Social Science and Medicine
Volume 109, 2014, Pages 66-74

Everyday violence, structural racism and mistreatment at the US-Mexico border (Article)

Sabo S.* , Shaw S. , Ingram M. , Teufel-Shone N. , Carvajal S. , de Zapien J.G. , Rosales C. , Redondo F. , Garcia G. , Rubio-Goldsmith R.
  • a University of Arizona, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Arizona Prevention Research Center, United States
  • b University of Arizona, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Anthropology, United States
  • c University of Arizona, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Arizona Prevention Research Center, United States
  • d University of Arizona, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Division of Health Promotion Science, United States
  • e University of Arizona, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Arizona Prevention Research Center, United States
  • f University of Arizona, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Arizona Prevention Research Center, United States
  • g University of Arizona, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Division of Community, Environment, and Policy, United States
  • h Campesinos Sin Fronteras, United States
  • i Campesinos Sin Fronteras, United States
  • j University of Arizona, Mexican American Studies and Research Center, United States

Abstract

Immigration laws that militarize communities may exacerbate ethno-racial health disparities. We aimed to document the prevalence of and ways in which immigration enforcement policy and militarization of the US-Mexico border is experienced as everyday violence. Militarization is defined as the saturation of and pervasive encounters with immigration officials including local police enacting immigration and border enforcement policy with military style tactics and weapons. Data were drawn from a random household sample of US citizen and permanent residents of Mexican descent in the Arizona border region (2006-2008). Qualitative and quantitative data documented the frequency and nature of immigration related profiling, mistreatment and resistance to institutionalized victimization. Participants described living and working in a highly militarized environment, wherein immigration-related profiling and mistreatment were common immigration law enforcement practices. Approximately 25% of respondents described an immigration-related mistreatment episode, of which 62% were personally victimized. Nearly 75% of episodes occurred in a community location rather than at a US port of entry. Participant mistreatment narratives suggest the normalization of immigration-related mistreatment among the population. Given border security remains at the core of immigration reform debates, it is imperative that scholars advance the understanding of the public health impact of such enforcement policies on the daily lives of Mexican-origin US permanent residents, and their non-immigrant US citizen co-ethnics. Immigration policy that sanctions institutional practices of discrimination, such as ethno-racial profiling and mistreatment, are forms of structural racism and everyday violence. Metrics and systems for monitoring immigration and border enforcement policies and institutional practices deleterious to the health of US citizens and residents should be established. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.

Author Keywords

Stress US-Mexico Border discrimination Mistreatment Immigration USA Farmworkers

Index Keywords

border region agricultural worker Arizona human immigration Misconduct middle aged violence USA Mexico qualitative research human relation Cross-Sectional Studies United States Humans racism health impact social stress male Emigrants and Immigrants immigration policy female Discrimination stress US-Mexico border Mistreatment qualitative analysis Article adult government regulation Mexico [North America] Emigration and Immigration farmworkers quantitative analysis social discrimination public policy law enforcement public health Crime Victims
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84899538240&doi=10.1016%2fj.socscimed.2014.02.005&partnerID=40&md5=7757f4abbc967670aa2f62366a3f7f31
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.02.005
ISSN: 02779536
Cited by: 30
Original Language: English