Who are the Illegals? The Social Construction of Illegality in the United States

• In Event: 3170 - Social Inclusion and Exclusion and International Migration

Abstract

Immigration scholars have increasingly questioned the idea that “illegality” is a fixed, inherent condition of immigrants. Instead, they have argued that illegality is actively produced by immigration laws. However, extant research often overlooks how illegality is not only legally but also socially constructed. Given the complexity and ambiguity of immigration laws, common observers and even authorities may not typically rely on people’s actual documentation to initially judge who is ‘illegal.’ Instead, we believe they rely on widespread social stereotypes to do so, regardless of actual documentation status, a condition we refer to as “social illegality.” Indeed, ethnographers have documented that occupation, national-origin, and class may trigger suspicions of illegality. However, it is not clear whether each of these dimensions is equally consequential or how widespread these stereotypes are. We fill this gap by systematically identifying the individual attributes that increase the likelihood of classification as ‘illegal.’ We apply a paired conjoint survey experiment on a nationally representative sample of 1,500 U.S. adult residents that allows us to assess the independent effect of each dimension on perceived illegality net of all other attributes. Social illegality could deepen ethnic-based inequalities by increasing law enforcement scrutiny and, perhaps, by influencing hiring managers and landlords to reject some applicants out of fear of breaking the law.

Authors

• René Flores, University of Washington

• Ariela Schachter, Washington University-St. Louis