. The killing sparked protests from the Latino community, demanding answers from the police on the extent to which they were justified to kill an unarmed man. There are also many situations where the Latinos have been brutality beaten and killed by the police for being suspected of drug traffic and other crime related offenses (Chavez, 2013). Nonetheless, the brutality on the Latinos is also portrayed in the manner in which the arrests are made and it has now become a norm that the Latinos have also waged war on the police and other law enforcers. The Asian immigrants, too, continues to face brutality in the hands of the police. Recently, there have been protests against the police brutality against the Asian immigrants where members from the community have joined their hands through the social media to shun such brutal acts by the police. The brutality against the Asians is not a new phenomenon but sits back in the history when the immigrants started flocking in the USA (Fussell, 2014). The American society perceived the Chinese as bringing economic competition, and laws were even enacted to suppress their presence in the country. However, the stereotype still holds to date, and this has been portrayed in some brutal killings across the streets. The Arabs are the primary victims of police brutality because the police target them in the pretext of fighting terrorism Neighborhood watch The USAS federal government introduced the neighborhood as a policy to keep vigilant against the criminally minded groups (Kelso, Green, Guffey & Larson, 2011). However, the initiative victimizes certain groups especially the Asian immigrants who have been connected to terrorism and the policy has been a success in instilling the publics perception of the Asians as being a dangerous group. In most case, the vigilantes in the name of neighborhood watch have criminalized certain communities, especially the Latino immigrants and Asians as being in the forefront for causing troubles and indulging in crime and acts of terrorism. 2. (2) the governing logistics of police/legal interventions The government has also been using some intervention mechanisms that decriminalize the Asian and Latino immigrants. One of the approaches is that the intervention policies are based on the assumptions that the nature of the immigrants is the justification for the police tactics in handling the particular groups (Kelso, Green, Guffey & Larson, 2011). For instance, the move to introduce racial profiling is based on the assumptions that individuals from particular races are more likely to indulge criminal activities like terrorism. For instance, the detentions and questioning without consent is a strategy used by the police though enacted by the federal legislation, that allows the hold to hold the Asians and Muslims accountable for terrorist act because they are believed to have such behaviors or characteristics. Nonetheless, issues with brutality against the Latinos has led to the federal government to give the police the mandate to use excessive force when handling them because the intervention policies are established on the belief that the particular group is dangerous and can harm the police if they are not brutality handled (Huang, 2104). In fact, the case of a Mexican who threw a stone at the police and got gunshot in return justifies how the police intervention mechanism has been based on the characteristics of the Latinos as being violent are most likely capable of committing crime (Huang, 2104). Moreover, the police extortions and stoppage for minor traffic offences is built on the belief that the Latinos are law breakers who in no given time will desist from such behaviors and the police must act through possible means to stop them. The government interventions have also been portrayed in the education system where the Latinos are more likely to receive serious punitive measures like suspension or risk being jailed at their school ages (Kelso, Green, Guffey & Larson, 2011). In this regard, the government gives the mandate to the public schools to collaborate with the correctional facilities in apprehending the teenage Latinos who bring trouble in the community. 3. The relationship between police intervention mechanism and the government policies From the two case scenarios, it is evident that the intervention mechanisms have been built on the belief that particular communities are criminal minded and more likely to indulge in such behaviors. For instance, the way the police handle suspects substantiate the assumption that certain communities in the United States have been decriminalized. For instance, the case of targeting Latinos for minor traffic rules violations shows how racial profiling has been successfully in decriminalizing the immigrants. On the other hand, The USA PATRIOT ACT introduced after the 9/11 attacks shows the roadmap of introducing racial profiling on the Arabs, especially those from the Muslim and Arab origins (Kelso, Green, Guffey & Larson, 2011). Also from the two cases of racial profiling, it is evident that the federal government supports efforts to use unpopular police tactics in handling certain individuals believed to hail from the criminally marked groups. Besides, the government, through education system, supports the incentives to apprehend the Latinos who engage in violence and other criminal activities though the scenario is another case of using any available opportunity to decriminalize the Latino immigrants (Kelso, Green, Guffey & Larson, 2011). Moreover, neighborhood watch is a policy that was introduced by the federal government to help the communities to keep vigilant and report people suspected to be either terrorists or criminals. In return, the policy has been successful in portraying certain communities to be members of the dreaded terrorist groups since the NSEER program was introduced to control the immigration of Asians into the USA, especially Arabs, particularly Muslims (Finn, 2013). Therefore, the federal government has been successful in introducing policies that lead to decriminalization of Latinos and Asian immigrants as evident from various cases of police brutality, forceful incarceration, criminal labeling or profiling and the introduction of neighborhood watch. Conclusion In summary, though the USA’s immigration policy is meant to control the influx of people into the country, the policies are rather concerned with security and protecting the American citizens. In this case, the policy has been established on the belief that certain races have characteristics that encourage them to indulge in criminal and terrorist activities. In effect, the federal government of the USA introduced measures to curb the insecurity problem after major terrorist attacks and countless criminal activities conducted by the immigrants. Therefore, the focus has been how to control the activities of Latin@ immigrants and the Asian origin immigrants. However, while on the quest to handle the insecurity situation, the USA has become under much scrutiny for violating rights of the immigrants by encouraging police brutality, introducing the neighborhood watch, racial profiling and encouraging intervention mechanism that target immigrants based on the belief that they have characteristics that encourage criminal and terrorist activities. References Chavez, L. (2013). The Latino Threat: Constructing immigrants, citizens, and the nation. Stanford University Press. Coleman, M., & Kocher, A. (2011). Detention, deportation, devolution and immigrant incapacitation in the US, post 9/11. The Geographical Journal, 177(3), 228-237. Finn, J. (2013). Potential threats and potential criminals: data collection in the national security entry-exit registration system1. Global Surveillance and Policing, 139-156. Fussell, E. (2014). Warmth of the Welcome: Attitudes Toward Immigrants and Immigration Policy in the United States. Annual Review of Sociology, 40, 479-498. Gardner, T. G. (2014). Racial Profiling as Collective Definition. Social Inclusion, 2(3), 052-059. Huang, J 2104. In immigration news: Targeting Latino drivers, deported immigrant returns to to US, Asian-Americans and Obamacare http://www.scpr.org/blogs/multiamerican/2014/03/24/16174/immigration-news-latino-drivers-elvira-arellano/ Kelso, C. M., Green, T. M., Guffey, J. E., & Larson, J. G. (2011). Unlawful Activities Prevention Act-UAPA (India) & US-Patriot Act (USA): A Comparative Analysis. 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