Legal Violence in the Lives of Immigrants

Even as the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States has plateaued at around 11.1 million, federal enforcement of immigration law has intensified over the last decade. Legal Violence in the Lives of Immigrants illustrates that it is not simply enforcement actions themselves that affect undocumented immigrants and their communities but also the ever-present fear of enforcement actions.  

The report looks at the family, workplace and school to examine how the cumulative effects of harsh immigration laws, increased enforcement actions and a negative stigmatization of immigrants build upon one another to harm immigrant and citizen alike. The authors argue that the fear created by this enforcement creates the conditions for "legal violence," harming immigrant incorporation into the U.S.

The research is based on observation and 200 interviews between 1998 and 2010 in Los Angeles and Phoenix with immigrants and their relatives in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. Among other things, the authors recommend:

1. Congress should pass legislation to ensure that children are not unnecessarily separated from their families and mandate minimum standards for immigration enforcement when children are involved. 
2. The government should allow family members who are adjusting to legal status and subject to the provisions of immigration law that bar undocumented immigrants from reentering the United States for three or 10 years to remain in the United States.
3. The government should ensure that all people, regardless of status, have strong worker protections and go after employers that exploit immigrant workers. 
4. The government should ensure that the right to K-12 education regardless of immigration status.
5. The government should also ensure that schools are free of Immigration and Customs Enforcement intrusion. 

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