Beyond the Negative Meaning Behind the Word "Immigrant"
Mistreatment and Struggles of Mexican Immigrants
About the Site
This website has been made with the goal of informing people of the mistreatments and struggles experienced by illegal, and legal, Mexican immigrants in the United States. Especially within the last 5 years, immigration has come to the forefront of political and public discussion, and immigration laws have grown harsher. Most of these harsh policies enacted and the conversations had target and discuss immigrants of Mexican origin. Another goal of this site is to bring recognition to the fact that racism still very much exists and continues to be experienced by many different minority groups.
The explanations explored in this site are just a few of many possible explanations with a common theme of the need for white superiority and unconscious, and conscious, racism. This site is looking more specifically into the experience of Mexican Immigrants, however in no way looks to take away from the mistreatment experienced by immigrants of other origins in the United States.
Personal Note From the Creator
Hi readers, my name is Danielle Leszyk and I am a sophomore psychology major. Immigration and the policies surrounding it have always been something I looked to understand more, and to help others understand as well. I am an avid believer that everyone deserves equal treatment, and one of many areas lacking this equal treatment in the United States is within immigration.
Someone dear to my heart, and his family and friends, have experienced many of the things explained in this website. I have watched him get ripped away from the life he created here and worked extremely hard for. I’ve watched him get ready to leave his friends and family who he doesn’t know if he’ll ever see again, and his two children who he adores more than anything. All of this is being taken away even though he has been here for 11 years, committed no crimes, and has worked harder than most people I know since he has been here. I have experienced so closely how the United States harsh immigration policies impact a person's live, and I want nothing more than to educate people and encourage them to fight for a change.
Facts & Resources
Facts:
About 3.4% of the global population are immigrants (Bolter 2019).
There were near 45 million immigrants in the US in 2017, 14% of the population (Open Society Foundations 2019).
“36 percent of workers in the farming, fishing, and forestry fields are immigrants without a college degree, as are 36 percent of building and grounds cleaning and maintenance workers, 27 percent of hotel workers, and 21 percent of home health care industry workers” (Sherman et al., 2019).
“Since 2017, 40 new detention facilities have opened. Most are run by private operators” (Human Rights Watch 2020).
In 2009, ICE held between 380,000 and 442,000 in detention facilities (Velez 2014).
Resources:
https://www.freedomforimmigrants.org
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/immigration-mistreatment-ice-detention-dhs-inspector-general/
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/how-united-states-immigration-system-works
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/content/explainer-who-immigrant