The Fear Factor: The Impact of Deportation as Legal Violence on the Lives of Immigrants

• In Event: Enforcing the Border: Criminalization, Fear and Detention in the Age of Punishment

Abstract

Immigration enforcement policies have led to the vilification of the immigrant and immigrant life. Terms such as “illegal immigrants” and “illegal aliens” send messages to citizens that immigrants are outsiders who are criminals irrespective of evidence (De Genova, 2002). These messages justify policy-makers’ anti-immigration policies as necessary for the safety of the citizenry, and has led to a record number of deportations within the last few years. This presentation will discuss a qualitative study on the impact of the fear of deportation. Specifically, the study draws from emerging violence research that includes contexts where injuries are experienced as a result of fear and the stigmatization resulting from exclusion and banishment (Jackman, 2002). The study also examines the implications of this “legal violence” and its implications on community integration and incorporation (Menjívar and Abrego, 2012).

Author

• Shirley Leyro, Borough of Manhattan Community College