Jaime Bellemare April 19, 2010

Illegal Immigrants as the Enemy

Borders have traditionally created separations of race, cultures and economies, but in

recent years those borders continue to be blurred. In the current economy it is difficult to find

work both within the U.S. and elsewhere. In states such as Arizona governments are targeting

illegal immigrants as both robbers of work and forces of violence. By portraying illegal

immigrants this way in both legislation and media, officials are reinforcing negative stereotypes

furthering the binary “Us” and “Them” thinking. This type of thinking views immigrants,

specifically people of color, as inferior to “first world”, white skinned Americans.

Recently in Arizona legislation has been passed in order to crack down on illegal

immigration. The bill makes it against state law to be in Arizona without legal immigration

documents. Similarly to the U.S. patriot act, Arizona’s new law will allow officers to question

people about their immigration status based on physical appearance. The law specifically targets

law enforcement policies that prevent officers from asking about immigration status. In doing

this, legislators are essentially allowing racial profiling to become a tactic used by police. Even

those who are legal citizens, but are not carrying proper documentation can be detained. This

policy relates to the systematic racism that is discussed within the film A Place of Rage (1991).

The film discusses the structural inequalities that people face because of their race, especially in

terms of police force. June Jordan shows that while police did little to help Negro

neighborhoods, they often took it upon themselves to arrest innocent men because of the color of

their skin.

As written by Eleanor Stein in Construction of an Enemy, post September 11th law

enforcement racially profiled and continues to racially profile Arabs, South Asians and Muslims.

(Stein 206) Similarly, the new legislation in Arizona would “dehumanize and construct [illegal

immigrants] as the enemy of America.” (Stein 206) As Stein points out in her article, thousands

of men were held captive on speculation of being terrorists when in reality not a single man was

charged. These men were held captive because they had a certain skin color, wore certain

clothes, or had certain facial features. In a similar fashion, thousands of citizens in the U.S. will

face questioning and possible detainment because they appear to be illegal immigrants.

Government profiling, like the profiling that will take place under Arizona’s legislation, has

contributed to violence against stigmatized groups. (Stein 208)

Another reoccurring theme throughout A Place of Rage is the importance of

understanding history and how it affects the present. As June Jordan says in the film, “History is

who I am.” In order to understand why Arizona’s legislation against illegal immigrants poses a

problem, it is important to understand why immigrants are coming into the U.S. illegally and

how the current political atmosphere affects their migration. The current economic and social

systems in many non-Western countries are a result of colonialist roots and the continuance of

neo-colonialism. Many illegal immigrants come to the U.S. because the economies in their

home countries are unable to provide them with stable employment or the necessary funds it

takes to support a family. Many of these economic difficulties, however, can be traced back to

the U.S. and other colonizing countries, who continue to exploit workers, labor, and resources.

Instead of addressing the U.S.’s role in illegal immigration, this article only focuses on the

problems that illegal immigrants cause for U.S. citizens.

In understanding the media’s portrayal of this bill and the larger story of illegal

immigration, it is important to note that this particular article comes from Fox News. Known for

its conservative take on issues, Fox treats the new anti-immigrant legislation as though it is not

part of a larger argument. The only counter perspective addressed is that the legislation may not

be affective. The article does not pose the question of how illegal immigrants will be affected by

the legislation and makes no mention of an alternate viewpoint that sees the legislation as racist

and anti-humanitarian. There is an assumption that a need to rid the state of illegal immigrants

exists, when in reality this is only one half of a controversial argument. In writing about the

issue in such a way, illegal immigrants are further portrayed as violent criminals that need to be

forcibly removed. Considering that this article assumes that illegal immigration is a problem in

need of a cure, the intended audience is most likely conservative white Americans.

There is a consistency between the article and the supporters of the bill who portray

illegal immigrants as “violent criminals” that need to be controlled by the law. State Senator

Russel Pearce who sponsored the bill was quoted as saying “No longer will we sit by and let our

citizens be killed, maimed, injured (and) hurt,” referring to violence he feels is caused by illegal

immigrants. Supporters of the bill are even pointing to illegal immigrants as the cause of high

kidnapping rates in parts of the state. Once again, there is a parallel between this view on illegal

immigrants and the picture painted of African Americans in the story told by June Jordan. Illegal

immigrants are targeted largely because of their race, and often under violent circumstances.

Although the news article does not specifically mention gender, there is a gendered

aspect to the legislation, which is evident in the focus on male immigrants. Supporters of the bill

speak to it as a way to curb violence created by illegal immigrants, but in their discussion they

always refer to these immigrants as men. Women are never seen as the ones who are violent.

This may be because the jobs illegal immigrant women perform are not seen as being stripped

away from Americans. Domestic work, which is one of the most likely areas of employment for

immigrant women, is seen to be suited for these workers rather than being taken from American

workers. These women become seen as “particularly suited for, and only suited for degraded

work.” (Glenn, 479) Since this domestic work is considered to be for workers who are inferior to

Americans, or ultimately inferior to white workers, illegal immigrants that are women are not

seen to be as big of a threat as male immigrants. The work of both female and male immigrants,

however, is exploited under the pretences that their labor is cheap and cannot be regulated.

A Place of Rage also discusses the limitations of travel placed on people due to issues of

race. In the film Jordan says there were times when she was unable to travel from state to state

because she did not know whether or not she would be able to have access to basic needs such as

food, water, and shelter. In the same way, illegal immigrants face difficulties that limit their

mobility. The new bill in Arizona criminalizes any person who knowingly provides

transportation to an illegal immigrant. Without proper documentation illegal immigrants not

only have difficulty obtaining access to transportation, but also cannot guarantee work, shelter,

or other necessities. Many immigrants, who come to the U.S. illegally, do so with intent to

return home. Returning to one’s home country proves to be one of the biggest difficulties for

illegal immigrants and under Arizona’s legislation it has become more difficult. For some, this

means having no contact with family members and being stuck in a place where finding means to

support one’s livelihood is illegal.

This article is clearly written in a way that benefits a conservative white audience, who

wish to eliminate the presence of immigrants in the work force as well as the presence of illegal

immigrants in a “white society.” In doing this, illegal immigrants are confronted with an

audience that sees their presence in the U.S. as temporary, but dangerous. Transnational

feminists need to be concerned with this portrayal of illegal immigrants because it connects to

the much larger quest to defeat patriarchy and end these binary ways of thinking. As A Place of

Rage points out, we are all fighting for equality so there should be no division; we are the

majority.