Systemic Racism in Immigration Systems

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Systemic Racism in Immigration Systems
The United States prides itself of being a free state and also strives to paint a picture of a racially neutral nation. The aggressiveness with which the illegal immigrants of today are meted with, especially those from the South fleeing harsh conditions in Central America tells a completely contrasting story about the racial neutrality of the U.S. and the systemic racism that is deeply rooted in the country’s immigration system. To properly understand how the structural racism against Latin Americans from Central America manifests itself in the U.S. immigration system, a precise definition of the term systemic or rather institutional racism is of the essence. Systemic racism in the U.S. context can be understood as to how the notion of white supremacy and the oppression of the minority groups has been upheld in social systems or at the institutional level. This paper purposes to unmask the systemic racism that is at the heart of the U.S. immigration system in the contemporary era.
A comparison between the treatment of the European illegal immigrants in the past decades and the current illegal immigrants of Latino origin helps unmask the rampant case of systemic racism against the Latino from Central America in the contemporary era. From the 1870s to the early 20th century, a larger population of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. came from Germany, Ireland, and England (Takaki). Despite the large influx of European immigrants at that time, the Congress, in retaliation to the large numbers of the immigrants, passed the Chinses Exclusion Act to bar Chinese immigrants from entering the U.S. (Loc.gov par.2). This was a typical case of racial discrimination in the U.S. immigration system. The European immigrants, however, faced little or no backlashes in their entry to the U.S. and were even offered protection from deportation and some given amnesty. The illegal immigrants of today, particularly those of Latino descent entering the US through the southern border, faced rather harsh conditions especially under the reign of President Donald Trump. Aside from building a border wall to bar immigrants from Central America from entering the U.S., the country’s government through the immigration department detained and deported thousands of Mexicans seeking asylum in the U.S> in the year 2020 while returning others at the border (Wola par.3). Besides, According to the Data by Trac on immigration and custom enforcement removals, the largest portion of deportees in 2020 were of Latino origin, with Mexicans leading with over 54,000 migrants.
The double standards in the deportation and the border crossing control among people of different races demonstrate the systemic racism that has become inherent in the U.S. immigration department. The immigration policies that portray some aspect of white supremacy have a very rich history of racism that has become a menace in the country for centuries. The primary target group for the oppressive social behavior is the First Nation People, Africans, Mexican, and Chinese (To...