PROVIDER’S PERSPECTIVES ON THE EFFECTS OF ANTI-IMMIGRATION
LAWS ON UNDOCUMENTED LATINO IMMIGRANTS
A Project
Presented to the faculty of the Division of Social Work
California State University, Sacramento
Submitted in partial satisfaction of
the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK
by
Minerva F. Núñez Méndez
SPRING
2014
PROVIDER’S PERSPECTIVES ON THE EFFECTS OF ANTI-IMMIGRATION
LAWS ON UNDOCUMENTED LATINO IMMIGRANTS
A Project
by
Minerva F. Núñez Méndez
Approved by:
__________________________, Committee Chair
Maria Dinis, Ph.D., MSW
____________________________
Date
ii
Student Name: Minerva F. Núñez Méndez
I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University
format manual, and that this project is suitable for shelving in the Library, and credit is to
be awarded for the project.
________________________________, Graduate Coordinator _________________
Dale Russell, Ed.D., LCSW
Date
Division of Social Work
iii
Abstract
of
PROVIDER’S PERSPECTIVES ON THE EFFECTS OF ANTI-IMMIGRATION
LAWS ON UNDOCUMENTED LATINO IMMIGRANTS
by
Minerva F. Núñez Méndez
The purpose of this study is to explore the effects that the current U.S. anti-immigration
laws have on the undocumented Latino immigrant population through the provider’s
perspectives. This qualitative exploratory approach uses conflict theory to analyze the
emergent themes associated with the results of this study. Phenomenological content
analysis using latent and manifest coding was applied to the interviews. A total of 12
service providers were selected through a non-probability purposive, snowball and quota
sampling designs from these professions: Priests, Social Workers, Police Officers, School
Teachers, Immigration Lawyers, Community Organizers, Labor Contractors, and
Paralegals. Four themes emerged: 1) lack of effectiveness of the current U.S. immigration
system; 2) destruction of the family unit due to deportations; 3) creation of fear due to the
legal status of the population; and 4) the benefits of an immigration reform. Implications
for social work practice and policy are discussed.
_______________________, Committee Chair
Maria Dinis, Ph.D., MSW
_____________________
Date
iv
DEDICATION
I, Minerva F. Núñez Méndez, with joyfulness and love dedicate this research
project to my husband Oscar Méndez, my parents, Elvia and Bonifacio Núñez, brother
and sister, Carlos and Anahis Núñez, my other two families: Reyes Peinado and Núñez
Vargas. All of whom gave me the support, strength, motivation, and blessings to further
my education, I love you all! I also would like to dedicate this research project to the
more than 11 million undocumented immigrants that reside in this beautiful nation,
U.S.A. I have the certainty and absolute faith in God that someday very soon a better
future will come that will allow a just and dignified legalization for this population. I
will like to give infinite thanks to God and Blessed Virgin Mary for their protection and
guidance.
Yo, Minerva F. Núñez Méndez, con gran alegría y amor dedico este proyecto de
investigación a mi esposo, Oscar Méndez, mis papás, Elvia y Bonifacio Núñez, mis
hermanos, Carlos y Anahis Núñez, y a las familias Reyes Peinado y Núñez Vargas.
Gracias infinitas a todos ustedes por brindarme su apoyo, fuerza, motivación y sus
bendiciones para avanzar en mi educación, ¡los quiero mucho! De igual manera dedico
este estudio a los más de 11 millones de indocumentados inmigrantes que residen en este
hermoso país, EE. UU. Tengo la certeza y fe absoluta en Dios que algún día muy
cercano vendrá un mejor porvenir migratorio que permita una justa y digna legalización
para toda esta población. Sobre todo gracias infinitas a Dios y María Santísima por
siempre protegerme y guiarme.
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere and thankfulness to my
thesis advisor, Dr. Maria Dinis, for her expert advice, prompt feedback, and for sharing
her immense knowledge with me. I also would like to express my sincere thankfulness to
Dr. Maura O’Keefe for her support, offering her assistance, and expertise in making sure
I completed this research project on time.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the 12 professionals that
participated in this study. I enormously admire your commitment awareness in working
with the undocumented Latino population. I encourage each one of you to continue
advocating and provide the needed services for this population within the confines of
your profession.
Sincere thanks to all the people who in some way or another have supported me
through their words of encouragement, prayers, and constant reminders about finishing
up this project. And finally, thanks to the entire MSW faculty for sharing their
knowledge, professionalism, and their commitment to all students. Exceptional thanks to
all my MSW program professors. They have transmitted me their enthusiasm, passion,
and the love to this profession. I have learned from them to love this profession and have
motivated me to be an “exemplary” Social Worker!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Dedication…………………………………………………………………………….….v
Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………….......vi
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………...1
Background of the problem……………………………………………….............2
Statement of the Research Problem…………………………………………….…5
Purpose of the Study………………………………………………………………5
Research Question………………………………………………………………...5
Theoretical Framework…………………………………………………………....6
Conflict Theory……………………………………………………………………6
Application of Conflict Theory……..…………………………………………….7
Definition of Terms................................................................................................10
Assumptions...........................................................................................................12
Justification ............................................................................................................13
Delimitations ..........................................................................................................14
Summary ................................................................................................................14
2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ...............................................................................16
Historical Background ...........................................................................................16
Current Immigration System..................................................................................19
Deportation Consequences: Family Separation .....................................................23
vii
Benefits of a Comprehensive Immigration Reform ...............................................28
Gaps in the Literature.............................................................................................31
Summary ................................................................................................................35
3. METHODS ....................................................................................................................36
Research Question .................................................................................................36
Study Design ..........................................................................................................36
Study Population ....................................................................................................40
Sampling Procedures .............................................................................................40
Data Collection Procedures....................................................................................41
Instruments .............................................................................................................42
Data Analysis ........................................................................................................43
Protection of Human Subjects ...............................................................................43
Summary ................................................................................................................44
4. DATA ANALYSIS… ...................................................................................................45
Participant Demographics ......................................................................................45
Specific Findings...................................................................................................46
Lack of Effectiveness of the Current U.S. Immigration System...........................46
Destruction of the Family Unit Due To Deportation…………………………….49
Creation of Fear Due To the Legal Status of the Population…………………….53
The Benefits of an Immigration Reform…………………………………………57
Summary…………………………………………………………………………61
viii
5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS……………………………………62
Introduction………………………………………………………………………62
Conclusions………………………………………………………………………62
Recommendations………………………………………………………………..65
Implications for Social Work Policy and Practice……………………………….68
Limitations……………………………………………………………………….69
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….70
Appendix A. Consent to Participate…………….………………………………………72
Appendix B. Interview Questions……………………………………….……………...75
Appendix C. Approval Letter……………….………………………………………….77
References ………………………………………………………………………………78
ix
1
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
Throughout human evolution human beings have had the internal desired to
improve their lives in all possible aspects. Immigration, as described in the Oxford
English Dictionary website, refers to the “entrance into a country for the purpose of
settling there” (Oxford English Dictionary, 2014). People immigrate to different
geographical areas due to multiple reasons, such as the need to seek economic security,
education, religious persecution, political persecution, natural disasters, among many
others. Industrialized nations, such as the United States, have been the attraction of many
residents of less industrialized nations like Latin American countries and many others
around the world. As far as history goes back, humans have experienced constant
mobility from one place to another due to the already explained reasons. In other words,
immigration is not a new concept that has been recently implanted in the history of the
human evolution; nonetheless certain people with power and with certain negative
ideologies have tried to prove the contrary by setting limitations and barriers that
specifically target the undocumented Latino immigrant population living in the United
States. The different types of barriers that the government has implemented aiming at
reducing immigration into the country, or as it has often been referred to as ‘securing our
borders’ has had devastating consequences for the undocumented population. This
research analyses the impact that these types of barriers, which the researcher refers to as
anti-immigration laws, have on undocumented Latino immigrants, from the provider’s
(professionals in different fields) point of view. In this chapter, the researcher will briefly
2
discuss the background of the Latino population residing in the U.S. and provide
information on immigration in the U.S. The research problem, the statement of the
problem, the purpose of the study, and the theoretical framework in understanding the
topic of this study will be discussed. The last part of this chapter will include, definition
of terms, assumptions and justifications sections will be presented. This chapter will end
with a conclusion, which will summarize the content and briefly introduced the following
chapters.
Background of the Problem
“Between 1820 and 2001, more than sixty-seven million people came to the
United States from every corner of the globe, lured by the promise of liberty and
opportunity” (National Archives, n. d.). A Homeland Security report of 2012 states that,
“an estimated 11.5 million unauthorized immigrants were living in the United States in
January 2011” (Hoefer, Rytina, & Baker, 2012, p.1). This is a subjective number but in
reality there may be a larger population that falls under this statement. The 2010 U.S.
Census estimates that between 2000 and 2012 there was an increase of 43% in the
Hispanic population living in the United States. Hispanics encompassed different
nationalities from Spanish-speaking nations, such as Latin American countries and some
European countries. A 2009 report from the Pew Hispanic Center stated that, “Hispanics
are the largest and youngest minority group in the United States” (p. 1).
According to a 2012 Homeland Security Department report on the Estimates of
the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: January 2011, “an
estimated 11.5 million unauthorized immigrants were living in the United States in
3
January 2011 […]” (Hoefer, Rytina, & Baker, p. 1). Mexico continues to be the leading
country with unauthorized immigrants in the United States. It is estimated that 59% or 6.8
million of the unauthorized population are form this already mentioned country (Hoefer,
et al.). The subsequent countries with the highest number of unauthorized immigrants in
the U.S. in 2011 are El Salvador 6% or (660,000), Guatemala 5% or (520,000), and
Honduras 3% or (380,000) (Hoefer, et al.). As documented in this report, there are a great
number of unauthorized individuals living in the U.S.
There are certain states that in the U.S. that have a high number of unauthorized
immigrant population; such is the case of California, which is the leading state with the
highest percentage of this specific population. There are approximately 2.8 million or
25% of all the unauthorized immigrants residing in California, Texas (1.7 million or
16%), and Florida (740,000 or 6%) (Hoefer, et al., 2012).
Throughout the decades, the U.S. has experienced different waves of immigration
that has shifted the perspective of immigrants in the country. According to a 2012 report
by the Immigration Policy Center, they report that the majority of immigrants are not
newcomers. In 2010, 38.2% of the total number of immigrants in the U.S. (n=39.9
million) had entered the country before 1990, while more than 27.1% had entered during
the 1990s and a little bit over 34.7% had come in 2000 or later (Immigration Policy
Center).
Constant immigration changes in the nation have impacted the way immigration
policies are passed. The U.S. immigration system in an effort to control unauthorized
immigration into the country has implemented new and improved policies that are not
4
always beneficial to this vulnerable population. Some policies such as the Arizona S.B.
1070 has, which was passed in 2010, directly aims to negatively target undocumented
immigrants residing in the state by adversely sectioning them due to their undocumented
status. As the Fact Sheet for S. B. 1070 states:
Requires officials and agencies of the state and political subdivisions to fully
comply with and assist in the enforcement of federal immigration laws and gives
county attorneys subpoena power in certain investigations of employers. [S.B.
1070] establishes crimes involving trespassing by illegal aliens, stopping to hire
or soliciting work under specified circumstances, and transporting, harboring or
concealing unlawful aliens, and their respective penalties (Arizona State Senate,
2010, p. 1).
Laws inspired by Arizona’s SB 1070 open the door to racial profiling judgments
against certain types of people that seem to us as “foreigners” based on how they look,
act, or sound. Alabama’s HB 56 anti-immigration law has been another law that followed
Arizona’s example. This law mandates that school officials report on the immigration
status of their students and their student’s parents. Not surprisingly, the day after H.B. 56
went into effect, 2, 285 Latino students were absent from Alabama schools (Baxter,
2012).
From the interviews done in this study, the majority of interviewees had stated
that the U.S. immigration system needs to be reform and provide a path to legalize
undocumented immigrants already residing in the country. According to the Department
of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted a total of
5
368, 644 removals for the 2013 fiscal year. The country has never reported such a high
number of deportations as conducted under the Obama administration. There had been
several attempts in trying to pass a Comprehensive Immigration Reform in Congress that
will allow certain individuals to legalize their status, although no final agreement has
been reached up until this date.
Statement of the Research Problem
The researcher is interested on how undocumented Latino immigrants are affected
by the U.S. anti-immigration laws; the researcher in this study uses the provider’s
perspective to identify the effects that these types of laws have on them. The research
problem is that there is a lack of knowledge about the topic specified above. Results of
this study aims to increase awareness and policy changes in order to better serve the
needs of this vulnerable population.
Purpose of the Study
This research explores the provider’s perspective on the effects on the antiimmigration laws on undocumented Latino immigrants. The primary purpose of the study
is to analyze the effects that these laws have on this target population and examine how
they affect them. The secondary purpose of this study is to gain knowledge about this
topic and thus create awareness of this population aiming for more effective and positive
policy changes.
Research Question
This study focuses on investigating the following research question: What effects
do the anti-immigration laws have on the undocumented Latino immigrants?
6
Theoretical Framework
This research project will be guided by Conflict Theory. The theory will be
described in the following section, and it will be applied to a discussion of how this
theory applies to this research.
Conflict Theory
Conflict theory derives from the works of Karl Marx. Humans have learned about
conflict throughout its development and the ways of dealing with conflict vary. Conflict
theory emphasizes the role of coercion and power, “which is the ability of a person or
group to exercise influence and control over others, in producing social order” (Andersen
& Taylor, 2004, p. 22). Conflict theory sees society as fragmented into groups that
compete for social and economic resources, and those with the most resources are the
ones in domination and power over the others, thus causing inequality (Andersen &
Taylor). Conflict theory, as previously stated, is built upon the work of Karl Marx, a
German political philosopher. Marx believed that “the character of conflict is shaped
directly and profoundly by the means of production, the resources (land, tools,
equipment, factories, transportation, and labor) essential to the production and
distribution of goods and services” (Ferrante-Wallace, 2011, p. 13). Conflict theorists ask
this basic question: Who benefits from a particular social pattern or arrangement, and at
whose expense? This theory examines the dynamics that occur between the oppressed
group and the oppressor; it tries to explain why conflict happens in different settings
where power and control are enacted over the less fortunate group. Conflict takes
different forms, such as physical confrontation, exploitation, disagreement, tension,
7
hostility, and direct competition. In all societies, people compete for scarce and valuable
resources (Ferrante-Wallace).
Exploitation, according to Ferrante-Wallace (2011), is disguised by a facade of
legitimacy, which refers to a justification that is often used to justify why the dominant
group takes advantage over the oppressed group in order to protect the dominant’s group
interests. Such is the example of wealthy companies that make high profit at the expense
that of demanding their employees to work harder for low paid pay wages. And to justify
their exploitation, they often state that their employees are free to take their labor
elsewhere if they are dissatisfied with their working conditions. Ferrante-Wallace
explains that the two most common facades of legitimacy are: “(1) blaming the exploited
by proposing that character flaws impede their chances of financial success and (2)
emphasizing that the less successful really benefit from the system by the powerful”
(p.33). A justification that the group on power would argue is that a $2.00-per-hour job is
better than no job.
Application of Conflict Theory
In applying Conflict Theory to the current U.S. immigration system and how the
anti-immigration laws affect Latino undocumented immigrants, we would have to
identify who the groups that exercise power and control are as well as the identification
of the oppressed group. Politicians in the U.S. hold the responsibility of implementing,
modifying, and create laws that are intended to seek the well-being of all people that
reside in the country. Unfortunately not all laws seek the well-being of people, some of
them are intentionally created to target certain group of people such is the case of
8
Arizona SB 1070 law, which was implemented in 2010 and it intentionally targets
undocumented immigrants that reside in the state of Arizona (Arizona State Senate,
2010). The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the primary authority
for enforcing immigration laws. People such as Legislators, President, Congress, and
political parties have the power to exercise control over people. These entities have the
direct power to influence how certain policies are implemented in the country. Often
times, policies are created with the intention of protecting certain political interests such
as a presidential seat, a specific position in Congress, or a presidential candidacy, among
many other interests.
According to Conflict theorists, the member of a society with the most wealth,
power, and authority have the ability to create laws and establish crime-stopping
and crime-monitoring institutions. Consequently, we should not be surprised that
law enforcement efforts tend to focus disproportionately on the poor and the other
powerless groups rather than on the wealthy and politically powerful (FerranteWallace, 2011, p. 180).
On the other hand the oppressed group that is under the control of the dominant
group (politicians), in this case, is the undocumented Latino immigrants. This group of
people is currently the subject of discussion in the House of Representatives, with
reference to the Immigration Reform proposal, which is still pending with no further
action at this time.
Conflict Theory, with reference to the U.S.-México border would argue that the
border was created to control the free movement of labor from low-wage side to the high-
9
wage side (Ferrante-Wallace, 2011). This theory would ask who benefits from the border
fences, and at whose expense? Ferrante-Wallace states that both the U.S. employers and
consumers benefits form the border fences and they benefit at the expense of the
unauthorized workers, who cross the border leaving behind their families in order to
move to the high-wage side. The wages that undocumented workers earn on the “other
side of the border” (in the U.S.) are poverty-level wages.
In applying this theory to this research study, we would argue that conflict exists
among undocumented Latino immigrants and the current political system of the U.S. due
to the inadequacy of immigration laws that directly targets this population. From this
theory application, we can see through the lenses of conflict theory how these two entities
conflict with each other. Due to the conflicting dynamics that exists among immigration
laws and the U.S. political system, the creation of anti-immigration laws that specifically
target the Latino undocumented immigrant population have increased. Certain “rules” or
“restrictions” arise when conflict or tension exists among different views in trying to
prevent more problems to arise. Therefore, not surprisingly, laws that are in accord with
the dominant group’s points of view emerge as a way of imposing authority and power
over the powerless group; as it is in this case, with the undocumented Latino immigrants
being affected by these anti-immigration laws.
10
Definition of Terms
Throughout this research project, the researcher refers to certain terms that may
not always be well known. The following is a list of terms that are briefly explained for
better understanding.
Undocumented immigrant: is an alien who entered the United States illegally without
the proper authorization and documents, or is an alien who once entered the United States
legally and has since violated the terms of the status in which he entered the United States
or has overstayed the time limits of his original status (Internal Revenue Services, 2014).
Mix-status families: Those with at least one unauthorized resident and one U.S. citizen
(Dreby, 2012).
Deportation: The formal removal of an alien from the United States when the alien has
been found removable for violating the immigration laws. Deportation is ordered by an
immigration judge without any punishment being imposed or contemplated (Homeland
Security, n. d.)
Removals: The compulsory and confirmed movement of an inadmissible or deportable
alien out of the United States based on an order of removal. An individual who is
removed may have administrative or criminal consequences placed on subsequent reentry
owing to the fact of the removal (Immigration & Customs Enforcement, n. d.).
Illegal Alien: Also known as an "Undocumented Alien," is an alien who has entered the
United States illegally and is deportable if apprehended, or an alien who entered the
United States legally but who has fallen "out of status" and is deportable (Internal
Revenue Services, 2014).
11
Repatriation: to restore or return to the country of origin, allegiance, or citizenship
(Merriam-Webster, 2014).
Alien: Person who is not a citizen or national of the United States (Simanski & Sapp,
2012).
Providers: a group of company that provides a specified service (Merriam-Webster,
2014).
Latino: A person who was born or lives in South America, Central America, or Mexico
or a person in the U.S., whose family is originally from South America, Central America,
or Mexico (Merriam-Webster, 2014).
Hispanics: Coming originally from an area where Spanish is spoken and especially from
Latin America (Merriam-Webster, 2014).
Unauthorized: Refers to foreign-born non-citizens who are not legal residents (Hoefer,
Rytina, & Baker, 2012).
Legal Permanent Resident: Legal permanent residents (LPRs) are persons who have
been granted lawful permanent residence in the United States. They are also known as
“green card” recipients (Office of Immigration Statistics, 2012).
Refugee: Refugees are persons who sought residence in the United States in order to
avoid persecution in their country of origin (Office of Immigration Statistics, 2012).
Nonimmigrants: refers to certain aliens who were legally admitted temporarily to the
United States such as students and temporary workers (Hoefer, Rytina, & Baker, 2012).
12
Detention: The seizure and incarceration of an alien in order to hold him/her while
awaiting judicial or legal proceedings or return transportation to his/her country of
citizenship States (Simanski & Sapp, 2012).
Immigration and Nationality Act: The Act (INA), which, along with other immigration
laws, treaties, and conventions of the United States, relates to the immigration, temporary
admission, naturalization, and removal of aliens (Homeland Security, n. d.).
Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986: Public Law 99-603 (Act of
11/6/86), was passed in order to control and deter illegal immigration to the United
States. Its major provisions stipulate legalization of undocumented aliens who had been
continuously unlawfully present since 1982, legalization of certain agricultural workers,
sanctions for employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers, and increased
enforcement at U.S. borders (Homeland Security, n. d.).
Assumptions
The researcher has constructed assumptions to be considered in this study. The
assumptions are as followed: 1) Participants are all providers that directly or indirectly
work with Latino undocumented immigrants; 2) Provider’s knowledge of research topic
is due to the fact that they have worked or are currently working with the Latino
undocumented immigrant population; 3) providers are knowledgeable of current
immigration system in the U.S.; 4) and that the undocumented Latino immigrant
population is emotionally, psychologically, and physically impacted due to the current
anti-immigration laws in the U.S.
13
Justification
Due to the diversified Social Work profession, professionals in this field are
working with people of all ages, cultural backgrounds, different legal statuses, genders,
socio-economic statuses, etc. On the other hand, the U.S. is home to a diversified
population, people with different languages, backgrounds, religions, etc. and are potential
clients for this category of professionals. Social Workers have the responsibility of
providing services to people regardless of their educational level or immigrant status in
their respective work setting. Due to this level of demand, the researcher seeks a better
understanding of this vulnerable population by bringing awareness to the Social Work
profession through the experiences of providers. There is an increase in laws and
restrictions that target undocumented immigrants from Mexico and South America, along
with increasing criminal penalties for failure to report undocumented persons. This may
leave social workers with mixed feelings of the profession, as well as state and federal
laws (Furman, Ackerman, Loya, Jones, & Negi, 2012).
Having knowledge of the potential permanent harm that the current antiimmigration laws in the U.S. leave on the Latino undocumented population brings to the
Social Work profession the education and understanding of this implication. The
researcher hopes that the contribution that this study brings to the Social Work
profession more exemplary social workers to better meet the needs of the clients that the
profession serves and thus create an opportunity to educate future social workers.
14
Delimitations
This research project does not include quantitative data to further explore possible
effects of the anti-immigrations laws on the Latino undocumented population. It does not
include experiments of surveys; therefore statistical data cannot be derived from it. The
researcher has gathered all data from interviews, literature review, and personal
experiences. However, there is no way to guarantee the rightfulness of providers and thus
the accuracy of what was reported. The information retrieved is limited to 12 providers in
the Sacramento-Fairfield, CA area. Two providers from different professions
participated. A provider from a specific profession was not available and thus the
researcher included a third participant from another profession. The researcher had no
way to determine the level of knowledge of the providers in regards to the current U.S.
immigration system and the anti-immigration laws. Therefore, answers to the interview
questions could be subjective to the level of knowledge of the provider.
Summary
Chapter one includes a brief introduction to the research problem, a discussion of
the background of the problem, a statement of the research problem, as well as the
purpose of the study. A description of the theoretical framework and its application to the
study is presented. The researcher includes a section where certain terms used in the
research are defined, the study assumptions, justification, and delimitations of the study
are discussed, it then concludes with a summary. Chapter two will provide a review of
the literature, including a background history of the past immigration system and the
immigration factors. Chapter three will describe the methodology for the study.
15
Chapter four will examine and analyze the data collected from interviews. Lastly,
chapter five will include a summary and discussion of the major findings as well as
provide recommendations and implications for the social work profession.
16
Chapter 2
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
This chapter reviews the literature of the provider’s perspectives on the effects of
anti-immigration laws on undocumented Latino immigrants. This chapter will be
organized in in the following four sections. The first section will provide an overview of
the history of that the effects of the anti-immigration laws have on undocumented Latino
immigrants, and the psychological and emotional consequences that it has on this
population. The second section is an overview of the current immigration system and its
current implementations. The third section will focus on the devastating effects of
deportation, with a special focus on family separation consequences. The fourth section
will focus on the benefits of a comprehensive immigration reform. The fifth section will
have a discussion on the gaps for the literature and finally a summary will be included.
Historical Background
Immigration is a universal phenomenon that has existed before the establishment
of Western countries such as the United States. This theme can be traced back to the
Bible years. There is a passage in the Bible that explains when Joseph and Mary had to
escape to Egypt due to the fact that King Herod threatened to kill Jesus (Mt. 2, 13-15).
Ever since the time of Jesus Christ we have seen this trend happening due to various
circumstances, in this case, as it is referred in the Bible, Joseph and Mary had to
immigrate to another country that was not their own because of fear of having their child
get killed. Many Latino undocumented families had left their country of origin for similar
17
circumstances; other families leave their country of origin to better the lives of their
family members.
According to Gerber (2011), there were different masses of persons who
immigrated to the United States:
Since its founding in 1789, the United States has experienced almost constant
immigration, but especially noteworthy have been three massive waves of
voluntary international migration that reconfigured the population: (1) in the
1840s and 1850s, (2) from the 1890s to World War I, and (3) in recent decades,
dating from changes in American immigration law in 1965 (p. 2).
During the first two waves of immigration, the United States went through a process of
transformation from a rural, agrarian society to an urban, industrial society. Immigrants
played a crucial role in this transition, with the supply of cheap labor. It is estimated that
35 million of 50 million Europeans between 1820 and 1920 migrated from their
homelands in search of opportunity and material security (Gerber). In the 1820s, a largescale of immigration of Catholics, from Irish origins to the predominantly Protestant
United States began (Casas & Cabrera, 2011). Their arrival resulted in the nation’s first
period of xenophobia or nativism. The U.S. then opened up its doors to laborers from
China due to the need for laborers. Americans then blamed the Chinese for “stealing”
their jobs, which then later Congress created the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, limiting
Chinese immigration (Casas & Cabrera).
18
According to Lukens, post-World War I conditions such as the high rates of
unemployment, created fears of “alien flood,” which then led to the concept of restricting
immigration through the use of quotas, known as the National Origins Act of 1921
(2012).
From 1920 through 1965, immigrants could move freely from México, Central
America, South America and the Caribbean. During this period, the Bracero Program was
enacted, which allowed Mexican farm workers to enter the U.S. to meet the labor needs
caused by World War II. It is estimated that more than 4 million Mexican laborers were
brought to the United States to work in the agricultural sector (Casas & Cabrera, 2011).
In 1965, Congress made some changes to the immigration laws. The Hart-Celler
Act was passed by Congress which replaced the quotas that were previously implemented
with the preference categories that were based on family relationships and job skills.
Through the passage of this Act, an increase in immigrants from Latin American
countries emerged. Most México-U.S. migration occurred since 1980. With the increase
number of Latino/a immigrants, anti-immigrant reactions quickly surfaced (Casas &
Cabrera, 2011). There are two examples of the efforts to increase deportation rates of
undocumented immigrants. The first is the Arizona Bill SB 1070, which makes it a crime
for undocumented immigrants to be in Arizona and requires noncitizens who are in the
country to carry registration papers with them at all times; and secondly, the
implementation of Secured Communities program in 2008, which allows for federal data
sharing by local law enforcement agencies. On the following sections, current
19
immigration issues, as well as deportation consequences and the benefits of a
comprehensive immigration reform, will be discussed.
Current Immigration System
According to Taylor, Kochhar, Lopez, Livingston, and Morin (2009), the
“Hispanics are the largest and youngest minority group in the United States” (p. 1). From
the Homeland Security report of 2012, it was “estimated that 11.5 million unauthorized
immigrants were living in the United States in January 2011” (Hoefer, Rytina, & Baker,
p. 1). The majority of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. are from Mexico,
which accounts for approximately fifty-nine percent (Hoefer, et al.). The United States
currently faces an immigration debate, which attempts to reform the current immigration
system that is in place. Nevertheless, with the increase in immigration that the country
has had since 1965, new legislation has been introduced to restrict unauthorized
immigration.
In an attempt to limit the number of unauthorized immigration to the country, the
Unites States has created different “conditions” that allows immigrants to enter the
country legally. In the 2006 report by the Congressional Research Service, Immigration
Consequences of Criminal Activity, it numbers three categories for unauthorized aliens to
enter the country in a legal manner. (1) Legal permanent residents (LPRs), also referred
to as immigrants, (2) nonimmigrants, individuals allowed to enter the country on a
temporary basis for a specific purpose, and (3) refugees, individuals that face persecution
in their country of origin and seek humanitarian assistance from the United States
(Garcia). On the contrary, another report by the same agency as the former report,
20
explains the three main categories of unauthorized immigrant population: (1) aliens who
overstay their nonimmigrant visas, (2) aliens who enter the country without inspection,
and (3) aliens who are admitted on the basis of fraudulent documentation. Nonetheless,
all three categories of the unauthorized population are in violation of the Immigration
Nationality Act (INA), which was created in 1952, and are subject to removal from the
country (Wasem, 2011). A 2012 report by the Homeland Security Department of the
United States reports that an estimated 11.5 million unauthorized immigrants were living
in the United States in 2011 (Hoefer, Rytina, & Baker).
The Immigration Nationality Act provides a description of the two family based
visa groups, which are as followed: Group 1: Immediate Relative Immigrant Visas, which
are based on a close family relationship with a United States citizen. Currently the
number of immigrants under this category is not limited each fiscal year. The specific
types of immediate relative visas include: Spouses of U.S. citizens, unmarried children
under 21 years of age of U.S. citizens, orphans adopted abroad by U.S. citizens, and
parents of a U.S. citizen who is at least 21 years old Group 2: Family preference
immigrant visas, which is limited to certain number of visas issued each fiscal year.
These types of visas are for specific, more distant family relationships with a U.S. citizen.
Relationships include: (F1) unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, and their
minor children, if any, (F2) spouses, minor children, and unmarried sons and daughters,
over 21 years old of a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR), (F3) married sons and
daughters of U.S. citizens and their spouses and minor children, and (F4) brothers and
sisters of U.S. citizens and their spouses and minor children. Grandparents, aunts, uncles,
21
in-laws, and cousins are excluded form sponsoring a relative for immigration (Bureau of
Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State, n. d.). Aside from the family-based visas,
there are other visa categories (such as the Intercountry Adoption Visas, which are
specific for adopting orphans from other countries, Employment-Based Visas, specific
for immigration based on permanent employment or investment by entrepreneurs, Special
Immigrant Visas, for immigration based on special categories, and Diversity Visas, for
persons who meet strict eligibility requirements from countries with low rates of
immigration to the United States) (U.S. Department of State, n. d.).
The Bureau of Consular Affair provides Visa Bulletins each month, which
contains the number of available immigrant visas for each category. The Immigration and
Nationality Act, Section 201 sets an annual limit of 226,000 family-sponsored preference
visas. Certain countries have limitation of visas due to the oversubscribed petitions such
is the case of México, China, India, and the Philippines. Currently the State Department
processes immigrant visas according to the filing date, which is referred to as the
“priority date.” The visa bulletin specifies the priority dates that the U.S. State
Department uses in order to process immigrant visas. A current example of this is the
Family-sponsored immigrant visas for unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens and
spouses and children and unmarried sons and daughters of permanent residents from
México, which priority date for being processed is earlier than October 15th, 1993
(Bureau of Consular Affairs, March, 2014). From looking at this year, we can conclude
that in order for a U.S. citizen or U.S. Legal Permanent Resident to petition his or her
22
family members it currently takes over 20 years before an immigrant visa is processed,
which becomes a prolonged waiting period for families.
Currently unauthorized immigrants residing in the U.S. face multiple and harsh
sanctions that punish them for staying in the country for lack of legal documentation.
Title 8 of Code of Federal Regulations, specifies that:
Any alien who has been deported or removed from the United States is
inadmissible to the United States unless the alien has remained outside of the
United States for five consecutive years since the date of deportation or removal.
If the alien has been convicted of an aggravated felony, he or she must remain
outside of the United States for twenty consecutive years from the deportation
date before he or she is eligible to re-enter the United States (Sec. 212.2, Nov.
2011).
In an attempt to indirectly control the number of unauthorized immigrants in the
country the United States has implemented a new program to increase deportation
numbers through the Secure Communities Program, which was initially introduced by the
Bush administration in March of 2008. The program piloted 14 jurisdictions since
October 2008 and has dramatically expanded under the President Obama administration
(Kohli, Markowitz, & Chavez, 2011). A report by the University of California, Berkeley
Law School, states that the “Secure Communities Program is active in 1,595 jurisdictions
in 44 states and territories” (Kohli, et al., p.1). Later in the report, it specifies that the
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency expects to have the program active
in all jurisdictions of the nation by 2013. Secure Communities acts through local law
23
enforcement agencies to enforce federal civil immigration laws. This program relies on
electronic data sharing, which has allowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement
agency to run federal immigration checks on local county jails, usually while still in pretrial custody (Kohli, et al).
Deportation Consequences: Family Separation
Family unity has always been a foundation of U.S. immigration policy (U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, 2011). Nonetheless, this family-based immigration
policy system continues to separate families on the premises of unlawful presence in the
U.S. Never before in the history of the Unites States have we had a tremendous increase
in deportation numbers of undocumented immigrants as we have under the Obama
administration. According to the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted a total of 368, 644 removals for the 2013 fiscal
year. Deportation numbers are still at the top ever since the Obama administration took
over. Deportation can be easily translated to family separation or destruction of family.
Deportation refers to the physical removal of an individual from the country or residence
to the country or origin. Majority of immigrants come to another country to establish
themselves and their families and when confronted with deportation, it becomes a
harmful situation for the individual and the members that surround him, especially if the
individual is fully established (Immigration & Customs Enforcement, n. d.).
Mexicans are the most overrepresented ethnic group in the United States;
nonetheless they are the most adversely affected by these types of anti-immigration laws,
which definitely are not “immigration-friendly” policies. Mexican immigrants live in
24
what we call “mix-status” families, which means that they are composed of U.S. citizen
children with undocumented immigrant parents, U.S. legal resident spouses with
undocumented children or spouse, and vice (Dreby, 2012).
Dreby (2012) conducted an ethnographic study in Ohio and New Jersey between
2009 and 2012. The study looked at the consequences that the local law enforcement had
on undocumented immigrants. Both parents (N=91) and children (N=110) from both
states were interviewed, a total of 80 families participated in the study. Of the 63 parents
that were undocumented, 18 were legal migrants, and 10 were U.S. born. On the other
hand, 31 children were undocumented, eight were legal migrants, and 71 were U.S. born.
Out of these families, a total of 16 families had been impacted by deportation at some
point in their lives, which then described their experiences.
Deportation is an issue that for the most part it affects males. Past research has
shown that for the most part men are the ones who are arrested, detained and deported.
A recent report on Secure Communities by the Warrant Institute of the University of
California, Berkeley found that 93% of individuals under the program were male
although as reported in Kohli, Markowitz & Chavez’s study, 43% of the population of
undocumented residents in the U.S. are women and 57% are men (as cited in the report
by the Department of Homeland and Security, 2011). This is demonstrating that males
are significantly at risk of deportations (Derby, 2012; Kohli, et al., 2011; & Department
of Homeland Security).
Males are primarily the head of the household and when he disappears out of the
family system, due to deportation, the family members that are left behind suffering a
25
great deal and the entire family dynamic is changed. This leads to another problem:
single-motherhoods, which now lack economic, emotional, and psychological support.
As stated in this article, “Nationwide, children in single-parent households are 4.2 times
more likely to live in poverty than are children with married parents” (Dreby, 2012, p. 9).
Therefore these types of policies that are being implemented leave families in extremely
vulnerable conditions, which place them at risk of poverty and most importantly tearing
families apart. Deportations leave a permanent change in the structure of the household.
According to this study, families harmed by these circumstances are left with three
choices to choose from: “children may be placed in foster care, the mother may become a
single mother, or the family may go back to México” (Dreby p. 10).
According to Dreby (2012), “one of the biggest fears that families expressed in
interviews is that parents may lose custody of their U.S.-born citizen children as a result
of detention or deportation” (p.10). An approximation of 5, 100 children are currently in
the foster care system due to detention or deportation. Currently, families face high levels
of fear due to the increased numbers in deportation cases as we have also been seeing
more and more families with a single-parent household, not only family members suffer
economically but also they suffer emotionally and thus causing parental bonds to
diminish or to leave a long-term mark in their children use a reference (Dreby).
Some families are able to reunite through the return of their deportee member, but
upon their return they face high levels of stigma and demoralization, which nonetheless
affects them for the rest of their lives. And when families move back to México, U.S.
born children are then faced with a new country that is strange to them and may feel like
26
they are in exile. “U.S.- born children who move to México with their parents are also
deprived of the benefits of U.S. citizenship such as access to health care and insurance”
(Dreby, 2012, p. 16).
As researched in Derby’s study, Mexican immigrant families face many
challenges due to their immigration status and much higher harm is done when a member
of a family is deported. Many of them, as described, experience high levels of fear and
long-term consequences such as stigma, feeling ashamed of their status, stress, emotional,
economic and psychological effects, destruction of their family structure and not trusting
the enforcement system due to fear of being deported, which consequently puts them at
risk of not reporting crimes or seeking assistance when needed.
A 2011 report about parental rights termination as a consequence of deportation,
by C. Elizabeth Hall references how supreme courts in the United States has terminated
parental rights due deportation proceedings. As Professor Marcia Yablon-Zug states in
this report “although decisions to terminate illegal immigrants’ parental rights are
‘frequently reversed’ on appeal, the parents often do not appeal, either because they are
too poor or because they have already been deported and are unable to access the U.S.
legal system” (Hall, p. 1462,). As explained in Hall’s report, state laws defines parental
unfitness, which is factor that plays an important role for determining if parental rights
would be terminated or not. Hall’s report states that there states have varying rules on
what constitutes unfitness, “the most relevant bases for the purpose of this Note are
abandonment, including failure to support or maintain contact with the child, failure to
remedy a persistent condition that caused the removal of the child, and failure to comply
27
with a reunification or rehabilitation plan” (p. 1470). These set of statutes makes it
difficult for undocumented parents to fight against the courts to not terminate their
parental rights. For example, incarcerated undocumented parents, due to deportation
proceedings, are faced with a barrier that impedes them from maintaining sufficient
contact with their children, which then makes it easier for courts to find the parents unfit
for being able to keep their children with them, despite the parent’s efforts to contact their
children and the system’s failure to aid them with this uncontrollable situation (Hall).
Termination of parental rights is probably the biggest consequence of deportations that an
undocumented family could face. Undocumented families do not only struggle with the
termination of their parental rights but they also suffer psychological hardship.
According to Lopez, Connel, and Kraul (2005) report on the adverse effects of
deportation, it indicates that “The physical removal of parents can have long-lasting
traumatic effects on children and spouses left behind in the United States” (as cited in
Hagan, Castro, & Rodriguez, 2010, p.1820). A 2010 study by The Urban Institute reports
that “children expressed fear and anxiety within the first six months after a parent’s
arrest” (p. 45). After a parent’s arrest, children are left with subsequent consequences in
behavior. This study found that “about two-thirds of children experienced changes in
eating and sleeping habits” (p. ix). Children’s behavior is dramatically impacted by the
separation from their parents; most of them experienced sleeping and eating difficulties,
as well as aggressive and withdrawn behavior (Chaundry, Capps, Pedraza, Castañeda,
Santos, & Scott, 2010). Undocumented children fear the police (Dreby, 2012).
28
Deportation brings psychological impacts in children of undocumented parents.
Children suffer greatly when their parents are deported; according to Dreby, children
learn to associate a stigma with their immigrant heritage. Children learn that their
immigrant status means “something bad” and thus preferred that others do not know that
either they or their parents are immigrants, which means that they feel ashamed of their
situation (Dreby, 2012).
Family separation through deportation, as reviewed in this section greatly impacts
undocumented families in all possible aspects, psychologically, emotionally,
economically and most importantly it decomposes the family unit and may in fact
destroyed the entire family forever.
Benefits of a Comprehensive Immigration Reform
President Barack Obama stated the following on January 2013 when addressing
the benefits of passing a Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
So, if we're truly committed to strengthening our middle class and
providing more ladders of opportunity to those who are willing to work
hard to make it into the middle class, we've got to fix the system. We have
to make sure that every business and every worker in America is playing
by the same set of rules. We have to bring this shadow economy into the
light so that everybody is held accountable — businesses for who they
hire, and immigrants for getting on the right side of the law. That’s
common sense. And that’s why we need comprehensive immigration
reform (Executive Office of the President, January, 29, 2013).
29
A report by the Executive Office of the President, The Economic Benefits of
Fixing Our Broken Immigration System, issued in July 2013, addresses the economic
benefits of passing a Comprehensive Immigration Report. The report points out four key
benefits to the U.S. economy of passing an Immigration Reform: Passing an immigration
reform will strengthen the overall economy and grows U.S. Gross Domestic Product
(GDP), it would foster innovation and encourage more job creation and job growth,
increase the opportunity for workers and adds new protections for American workers, and
decrease budget deficits, balances out an aging population, and strengths Social Security.
An immigration reform would lead to greater economic growth by adding more
high-demand workers to the labor force. This would increase the annual Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) by 3.3 percent in 2023 and by 5.4 percent in 2033. It would also improve
the U.S. worker and capital productivity, thus increasing the wages of the U.S. workers
by 0.5 percent in 2033. An immigration reform would attract entrepreneurs to the U.S. to
start companies and create jobs. “More than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were
founded by immigrants or children of immigrants. These American companies represent
7 of the 10 most valuable brands globally, collectively employ more than 10 million
people and generate annual revenue of $4.2 trillion” (Executive Office of the President,
2013, p. 6).
Another benefit to an immigration reform is that higher immigration increases
U.S. worker’s productivity by contributing to technological advancement, which
translates into higher wages since productivity rises. Another benefit of an immigration
reform is that it would help balance out an aging population and rise up Social Insurance
30
programs. “Enacting the Senate immigration reform bill will add nearly $300 billion to
the Social Security Trust Fund over the next decade. Reducing the Social Security
shortfall by nearly half a trillion dollars over the next 75 years and extending the life of
the Trust Fund by two years” (Executive Office of the President, 2013, p. 21).
The already mentioned report states that an immigration reform would benefit the
economy across all sectors, strengthening America’s Housing Recovery, it would
improve the housing market, by enabling immigrants to achieve homeownership by
building credit, boosting immigrant incomes, and increase the number of U.S. residents
by 10.4 million by 2023 (Executive Office of the President, 2013). A reform will promote
the American agricultural industry; it would increase international travel and tourism
through reforming the Visa Waiver Program, expanding trusted traveler programs, and
increasing the number of U.S. Custom and Border Protection officers (Executive Office
of the President).
A 2012 research by Raúl Hinojosa Ojeda, in accordance with the report issued by
the Executive Office of the President, predicts that a comprehensive immigration reform
would increase the U.S. GDP by at least 0.84 percent per year (Hinojosa Ojeda).
Hinojosa Ojeda (2012) states that virtually all sectors of the U.S. will expand,
expectations are that sectors such as textiles, transportation and electronic equipment,
motor vehicles and parts, nonelectric machinery and equipment, capital goods, ferrous
metals, mineral products and construction will experience large increases.
A 2014 article by Bishop Eusebio Elizondo explains the benefits that an
immigration reform would do to immigrant families. The article explains how the
31
passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 allowed for an
increase in wages by 15 percent creating an upward economic mobility of immigrant
workers. Over the long-term, the IRCA reduced the poverty rates of immigrant
communities. Bishop Eusebio predicts that passage of an immigration reform would most
likely have the same effect on immigrant families. As stated in the article “immigration
reform is a win-win for both immigrant workers and their families and U.S. citizens.
Keeping undocumented workers in the shadows limits their ability to fully contribute to
our economy and prevents them from climbing out of poverty” (United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops, 2014).
Gaps in the Literature
Despite there being large amount of literature on U.S. immigration and Latinos in
the U.S., there is limited literature from first-hand data that examines the impact of antiimmigration laws on undocumented Latino immigrants. This study uses secondary data to
examine the impact of anti-immigration laws on Latino immigrants, therefore this study
does not help to lessen the current gap that exist on the current literature due to the
vulnerability and high level of confidentiality of the research being done. As Furman,
Ackerman, Loya, Jones and Negi (2012) stated on their research about confidentiality, “it
serves as a protective social factor, in that it encourages people who may have harmed
others to come forward and change their lives” (p. 178). The intention of this research is
to examine the impact that the anti-immigration laws have on undocumented Latino
immigrants, by helping change the lives of this population by attempting to gather firsthand data as close as possible.
32
On this research, the researcher aims to lessen the gap of outdated literature by
using current and updated information about the topic being studied. The literature
reviewed presented in this chapter addressed current perspectives based on current antiimmigration laws that currently affect the Latino undocumented population by using
research from the last 10 years. Having current information is crucial for the nation’s
future political decisions; as Casas & Cabrera (2011) research states “there is also a need
to provide data to accurately inform the immigration positions of policy makers at all
levels” (p. 296). Another gap in the literature that exists is the lack of research on
provider’s perspectives in various fields in regards to Latino undocumented immigration
and the adverse implications that the U.S. anti-immigration laws have on them. As Dr.
Carola Suárez-Orozco, noted in the American Psychological Association’s (APA)
website:
Psychologists have a unique and important perspective to offer to the immigration
discussion in several domains. … We also can call attention to the unintended
consequences of immigration policies for children and families, as well as
vulnerable populations, including previously traumatized refugees and asylum
seekers (2010).
Throughout this study’s literature review, the researcher had not found a single
one research that reports the provider’s perspectives of the topic being discussed. The
researcher aims to lessen the gap that currently exists in current research in regards to
provider’s perspectives with the data found in this study. Many biases about the
implications for undocumented Latino immigrants have been concluded in past studies,
33
since there is very little research data that directly uses first-hand data to reveal the
precise implications that the U.S. immigration laws have on the target population. As
Cervantes, Mejía, and Guerrero Mena (2010) state in their study:
The specific evaluation for psychological hardship will require the gathering of
multiple sources of information including child and family interviews,
background history of the parents, school records, psychological and medical
reports if issues of disability are alleged, and psychological testing (p. 286).
Without directly gathering first-hand information from undocumented immigrants
this topic will continue to experience gaps in its literature.
The researchers from various studies often tried to draw large-scale conclusions
based on statistics about the number of undocumented immigrants and the number of
deportations due to an adverse action from immigration policies. The problem with these
large-scale conclusions is that they do not account for the rest of the population that has
not reported adverse actions or the impact that such immigration laws have on them due
to the fear of being deported which makes undocumented individuals afraid of coming
forward (Kohli, Markowitz, and Chavez, 2011).
By analyzing the sources for the research used in this study, biases were found.
For example, it was found that conclusions from the studies were often based on who
conducted the research or from the source that conducted it. For example, a 2013 report
by the Pew Research Center states “Americans overwhelmingly say the nation’s
immigration policy is in need of sweeping changes” (p. 1). That is, pro immigrants’ rights
research stressed the real need for an immigration reform that would legalized the
34
undocumented population and the need for an improved immigration law system that will
treat the undocumented immigration population with dignity, respect, and inclusion into
our society. On the other hand, agencies such as U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement Department only provided statistical documentation on removals, number of
visas granted population statistics and other such statistics but failed to address how the
U.S. immigrations laws are impacting the lives of the undocumented population. An
illustration of this example is the in-group and-out-group bias, where Mexican
immigrants, for example, would show a positive attitude than other ethnic minorities
towards Mexican immigrants due to shared commonalities, whereas the out-group,
individuals that are not Mexican immigrants would show a negative attitude towards the
in-group (Diaz, Saenz, and Kwan, 2011).
The researcher of this study found a lack of studies that reference the validity and
reliability of the studies reviewed. One study from the Pew Research Center, where
telephone interviews were conducted where sampling errors may have occurred. The
report gives an explanation of this limitation “Sampling errors and statistical tests of
significance take into account the effect of weighting” (p. 8, 2013).
The researcher of this study seeks to fill the gap of analyzing first-hand data as
close as possible as it can be; in this case, the data came from providers that directly work
with undocumented Latino immigrants to examine the effects that the anti-immigration
laws have on this at-risk population. By filling this gap, the researcher aims that
subsequent studies focus their attention on the consequences that these anti-immigrant
35
laws have on undocumented Latino immigrants and thus influence future “immigrantfriendly” policies.
Summary
This chapter provided a review of the literature relevant to the purpose of this
study. This chapter included the literature of the historical background of the topic being
studied. It presented the current immigration system being implemented, the deportation
consequences that the current immigration laws have on undocumented families with a
special focus on family separation. The chapter last section reviewed the literature related
to the benefits of a comprehensive immigration reform, concluding with a discussion on
the gaps in the literature. The following chapter discusses the methodology used for this
study.
36
Chapter 3
METHODS
The research design and methodology used for this research study will be
described in this chapter. The criteria used to select the participants for this study will be
reported, including a description of the sample population and the sampling technique.
This chapter will also focus on discussing the instruments used to collect and analyze
data along with the reporting methods used. The final section of this chapter gives a
description of the guidelines that will be used for the protection of the human subjects in
this study. This study examines the provider’s perspectives on the effects of antiimmigration laws on undocumented Latino immigrants.
Research Question
The purpose of this study was to explore provider’s perspectives on the effects of
anti-immigration laws on undocumented Latino immigrants. The following is the
research question for this study: What effects do the anti-immigration laws have on the
undocumented Latino immigrants?
Study Design
The design of this study will be qualitative exploratory phenomenological study,
using content analysis, latent as well as manifest content analysis to analyze the data and
identify recurrent themes or categories. The following is a detailed framework for this
research design. This type of study design is used when the researcher attempts to get an
understanding and knowledge of the human life experiences and behavior in order to find
meaning to them. Qualitative methods “are more useful when little is understood about a
37
phenomenon and flexibility is needed in the methods used” (Dudley, 2011, p. 27). The
impact of the anti-immigration laws on undocumented Latino immigrants is a fairly
unknown research topic and a qualitative design is more appropriate to use since it is not
much known about this phenomenon. Data gathered for this research design is typically
in word form, phrases, sentences or narrative form.
The qualitative method approach intends to encourage subjects to discuss a
particular topic or a range of topics. This type of design uses a semi-structure or
unstructured open-ended question research form and data is usually gathered in the form
of interviews. “They ask questions or observe behaviors that are more likely to be openended and thus less likely to be quantified” (Dudley, 2011, p. 27). Qualitative studies do
not have the intension of being generalized, they rather their primary intension is to
understand the participants in the study.
Qualitative research designs have multiple advantages over quantitative designs.
Among some of the advantages is the direct contact between the researcher and the
research subject. This direct contact with the individual allows the researcher to observe,
cues, body language, intonation of voice, reactions, and be able to ask for clarification of
questions if needed. All of this additional information gathered from direct contact
becomes useful and meaningful to the research content. Another advantage to the usage
of this research design is the fact that the researcher may be able to ask for follow up
questions, as necessary; additionally the participant is not limited to a specific set of
answers, on the contrary it is able to share his/her personal stories.
38
On the other side, there are also multiple disadvantages when using this type of
approach. An example of a disadvantage is that a qualitative research design does not
provide standardized measures as a quantitative method does. In a quantitative research
design for example, Dudley (2011) stated that: “they can provide standardized measures
of a concept and more accurate measures generally” (p. 26). Due to the nature of the
research method, a qualitative study is inclusive of the researcher and participants
personal biases. Another disadvantage is that the results obtained from this type of design
cannot be generalized to the larger population; therefore the findings cannot be apply to
the general population, which basically limits the finding to the particular group being
researched.
Content analysis has been used in this study in order to analyzed recurrent themes.
The use of an audio or video recorder could be used in these types of studies. Data in this
type of study is not standardized; therefore, it requires in-depth analysis and
interpretation from the researcher in order to find fruitful meaning of common themes.
Content analysis is a systematic method that examines the written or transcribed
responses to an interview. Specific words are selected from written documents in order to
come up with main themes from the documents. This technique can be applied to any
type of communication. The main purpose of content analysis is to better understand how
people perceive their social world. On the other hand, content analysis could also include
latent and manifest analysis. Latent content analysis refers to the implicit type of
communication that the participant intended to say. For example, in trying to answer the
following question: “what is your opinion about the law enforcement process?” a
39
participant may answer “I think is too cumbersome and people are getting arrested for
minor things.” What the individual may be trying to convey is that the law enforcement
process is not being effective and is being too strict on individuals. Latent content
analysis is also used in this study in order to look for the underlying meaning contained in
each interview. Latent content analysis seeks to understand the overall meaning of the
commutation by reviewing it in its entirety and making an assessment (Rubin & Babbie,
2008). Latent content is always subjective since it is up to the interpretation of the
researcher.
Manifest content analysis, is the direct meaning of what the participant stated.
This type of content is directly visible since it is explicitly expressed. Manifest content is
always easier to look for since it clear and apparent. This study uses both techniques of
content analysis, latent and manifest.
As both Rubin and Babbie (2010) stated “probably the greatest advantage of
content analysis is its economy in terms of both time and money” (p. 246). Another
advantage, is that it is unobtrusive to the participant; since the interview was recorded
there was nothing else than the audio recorded device that was apparent to the
interviewee. Another advantage is that the responses to the interview questions are
available for verification and anyone is able to do this type of analysis.
As with any other technique of analysis, content analysis also has some
diadvantages. A disadvantage in using content analysis is that the content has to be
recorded, which could be intrusive to the participants and could potentially alter the way
40
they respond to questions. Another disadvantage is that having more than one researcher
analyze the data may come up with different themes, which may affect reliability.
Study Population
The population chosen for this study was providers, it is meant by this denotation,
any individual that works or had worked by providing services in a direct or indirect
manner with undocumented Latino immigrants. A total of 12 individuals from these
professions: Priests, Social Workers, Police Officers, School teachers, Immigration
Lawyers, Community Organizers, and Labor Contractors, were recruited via a direct
invitation from the researcher, known to her to participate in the study.
Sampling Procedures
A non-probability sampling design: purposive sampling as well as snowball and
quota sampling methods were used in this study. A non-probability sampling is a
“sampling in which we do not know if every person in the population has an equal chance
of being selected” (Dudley, 2011, p. 140). This type of sampling is often used when the
intention is not to generalize the finding to the larger population.
The sample used to select participants for this study is referred to as the purposive
sampling, where the potential candidate for participation would have to have a particular
criterion to participate in the study. Purposive sampling, which is also known as, criterion
sampling is a type of non-probability sampling design “This approach is often used
because a study is interested in the views or experiences of people with a certain status,
diagnosis, experience, or set of circumstances” (p. 145). The other non-probability
sampling design used for this research is snowball sampling in which the researcher will
41
ask participants to refer other possible providers to participate in the research study. The
third approached used in for this study is quota sampling, which allows the researcher to
compare subgroups of participants and to make sure that the research study has a
proportionate numbers of individuals in each group.
The researcher asked service providers to refer other providers that may be
willing to participate in the study as well. This type of recruitment represented a snowball
sampling technique, especially to find a population that is not easily accessible to
identify. After an invitation had been accepted, the researcher then conducted in-depth
interviews by either meeting in-person or via phone line. Interviews will be audiorecorded for purposes of data analysis. This population includes people of varying ages,
genders, professions, backgrounds, ethnicities, and experiences.
The quota sampling technique allowed the researcher to use subgroups of
different service provider’s professions, therefore two of each subgroup where
interviewed and consequently having an equal number of people in each subgroup.
Data Collection Procedures
For purposes of data collection, the researcher contacted potential participants,
known to her to invite them to participate in the study via electronic mail, direct
invitation or phone calling in order to first introduce the research study. Information on
the purpose of the study, consent to participate, and interview questions where initially
presented (Appendix A). Information regarding consent to participate and confidentiality
assurance was personally and clearly discussed with each individual, once an
appointment to meet was scheduled. Interview questions where provided ahead of the
42
interview to allow the participant to prepare for it. Prior to the interview, additional time
was given to each individual to clarify any questions if necessary.
The researcher conducted in-depth interviews no longer than 1 hour, and asked
open-ended questions. Each individual interview was audio-recorded. All interviews
were conducted face-to-face and in a public setting previously agreed by both, the
interviewer and the interviewee.
Instruments
A total of 13 questions were developed with the intention of stimulating unique
responses from each participant; 12 of those questions where open-ended and addressed
personal opinions about the topic of the study. One question asked about demographics,
the gender and educational level of each participant. These questions could be found in
Appendix B. No question asked about identifiable characteristics. In this way the
anonymity of the participants has been protected.
An open-ended interview was developed and utilized for this study. The questions
on the interviewed were all developed by the researcher with the aim to gather first hand
experiences and opinions about the way they think the anti-immigration laws affect the
well-being of the Latino undocumented population. The process for developing the
interview questions came from personal known experiences about the impact that certain
immigration laws currently implemented have on undocumented individuals living in the
United States. The interview questions could be found in Appendix B. In an order to
maintain anonymity, the researcher only included one question about demographics,
which asked about the gender of the participants and his/her level of education.
43
The interview questions were developed in three different focuses, one of them
was on the effects that the anti-immigration laws have on individuals and the family
structure, the interview questions asked about a specific law currently implemented in the
state of Arizona. Another focused on the questions was about the benefits of a possible
immigration reform and how it would benefit the undocumented population. A third and
last focus of the interviews was about the efficiency of the law enforcement system.
Data Analysis
Once the interviews have been completed, all the audio recordings were
transcribed into word processing documents. All data was deeply reviewed by the
researcher and identification of recurrent topics for thematic analysis.
The researcher used colored highlighters to code data into themes and clusters.
Content analysis was conducted on the transcriptions and common themes were
developed. Both latent as well as manifest analyses were used to better analyze the data.
The researcher read at loud all the responses from each interview in detail using manifest
coding in order to find common themes among responses. The researcher then reviewed
the highlighted words and latent analysis was implemented to determine the underlying
meaning of the text.
Protection of Human Subjects
A human subjects application was submitted to the Division of Social Work
before the study began. The research study was approved as an “exempt” level status
(Appendix C) No subjects were contacted or data collected prior to the approval being
received. To ensure protection of data, the researcher provided an inform consent to the
44
potential interviewee and clearly informed the voluntary nature of the participation. Data
collected from the interviews and all other information, such as emails, interviewing
questions, will be maintained strictly confidential. Audio recordings of the interviews
will be transcribed and both will be destroyed by December 2013. Electronic mails were
printed and vital information was crossed out along with deletion of e-mails.
Consent forms were kept locked in a zip file folder store at the researcher’s home
until the research study has been completed, at which time all consent forms will also be
destroyed by December 31st, 2013. Only the researcher and the researcher’s advisor have
access to the data at all times.
Summary
This chapter presented an overview of the study design, sampling procedures,
data collection procedures, instrumentation, analysis of data, and the protection of human
subjects. Data analysis methods were also discussed. The focus of the next chapter will
be analyzing the data.
45
Chapter 4
DATA ANALYSIS
This chapter will present the results of the study. The main purpose of the study
conducted was to examine the effects of the anti-immigration laws on the Latino
undocumented population from the provider’s perspectives. The intention of this study
was to increase the awareness of the implications of the current U.S. immigration system
has on the Latino undocumented immigrant population in order for the Social Work
profession to better meet the needs of this community.
Participant Demographics
Structured interviews were held with 12 providers from these professions:
Clergy, Social Workers, Police Officers, School teachers, Immigration Layers,
Community Organizers, Labor contractors, and Paralegals. Due to unforeseen
circumstances, participants categorized as teachers and priests were unavailable to
participate. In result, the researcher sought out other professions (i.e. teachers and labor
contractors) that have previously worked or are currently working with the
undocumented Latino immigrant population. All 12 providers were from the SacramentoFairfield, CA area. All interview questions were conducted in English, although some
providers asked the researcher for clarification in Spanish or asked for assistance in
translating some Spanish words in English.
Provider’s ethnicity, age, knowledge level of the U.S. current immigration
system, or their stand on immigration laws was not asked. No personal information was
asked besides two demographic questions: level of education and gender. All participants
46
are adults; 11 of the 12 providers held a graduate degree, and one provider held an
undergraduate degree. Seven participants were male and five were female.
Specific Findings
All participants were given fictitious names as follows: Antonio, John, Linda,
Sandra, Kassandra, Robert, Carmen, Carlos, Richard, Paul, Michael, and Elena. All
participants were asked a series of 13 questions (Appendix B) pertaining to the current
U.S. immigration system, the impact of anti-immigration laws on the Latino
undocumented population, the law enforcement process, and the benefits of an
immigration reform. Participants had the right to omit any questions and/or ask for
clarification if a question was not clear enough. Several main themes emerged that may
begin to explain the impact that the current U.S. anti-immigration laws have on the
undocumented Latino population. These are the four themes that emerged during data
analysis: 1) lack of effectiveness of the current U.S. immigration system; 2) destruction
of the family unit due to deportations; 3) creation of fear due to the legal status of the
population; and 4) the benefits of an immigration reform.
Lack of Effectiveness of the Current U.S. Immigration System
All twelve participants expressed that the current U.S. immigration system is not
effective as it stands right now. Participants were asked the following question: From
your perspective, how effective do you believe the immigration system is in this country?
Linda, a female community organizer, stated, “Obviously you have 11 million
people who are here and so I think that just says that is not effective!”
47
Similarly, John, a male paralegal, reported “we have very contradictory laws and
so I think is broken, we have contradictory laws and it’s not very effective at all”.
Robert, a male Social Worker, also reported “Well..., is not it hasn’t been effective for
the last 10years or 15 years, maybe even more because nothing has been done to make it
more effective, is dysfunctional.”
When asked to state how effective they believe the current immigrations system is
in the U.S., all participants firmly stated that they believe it is not an effective system.
This belief from the participants is consistent with literature. A 2013 national survey
conducted by the Pew Research Center researchers states, “Overall, 75% say immigration
policy needs at least major changes, with 35% saying it needs to be ‘completely rebuilt’”
(p.1). According to this survey, 21% said that immigration policy only needs minor
changes (Pew Research Center).
The report also provides data about the opinion of people of whether they think
that undocumented immigrants should be allowed to stay in the country or not. Nearly
three-quarters (73%) of the n=1, 504 participants reported that undocumented immigrants
should be allowed to stay legally, whereas 25% reported that undocumented immigrants
should not be allowed to stay legally (Pew Research Center, 2013). This data is also
consistent with the results of this study. Richard, a male police officer, stated the
following in regards to hard-working undocumented individuals already in the country:
I will give you two examples: Carlos who is probably the hardest working people
I have ever met, works five different jobs here in this country, he supports
himself, his wife, his two kids, and supports his mother and father who are still
48
south of the border. Salvador has two kids, a wife, and takes care of a dying father
back in México. Salvador works four jobs … People who come and those who are
here to work and do things the way we asked them to do things that are legal,
ethical, and with integrity. I think the government should work on getting those
people here.
Richard’s opinion in regards to the immigration system currently in place in the
country is consistent with what the literature states about it. A statement in the White
House website acknowledges the inefficiency of the current U.S. immigration system and
states what the system “should do” for the immigrants that “play by the rules.” It states
the following: “Our immigration system should reward anyone who is willing to work
hard and play by the rules. For the sake of our economy and our security, legal
immigration should be simple and efficient” (The White House website, n. d.).
A news article on The Bustle, a social media website, explains three ways in how
the United States’ immigration system is broken. The article makes emphasis on: 1)
mandatory detentions without a hearing. A report by the Open Society Foundations adds
the following in regards to the U.S. detention system, “the U.S. immigration system has
grown exponentially from 70,000 people detained a year in 1996 to some 400,000 people
in 2012. A primary reason for this expansion is a series of 1996 laws that expanded
‘mandatory detention’” [referring to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility (IIRIRA) Act] (Open Society Foundations, 2013, para. 2). Another reason,
according to this article is: the privatization of detention facilities as the private prison
industry is increasingly taking over the immigration detention system; and
49
acknowledging race, as the article explains, that the laws that are placing immigrants in
these detention centers are systematically racists (The Bustle, 2013).
All participants of this study coincide in the same type of response. Kassandra, a
female immigration lawyer, stated:
So as it stands now, is not effective at all because it’s deporting families. Family
members who should have never been deported and it doesn’t look at the
contribution that immigrants make and I think that if more focus was put on that
than we can actually find ways for the economy to be stronger than it is right now.
Current literature supports what participants explained about the inefficiency of
the current U.S. immigration system. As explained above, the immigration system in the
United States has become an industry for business despite the fact that the undocumented
immigrant population would have to pay such a high price for it. This statement is
concurrent with what Conflict theory teaches about the inequality that exists among
groups with most resources/power over the powerless group (Ferrante-Wallace, 2011).
In this case, the dominant groups, whom are the private owners of the prisons or
detention facilities, are exercising power and enforcing harsh restrictions over the
undocumented immigrants. As a consequence it causes conflict among these two groups
and consequently it trickles down to the entire immigration system and society.
Destruction of the Family Unit Due To Deportation
Participants were asked the following questions: from your perspective, what do
you think are the effects of the anti-immigration laws on the Latino undocumented
population? And, to what extend do you think these laws affect the family structure of this
50
population? These two questions were intended to find out what would be the possible
effects that the current immigration policies have on the target population.
Out of the 12 participants, none of them hesitated on responding that family
dynamics are extremely affected due to the current immigration policies, and deportation
being the most extreme form of punishment. All of them expressed their concern about
the fact that a lot of parents are being forced to separate from their children and thus
causing a complete destruction of the family unit.
Antonio, a male immigration lawyer responded the following in regards to the
first question previously stated:
The effect is people, families are being separated … separating families. I think
having to make a spouse, parent, or child leave the United States for their home
country to apply for residency is harsh. … I think it’s very difficult to separate
families. So the impact, you know, it’s across the board. It’s financial, it’s
emotional, it’s psychological, and I see it. I see it day in and day out.
A 2012 New York Times article reported that children from deported parents are
left with a deep and irreversible damage. These children had experienced a permanent
separation from their parents without warning, thus it is one of the most devastating and
traumatic experiences in human development (Yoshikawa & Suarez-Orozco, 2012).
The researchers in the report state the following in regards to the effects of the
separation of parents from their children,
These children experience immediate household crises, starting with the loss of
parental income. The harsh new economic reality causes housing and food
51
insecurity. In response to psychological and economic disruptions, children show
increased anxiety, frequent crying, changes in eating and sleeping patterns,
withdrawal and anger (Yoshikawa & Suarez-Orozco, 2012, p. 2).
Literature is consistent with the participant’s opinions about the effects that antiimmigration laws have on the undocumented immigrant population, especially the
devastating effect that leaves to families. Hagan, Eschbach, and Rodriguez (2008) explain
how deportations leave a permanent mark on families for life.
Under current U.S. enforcement policy, deportation orders may bar a deportee
from reentering the United States for anywhere from 5 years to life. Separation
form family thus can stretch to a lifetime, especially in cases where family
members in the United States lack the means or are unwilling to relocate to the
country where a family member has been deported. The latter is especially true
for U.S.-born children that have no familiarity with the country or culture to
which their parents have been deported (p. 76).
Deportation is probably the worst sanction that an undocumented individual
would get and is much worst if the individual has a family to raise. As Dreby (2012)
states, “Children and their parents live in constant fear of separation. Often children who
do not know anyone deported still fear for their own families based on the knowledge
that they could be separated at a moment’s notice” (p. 2). Due to this fear, children often
conflate the police with immigration officials, and consequently they grow up afraid of
the police.
52
In regards to the second question previously written above, Antonio added the
following:
Well, we read psychological reports, we prepare, not we, I mean we refer the
clients to a psychologists and Ph.D. and then she does the evaluations and we
have to review those and its pretty bad what comes back. A lot of those people,
what I have personally seen, you know, is that these people will suffer permanent
damage in some cases, irreversible damage, and in some other cases people have
pre-existing depression and so this is only going to make it worse. So that, I’ve
seen a lot of emotional damage; clients that come in here and they cry and it’s
very evident that what they are going through its pretty difficult.
A report by researchers publishing in the Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences
discuss that the fear of anxiety becomes a silent emotional stressor for people who have
risked their lives to immigrate to another country in order to support their children back
in their home country (Cervantes, Mejía, & Guerrero Mena, 2010).
There are also mentions in the literature that deportation severs parental with their
children upon return. Deportees face high levels of stigma once they are back, they are
viewed as “failed migrants” or as “criminals,” consequently causing demoralization
(Dreby, 2012). Deportation sets the mark for long-term consequences such as stress,
avoidance of social services, housing insecurity, and poverty (Dreby). Nonetheless,
families with deported individuals slip easily into poverty. In the 16 cases of deportation
in Dreby’s study, all of them expressed financial hardship as a direct consequence of a
parental deportation (Dreby).
53
Dreby went ahead to explain how deportation of a family member has a ripple
effect. It affects the entire family dynamics, as family members are separated and thus
family relationships are completely distorted, the extreme consequence of this act is that
parents may lose their parental rights with deportation.
Hall (2011) provides a legal synthesis of parental rights termination due to
deportations proceedings. The author states that, “the increasing problem of illegal
immigrants having their parental rights terminated as a result of their arrest and the
initiation of deportation proceedings against them is one of the most troubling aspects of
current immigration policy” (p. 1503).
Creation of Fear Due To the Legal Status of the Population
Undocumented Latino immigrants face many different obstacles due to their legal
status in the U.S. A recurrent theme that came up during participants’ interviews is the
fear factor that affects the undocumented immigrant population. The researcher asked all
participants this question: from your perspective, what do you think are the effects of the
anti-immigration laws on the Latino undocumented population?
In answering this question, Carmen stated “… Is not an effective system, is not an
effective system and I think it causes an atmosphere of tension, of racism, fear, of
insecurity, unsafety because then people don’t report the crimes that are going on in their
communities.”
Fear is a constant emotion that is embedded in the daily lives of the
undocumented immigrant population. Undocumented individuals live their daily lives in
constant fear, of being deported, of being stopped by the police, of being fired from their
54
place of work, of reporting crimes, accessing public services, etc. A 2010 study made
multiple anonymous interviews to undocumented immigrants in several Texas
communities. The authors of this study reported that service providers, such as teachers
and health care workers expressed concern that immigrants may withdraw themselves
from services that they are entitled to due to the fear that public service agencies may
report them to immigration enforcement and thus may be deported (Hagan, Castro, and
Rodriguez, 2010).
They are afraid of coming out of the shadows due to this stigmatization that
surrounds them. John, a male paralegal, stated: “… the laws now are not effective and
sometimes it just creates more problems because it creates fear within the community …”
Paul, a male labor contractor also stated the following:
… From personal experience I feel it has a negative impact on the undocumented
community, to the point of fear, to the point of persecution at some points. I used
to work for a non-profit organization that helped undocumented, well documented
migrant workers transition from their migrant work status to a more long term
steady employment … workers not knowing who we were, most undocumented
workers would leave. So with that is the fear that we may be some kind of agency
that would question their immigration status. A lot of them would not return to
work the next day …
Programs, such as the Secure Communities, have contributed to the high levels of
anxiety/fear that exists among this population. Participant’s perspective on the high
levels of fear among undocumented individuals is consistent with what literature has
55
shown. For example, a report by the University of California, Berkeley School of Law
explains that Secure Communities has a strong negative perception that local police are
acting as ICE agents and thus causing victims and witnesses not coming forward to police
due to fear of deportation (Kohli, Markowitz, & Chavez, 2011). Secure communities was
launched with the intention of deporting individuals with criminal charges, although the
previously stated report shows that it has deported a massive number of low-level
offenders, such as people who had violated traffic laws and people with no criminal
histories at all (Kohli, Markowitz, & Chavez).
It is not surprisingly why this population is not reporting crimes due to the fear of
sanctions because of the fact that they lack legal documentation. Linda, a female
community organizer added the following statement in regards to this issue:
… when people are in the shadows, the fear often is not just of their own
deportation but it’s a fear of law enforcement and so it keeps people from
reporting crimes that are not only happening to them but are happening in the
community. They don’t want to come forward as a witness, you know the police,
so I think it again it really hurts the whole community where those things are
happening.
Linda believes that the anti-immigration laws that specifically target the Latino
undocumented population makes this population fear of law enforcement such as the
police and thus causes them to not report crimes, which then also affects the entire
community as a whole. She said,
56
…it puts them underground; it makes the undocumented population feel like less
than the rest of the population. So they don’t feel they are entitle to the same
rights … it puts them in danger because they don’t report crimes because they are
afraid. Women are in danger of domestic violence because men can hold it over
them because they are here undocumented or they are going to report them.
Children don’t have the same opportunities and education, and not only because
they don’t have the opportunities but because they are afraid even when they do
have the opportunities. They are afraid to seek them out because they don’t want
to step forward. Undocumented families have to hide in the shadows of our
country even though they have a lot to offer because they are very afraid of these
laws that are against them.
Paul, Linda, and Carmen’s opinion about the fear that the anti-immigration laws
causes on the undocumented population is concurrent with Kohli, Markowitz, and
Chavez (2011) in regards to not coming forward in reporting crimes. This is due to the
fear of a possible deportation or other harsh consequences that may be imposed on them.
Cervantes, Mejía, and Guerrero Mena (2010) make an assertive statement, which
is in accord with what participants had expressed in regards to the existing fear that the
undocumented population experiences. They state that; “The undocumented immigrant
has the added task of managing anxiety and fears associated with being discovered,
deported, and potentially repeating the immigration process again” (p. 280).
57
The Benefits of an Immigration Reform
During the interview process, all participants were asked the following questions
pertaining to an immigration reform: do you believe an immigration reform will be
beneficial to undocumented immigrants residing in this country? If yes, what are the
benefits? If no why do you think it would not be beneficial? And how would immigration
reform impact the well-being of the Latino undocumented immigrants? How would it
affect the family structure? All participants stated that an immigration reform would be
very beneficial to the Latino undocumented population. None of them perceived any
disadvantages on an immigration reform. Michael, a priest, expressed that “… one of the
benefits is that they will feel free living in this country”. Michael’s latent statement about
the benefits of a reform basically means that this community would be able to come out
of the shadows and be able to freely live a “normal” life like any other U.S. citizen does.
Elena a school teacher also states a similar action as Carlos did,
… People are going to be able to get a better paying job, and are going to be
beneficial not only for the people who are going to get the documents but is also
going to be beneficial for the government too! … People are going to be able to
get a driver’s license, are going to get insurance, health insurance, and are going
to get better jobs, education …
An article that talks about the economic benefits of an immigration reform
analyzes the economic contribution that an immigration reform would do to the U.S.
economy. It projects that … “boots wages for both native-born and newly legalized
immigrant workers. The effects would generate a $5.3 billion increase in California …”
58
(Hinojosa-Ojeda, 2012, p. 177). Michael and Elena’s opinion about the benefits of an
immigration reform is consistent with what the literature of this article points out.
Another report published by the Executive Office of the President in regards to
the economic benefits of a possible reform to the immigration system in the country
points out four key benefits to the U.S. economy: 1) it would strength the overall
economy and grows U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 2) it would foster the creation
of new jobs and job growth in the U.S., 3) it would increase the productivity of workers
and it would add new protections for American workers, and 4) it would decrease budget
deficits, balancing out an aging population, and it would strengthen the Social Security
system (Executive Office of the President, 2013).
All participants of this study stated that an immigration reform would only bring
positive benefits to the undocumented immigrant population as well as to the U.S.
economy. Two participants ambiguously stated that an immigration reform would have
some disadvantages. For example, society may lose some workforce due to the fact that
this population would be able to move forward and get better jobs. Robert, a male social
worker, said:
I personally don’t see disadvantages other than eventually you are going to lose
that workforce because generally people get better. My parents were field
workers, but look I have an education I could never go out to the fields and do
that job, I just won’t. So I don’t know if that is a disadvantage because probably
there is always going to be folks who would want to do that kind of work but is
more advantageous to the folks and they deserve it and its better for our country.
59
Linda added to the discussion regarding disadvantages by saying,
… It depends, it would be a disadvantage if there is not a path to citizenship that
is only this intermediate not permanent/temporary is not even a status; it doesn’t
grant any legal status. So it would be a disadvantage if it was that.
In answering the following question in regards to the impact of a possible
immigration reform to the well-being of the Latino undocumented immigrants, all
participants expressed that it would give them a sense of belonging to the country, it
would allow them to come out of the shadows, and it would not separate families
anymore. Paul added to the conversation,
… It would give them a sense of being, a sense of pride, a sense of belonging, and
I think the effect on the family structure would be overwhelmingly positive.
People would be able to set their roots and create lives, and create traditions, and
history and being able to call one particular place their home ….
Similarly, Carmen commented on the unity of the family,
… I think it would bring families back together again, it will take the fear out of
kids for their moms waiting, especially I heard that in Arizona and Alabama when
they started to pass all these few anti-immigration laws kids were afraid that they
would get out of school and their moms wouldn’t be there. What a horrible thing
for kids! So it would take that fear away; it would help families come out of the
shadows …
A 2012 report by the Center for American Progress states the following in regards
to a comprehensive immigration reform:
60
In the long term, only comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to
earned legalization for unauthorized immigrants can grant security to parents and
children in mixed-status families. Children need not be afraid that their family
will be broken up due to irregular statuses. They must not learn to be ashamed of
their immigrant heritage (Dreby, 2012, p. 3).
In the absence of an immigration reform, families are paying the harsh
consequences since they are being separated from their members. A comprehensive
immigration reform would bring security, unity and economic stability to the well-being
of the Latino undocumented immigrant population, as the participants explained it during
the interviews.
John, commented the following statement when referring to the potential benefits
that a reform to the U.S. immigration system would bring to the well-being of the target
population. He said,
Psychologically it has an impact on the family members … it has an impact in
their mind like if they have to worry about that it creates stress among other
feelings … so having that person here legally it just creates a feeling of being like
anyone else here, you would feel a sense of belonging here so it would impact
them economically, psychologically, emotionally for once you would feel like
you belong, [and] that you are part of this country.
Michael, Elena, Robert, Paul, Carmen, and John all coincide with each other in
stating the positive effects that an immigration reform would do to the undocumented
Latino population. As they stated, it would bring them a feeling of belongingness, being
61
able to come out of the shadows, and being able to live a “normal” life with their
families. On the other side, an immigration reform would also benefit the U.S. economy
immensely as literature has also supported this fact. The possible legalization of the
undocumented population would tremendously impact the country’s economy as
previously explained in this section.
The White House website delineates a set of proposals that the current U.S.
President, Barack Obama has set with the aim to “fix” the broken immigration system
through a comprehensive set of reforms. The proposal includes: keeping family together;
cut red tape for employers; create a “startup visa” for job-creating entrepreneurs;
encourage foreign graduate students educated in the United States to stay in the country
and contribute to the economy; enhance travel and tourism; expand opportunities for
investor visas and U.S economic development; create a new visa category for employees
of federal national security science and technology laboratories; address humanitarian
concerns; and encourage integration of immigrants to American communities
linguistically, civically, and economically. It would also reduce the time U.S. citizens are
separated from immediate family members; it would provide greater protections for farm
workers and their families, among many other provisions (The White House, n. d).
Summary
In this chapter, the data from the study was analyzed and discussed. In the
following chapter five, final conclusions will be drawn and recommendations for further
research will be made. Chapter five will also include a discussion of the limitations and
implications for social work practice and policy.
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Chapter 5
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to summarize the key data gathered in this study. A
brief review of participant’s demographics will be discussed. The four themes that
emerged during the interviews will be discussed as they relate to the effects of the antiimmigration laws on the Latino undocumented population. Limitations of the study will
also be discussed. Implications for the social work practice and policy, and future
research will be included in this chapter.
Conclusions
Participants of this study are professionals that provide some form of service to
the undocumented Latino immigrant, whether it is a direct service or an indirect service.
Providers from different professions, such as Clergy, Social Workers, Police Officers,
School teachers, Immigration Layers, Community Organizers, Labor contractors, and
Paralegals were interviewed by the researcher. This study asked the research question:
What effects do the anti-immigration laws have on the undocumented Latino
immigrants? As participants elaborated on this question through a series of 13 questions,
four recurrent themes emerged.
The first theme was: Lack of effectiveness of the current U.S. immigration
system. All providers believed that the current U.S. immigration system is broken and
inefficient. They suggested that there needs to be better policies that would benefit the
hard-working immigrant population. Provider’s responses is concurrent with what a
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national survey found out that 75% of people believe the current U.S. immigration policy
is in need of major changes (Pew Research Center, 2013). All participants stated that they
believe that the immigration system in the nation is broken and it does not lead to a direct
path to legalization. On the contrary, it causes extreme hardship to individuals.
Participants also mentioned that there is a long process for an individual to achieve legal
status in the country; some individuals may not even be able to become legal at all.
Consequently participants stated that the broken immigration system causes destruction
of the family.
The second theme is the destruction of the family unit due to deportations.
Providers verbalized that when a parent gets deported it causes the family unit to
decompose and harms family members for life. Children experience a permanent
separation from their parents and thus it causes a very harsh traumatic experience in their
development (Yoshikawa & Suarez-Orozco, 2012). As Hall’s report (2011) explains, the
most extreme punishment that an undocumented parent could get is the complete
termination of parental rights due to a deportation. Nonetheless, it is not surprising how
these anti-immigration policies enormously affect the well-being of this population.
Participants of this research reported that the current Obama administration has
done nothing but separate families. More than a million people have been deported ever
since the beginning of the presidency of Barack Obama (Kohli, Markowitz, & Chavez,
2011).
Participants also referenced the Secure Communities program, as the program has
increase over 400% on annual deportations. The implementation of this program has
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caused the devastating destruction of families all over the country, which has led to the
separation of children from their parents. This consequently trickles down to emotional,
economical and psychological blueprints on this specific population (Hagan, Eschbach, &
Rodriguez, 2008).
The third theme was the creation of fear due to the legal status of the population.
Individuals live in constant fear of being deported, being stopped by the police or being
separated from their family, and thus puts them at a greater risk because they are less
likely to report crimes. Individuals that lack proper legal documentation live in constant
fear of being deported, being stopped by police officer while driving without a driver’s
license, being fired from their jobs due to their legal status, afraid of accessing public
services, and afraid of coming out of the shadows. The undocumented immigrant
population faces anxiety and fears associated of being discovered and deported
(Cervantes, Mejía, & Guerrero Mena, 2010). As with the other questions, participants of
this research agreed that the current U.S. immigration policies causes high levels of fear.
This in turn is associated with the legal status of the individuals in this country.
The fourth theme was the benefits of an immigration reform, which would
eventually benefit the population as well as to the United States as a whole. On the other
hand, an immigration reform that would legalize the undocumented population would
boost wages and thus it would boost the economy of the country (Hinojosa-Ojeda, 2012).
Participants seemed to coincide on their responses to the researcher’s questions in
regards to the harsh effects that the U.S. immigration laws causes on the well-being of the
undocumented population. As expressed by the participants of this study, an immigration
65
reform would bring multiple benefits to both the population on target as well as benefits
to the nation. Economic benefit of an immigration reform is one of the most obvious
contributors that undocumented immigrants would do to the economy of the U.S.
(Executive Office of the President, 2013).
The themes from this study are consistent with the findings of other studies and
review of literature (Cervantes, Mejía, & Guerrero Mena, 2010; Executive Office of the
President, 2013; Hagan, Eschbach, & Rodriguez, 2008; Hall, 2011; Hinojosa-Ojeda,
2012; Kohli, Markowitz, & Chavez, 2011; Pew Research Center, 2013; Yoshikawa &
Suarez-Orozco, 2012). This study has the purpose of helping social workers as well as
other helping professions improve their insight and awareness about the effects that the
current U.S. anti-immigration laws have on the undocumented Latino population.
Although the findings of this study cannot be generalized among all Latino
undocumented immigrants, the information provided in this research is beneficial in order
to bring awareness on this vulnerable topic.
Recommendations
There are three areas where the researcher of this study will make
recommendations: future research, social worker’s awareness and practice, and advocacy
for better immigration policies.
Future Research
The results of this study indicate the need for further study about the effects that
the current anti-immigration laws in the United States has on the Latino undocumented
population as there is limited literature that examines this issue. Based on the responses
66
that participants gave in the interviews, they stated that there are long and permanent
effects that these types of laws leave on the undocumented immigrant population.
Therefore, further research is crucial to the validity and reliability of this study, which
hopefully will provide accurate and important information to better fit the needs of this
particular population.
The need for future research would be beneficial to this population of our society
as it may bring national changes such as the creation or modifications of much better
policies than the ones currently in place. Furthermore, additional research would bring
innovative analysis that will explore additional long term or short term effects that this
population may be at risk of experiencing.
Social Worker’s Awareness and Practice
Social workers need to be professionally prepared to go out in the community and
assist the undocumented Latino immigrant community. The Social work profession will
could modify school curriculum that will bring awareness to future social workers about
the current U.S. immigration policies and the effects that they have on this population.
The researcher recommends that students receive education about the effects of the antiimmigration laws on the Latino undocumented population in their Social Work programs
to increase knowledge and prepare them for work in a society where there is an
increasing undocumented immigrant population.
Consequently, this awareness could create exemplary social workers that will be
capable of providing quality social services to undocumented immigrants and thus allow
social workers to practice ethical services towards this special community. This is
67
important since we are required to practice with cultural sensitive populations (Furman,
Ackerman, Loya, Jones, & Negi, 2012).
Advocacy for Better Immigration Policies
A recommendation for social workers is to advocate for better immigration
policies. This would include educating legislators to understand the implications that the
current immigration laws have on the undocumented population.
There is a need to advocate for awareness and education at the legislature level in
order for legislators to better understand this population. There is limited literature that
emphasizes the role of advocacy for the undocumented immigration. Social workers
would also have to be well educated about this population and the risks, fear factors, and
psychological effects of this stigma of being undocumented causes. As professionals
learn to be aware of all of the previously stated factors, they will be prepared to go out to
the communities and work with this sensitive population. It is crucial to the social work
profession to create a better education about this issue to the public and to the politicians
due to its high level of sensitivity. This matter affects communities and the entire society.
And especially, it affects the individuals and families we work with to bring about social
change.
Furman, Ackerman, Loya, Jones, and Negi (2012) provided information about the
need for social workers exploration of the relevancy of issues within their own practice.
Further, they discussed the need to advocate for their clients that have been impacted by
such immigration policies.
68
Implications for Social Work Policy and Practice
The implications of this study will benefits the practice of social work providers
that directly or indirectly work with the Latino undocumented population on the micro,
mezzo, and macro levels of service. Implications for micro level social work includes
provider’s awareness of the effects that the current anti-immigration laws have on the
Latino undocumented population. Further social work students need to be aware of their
own biases about the anti-immigration laws and how they impact the well-being of the
target population. In order to meet the needs and provide quality services to this
population, professionals working with these individuals should seek out further
knowledge about current immigration policies and their implications for the
undocumented immigrant population.
As social workers become aware of this issue, they would open up an opportunity
to better educate legislators (people on power as Conflict theory would refer to them), on
the immediate consequences that these types of policies have on the immigrant
population in hopes that people on power would also become aware of the implications
that the anti-immigration laws cause and thus create better policies that would be
beneficial for the immigrant population.
Mezzo level implications for educators of social workers and the development of
school curriculum on the topic of immigration, especially undocumented immigration, is
crucial as it deserves immediate attention since its currently impacting the lives of the
people that we, as social works work with. As the National Association of Social Work
69
(NASW) Code of Ethics states in regards to the social workers’ ethical responsibilities to
clients,
Social workers should obtain education about and seek to understand the nature of
social diversity and oppression with respect to race, ethnicity, national origin,
color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status,
political belief, religion, immigration status, and mental or physical disability
(National Association of Social Workers, 2008, para. 1).
Ensuring that social workers emerging from social work programs at California
State University, Sacramento are knowledgeable about the undocumented immigrant
population in the U.S., the effects that anti-immigration laws have on this population, as
well as current policy affecting them is an important directive for the future of the
profession.
On the macro level, social workers can advocate for this vulnerable community at
the legislature level. Social workers have the potential to influence legislatures and
provide awareness with the aim that they (legislatures) would create better policies that
would allow undocumented Latino immigrants to legalize their status and thus reunite
families in the country. On the other side, social workers have the responsibility to
advocate for the need of the NASW to create policies and advocate for greater awareness
of the anti-immigration laws in the U.S. and best practices.
Limitations
Some of the limitations of this study are: 1) this is a qualitative exploratory study
and does not include a quantitative data collection or statistical information; 2) the
70
information provided in this research is subjective based on the provider’s experiences
and perceptions. As such, the information provided cannot be generalized; 3) the study
does not have a large sample, it is limited to 12 participants and only two from each
profession; 4) as the interview questions were developed by the researcher, it has not
been tested to verify validity and reliability by outside parties; and 5) research
participants were located within the Sacramento through Fairfield, CA region.
Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to contribute to the understanding of the effects that
the U.S. anti-immigrations laws have on the Latino undocumented immigrant population.
The study explored the different perspectives that service providers have in regards to the
current U.S. immigration system, the anti-immigration laws, the impact that these types
of policies have on the family structure and the well-being of this population, and their
perception towards a possible immigration reform. The emergent themes of this study
explored the provider’s perspectives on the effects that anti-immigration laws have on the
Latino undocumented population. Participants were found to be supportive of an
immigration reform; they believe that the current immigration system is not effective and
thus it needs to be reformed, they also believe that anti-immigration laws separate
families through deportation and that such laws create nothing else but fear among this
population. As an exploratory study, further research needs to be conducted to validate
the findings of this study, and provide more detail. Specifically research could be
explored to learn the long-term effects that the stigma of being undocumented in the U.S.
has on the undocumented immigrant population. This study has shown a range of
71
perspectives about the effects of the anti-immigration laws on the undocumented
immigrant population, but further research is necessary to enhance that knowledge.
72
APPENDIX A
Consent to Participate
Inform Consent to participate in a Study on:
The Provider’s Perspectives on the Effects of anti-immigration laws on
undocumented Latino Immigrants.
You are invited to participate in a research study which will be conducted by Minerva
Núñez, a graduate student at California State University, Sacramento. I am a student in
the division of Social Work performing research as the culminating assignment for
fulfillment of the Masters of Social Work Program. This study will explore the effects of
anti-immigration laws on the Latino undocumented population from a provider’s point of
view.
Procedures:
After reading this form and agreeing to participate in this study, you will be able to set up
a mutually agreeable time and place with the researcher that is most convenient for you to
be interviewed. An estimated time for the interview is roughly 1 hour. I will be audiotaping the interview. The audio recording will be quickly transcribed by the researcher
and destroyed right after the research work has been completed. If for any reason you do
want to be audio-taped, then you cannot participate in this research study. As a voluntary
participant you have the right to omit or skip any questions or quit your participation at
any time during the interview. During the interview, you will be asked open-ended
questions regarding the effects that Latino undocumented immigrants face through the
enactment of anti-immigration laws.
73
I will be using a “pseudo” name for the protection of your identity and no identifiable
data will be collected from you or those whom you serve. Information on the audiotaped interview will be maintain strictly confidential and after it is transcribed, all voice
files will be destroyed. Your participation is completely voluntarily.
Risk:
There are no known risks to participate in this research study.
Benefits:
Personally you may not benefit from this study; although you may gain insight on the
relevance that this topic has on your clients as well as understanding the issues
surrounding this topic. This research aims to increase knowledge of the effects that
current immigration laws have on the undocumented Latino population.
Confidentiality:
All information provided from the interview will be held strictly confidential and every
effort will be made to protect your anonymity. The audio-tapes and all transcribed
documentation will be kept locked in a zip file folder at the researcher’s residence; which
it will only be accessible to myself and the researcher’s thesis advisor for the duration of
the study. After audio tapes and all other written information have been transcribed they
will all be destroyed by December 31st, 2013.
Right to Withdraw:
You have the right to withdraw from this study at any point. You also have the right not
to answer any specific question (s) during the interview process.
74
Contact information:
If you have any questions or concerns throughout this research process, you may contact
me, at any time via email at: xxxxxx@yahoo.com. If you are in need of further
information, please feel free to contact my thesis advisor, Maria Dinis, Ph.D., MSW, at
(916) 278-7161 or via e-mail at dinis@csus.edu.
Consent to Participate as a Research Subject
I have read the descriptive information on the research participation cover letter. I
understand that my participation is completely voluntary. My signature indicates that I
have received a copy of the research participation cover letter and I agree to participate in
the study.
I ___________________________________ agree to have my responses audio-recorded.
Signature: _____________________________
Date:____________________
If you have any questions you may contact me via email me at xxxxxx@yahoo.com.
Or, if you need further information you may contact my thesis advisor:
Maria Dinis, Ph.D., MSW
Tel: (916) 278-7161
E-mail: dinis@csus.edu
Thank you for your participation in my research study.
75
APPENDIX B
Interview Questions
1. What do you know about the anti-immigration laws for the Latino undocumented
population?
2. From your perspective, what do you think are the effects of the anti-immigration
laws on the Latino undocumented population?
3. To what extend do you think these laws affect the family structure of this
population?
4. What is your opinion about the law-enforcement process? Are they being
effective?
5. To what degree do you think the Arizona Law (SB1070) has affected the wellbeing of the Arizona Latino undocumented population? What about the effects on
the family structure?
6. Do you believe current anti-immigration laws perpetuate xenophobic perceptions
against undocumented Latino immigrants? By xenophobic I mean, fear of
foreigners, those that are strange or look different from us.
If yes: in what sense?
If no: why not?
7. Do you believe an immigration reform will be beneficial to undocumented
immigrants residing in this country?
If yes: what are the benefits? Any disadvantages?
If no: why do you think it would not be beneficial?
76
8. How would immigration reform impact the well-being of the Latino
undocumented immigrants? How would it impact the family structure?
9. What do you think about the process for an undocumented individual to become
legal in this country?
10. What is your opinion about the sanctions (such as the 5/10 year sanction) that are
currently implemented for those individuals that have crossed the border without
legal documentation?
11. How do you think the immigration system could resolve the immigration issue?
12. From your perspective, how effective do you believe the immigration system is in
this country?
13. Demographics: Gender (Male/Female/Other) and Education Level (Undergraduate
or Graduate)
77
APPENDIX C
Approval Letter
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO
DIVISION OF SOCIAL WORK
To: Minerva Nunez
Date: February 21, 2013
From: Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects
RE: YOUR RECENT HUMAN SUBJECTS APPLICATION
We are writing on behalf of the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects from
the Division of Social Work. Your proposed study, “Provider's Perspectives on the
effects of anti-immigration laws on undocumented Latino immigrants.”
__X_ approved as
_ _X _EXEMPT ____ MINIMAL RISK
Your human subjects approval number is: 12-13-068. Please use this number in
all official correspondence and written materials relative to your study. Your
approval expires one year from this date. Approval carries with it that you will
inform the Committee promptly should an adverse reaction occur, and that you
will make no modification in the protocol without prior approval of the
Committee.
The committee wishes you the best in your research.
Professors: Maria Dinis, Jude Antonyappan, Teiahsha Bankhead, Serge Lee, Kisun Nam,
Maura O’Keefe, Dale Russell, Francis Yuen
Cc: Dinis
78
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