Trump’s Securitization of US against Aliens and Immigrants Case Study: Latin Migrants
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18196/jiwp.v6i2.13801Abstract
This paper examines Trump’s securitization of Latin migrants and aliens in the United States (US) through law enforcement and legal political practice. Public citizens have divided opinion regarding immigrants, especially aliens, as they are undocumented and are deemed to destabilize internal public safety. Politicians in the US have also conduct political competitions in politicizing migrants through multitudes of official matters, and passing policies. One prominent example in politicizing migrant is Donald J. Trump, a popular unorthodox president of the US that views immigrants with hostility and skepticism. Trump antagonized the Latin migrants through the dangers they posed in the past combined with crime occurrences in his term, and justify protectionist policies by reducing border crosses through Mexico-US border and cutting down the number of Latin aliens and immigration in the country. Trump, through his famous Zero-tolerance policy, promoted attitudes that often encourage public citizens and law enforcers to view potential threats of immigrants, especially aliens. Trump’s campaign about Latin migrants changed the image of Latin migrants among Trump supporters as well as local law enforcers in viewing Latin migrants as a source of threat. This research finds that: Trump’s securitization of US against Latino migrants was lawfully and effectively projected through empowerment of federal level immigration and law enforcement agencies down to field officers.References
ABC news. (2014, 11 21). President Obama Offers Legal Status to Millions of Undocumented Immigrants. Retrieved from https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-obama-offer-legal-status-millions-undocumented-immigrants/story?id=27063573
Allison, G. T. (1971). Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis. Boston, United States of America: Little, Brown and Company.
Alper Aslan, B. A. (2020). The relationship between unemployment and immigration with linear and nonlinear causality tests: Evidence from the United States. Economic Journal of Emerging Markets, 12(1), 13-24. doi:10.20885/ejem.vol12.iss1.art2
American Civil Liberties Union. (2017). The Unsuitability of Applicants to the 287(g) Immigration Enforcement Program. Washington DC: American Civil Liberties Union.
American Immigration Council. (2021, 6 8). The 287(g) Program: An Overview. Retrieved from Research: https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/287g-program-immigration?__cf_chl_tk=U6YcS71aEc1am4sakJR2A6XnplQJgMdztvdP_VOA7dE-1641128842-0-gaNycGzNCT0
Amnesty International. (2017). FACING WALLS: USA AND MEXICO'S VIOLATIONS OF THE RIGHTS OF ASYLUM-SEEKERS. Amnesty International, 38.
AP NEWS. (2019, 7 31). ACLU: 911 children split at border since 2018 court order. Retrieved from US News: https://apnews.com/article/immigration-donald-trump-us-news-ap-top-news-ca-state-wire-ba5a05e6a7f14b6b898d75712dee1f6b
Babbie, E. (2011). The Basics of Social Research (5 ed.). Belmont, USA: Wadsworth CENGAGE Learning.
Baysal, B. (2020). 20 Years of Securitization: Strengths, Limitations and A New Dual Framework. Uluslararası İlişkiler, 17, No. 67, 3-20. doi:10.33458/uidergisi.777338
Center for American Progress. (2019, 2 7). How Misinformation Fueled Anti-Immigrant Sentiment in the Tijuana Border Region. Retrieved from IMMIGRATION: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/news/2019/02/07/465943/misinformation-fueled-anti-immigrant-sentiment-tijuana-border-region/
Chalfin, A. (2013). What is the Contribution of Mexican Immigration to U.S. Crime Rates? Evidence from Rainfall Shocks in Mexico. American Law and Economics Review, 220-268.
Congressional Research Service. (2021, 5 21). Mexico’s Immigration Control Efforts. Retrieved from https://sgp.fas.org/crs/row/IF10215.pdf
David Scott FitzGerald, G. L. (2019). Mexican Immigrants Face Threats to Civil Rights and Increased Social Hostility. Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, 1-63.
Douglas S. Massey, K. E. (1997). What's Driving Mexico-U.S. Migration? A Theoretical, Empirical, and Policy Analysis. American Journal of Sociology, 939-999.
Espenshade, T. J. (1995). Unauthorized Immigration to the United States. Annual Reviews, 195-213.
Federal Register. (2017, 01 25). A Presidential Document by the Executive Office of the President on 01/30/2017. Retrieved from Presidential Document: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/01/30/2017-02102/enhancing-public-safety-in-the-interior-of-the-united-states
Gosling, J. (2021). Maximising Soft Power: the Role of Digital Diplomacy in Building Trust with Nation-branding. Global Affairs Review, 19.
International Crisis Group. (2016). Border Control. International Crisis Group.
Katharine M. Donato, S. L. (2017). Crossing the Mexico-U.S. Border: Illegality and Children's Migration to the United States. Jstor, 3, No. 4, 116-135. doi:10.7758/rsf.2017.3.4.07
National Immigration Law Center. (2017). Understanding Trump’s Executive Order Affecting Deportations & “Sanctuary” Cities. Los Angeles: National Immigration Law Center.
Pro Republica. (2019, 6 8). Immigration Officials Use Secretive Gang Databases to Deny Migrant Asylum Claims. Retrieved from Zero Tolerance: https://www.propublica.org/article/immigration-officials-use-secretive-gang-databases-to-deny-migrant-asylum-claims
Randy Capps, M. R. (2011). Delegation and Divergence: A Study of 287(g) State and Local Immigration Enforcement. Migration Policy Institute, 1-67.
Sarah Pierce, J. B. (2018). U.S Immigration under Trump: Deep Changes and Lasting Impacts. Washington DC: Migration Policy Institute.
Soto, A. G. (2020). One Year after the U.S.-Mexico Agreement: Reshaping Mexico’s Migration Policies. Migration Policy Institute, 21.
The Guardian. (2021, 11 24). Families separated at border under Trump suffering severe trauma – study. Retrieved from US Immigration: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/24/trump-family-separations-trauma-study
The Los Angeles Times. (2017, 9 5). Read the Full Statement from President Trump on Ending the DACA Program. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-donald-trump-daca-statement-20170905-story.html
The New York Times. (2016, 09 1). Transcript of Donald Trump’s Immigration Speech. Retrieved from Politics: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/02/us/politics/transcript-trump-immigration-speech.html
The New York Times. (2021, 7 16). What Is DACA? And Where Does It Stand Now? Retrieved from U.S.: https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-daca.html
U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (2022). Delegation of Immigration Authority Section 287(g) Immigration and Nationality Act. Retrieved from IDENTIFY AND ARREST: https://www.ice.gov/identify-and-arrest/287g
Ulrik Pram Gad, K. L. (2011). Concepts of Politics in Securitization Studies. Center for Advanced Security Theory, University of Copenhagen, 1-25.
United Nations. (2000). International migration and development in the Americas. Symposium on International Migration in the Americas (pp. 1-512). Santiago: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)/ Population Division, .
US Citizenship and Immigration Service. (2004). Immigration and Nationality Act. Retrieved from https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title8-section1357&num=0&edition=prelim
US Citizenship and Immigration Services. (2022). Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Retrieved from Humanitarian: https://www.uscis.gov/DACA
US Federal Register. (2017, 01 25). Executive Order 13767 of January 25, 2017 - Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements. Retrieved from Presidential Documents: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-01-30/pdf/2017-02095.pdf
Waever, O. (1995). Securitization and Desecuritization. In R. D. Lipschutz, On Security (pp. 46-86). New York: Columbia University Press. Retrieved from https://www.libraryofsocialscience.com/assets/pdf/Waever-Securitization.pdf
Zoya Gubernskaya, J. D. (2017). US Immigration Policy and the Case for Family Unity. Journal on Migration and Human Security, 5(2), 417-430.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
License
Journal of Islamic World and Politics is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license. You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. This license is acceptable for Free Cultural Works.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Copyright
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).