Latino Immigration Pros And Cons

Reny and Manzano anticipate that by the year 2042, the Latino population in the United States will “reach a historic milestone as the White, non-Hispanic population drops below 50% of the total” (195). The changing demographic has triggered varying responses and reactions including welcomes, discrimination and prejudices formed about the Latino immigrants, and even vitriolic diatribes. The Latino immigration is often constructed as a threat to the social and legal fabric so much so that political wins have come off of it. Even as the Latino immigrants try to build their lives in academia and other professions, they continue to face stereotypes often stoked by the media “as law-breaking, permanent foreigners” (Reny and Manzano 195).
In their

In school settings, individuals who do not experience peer support are more likely to find the environment unfavorable and challenging. In the case of Latino immigrants, these social situations trigger “anxiety, fear, and decreased confidence in social contexts” (qtd. in Holmes 49). In situations which demand collaboration, social feedback, communication, stereotype threat acts as a barrier hindering successful display of performance and abilities. The effects are, however, not only restricted to the aforementioned but can be seen in a group’s efficacy in music, sports, health, and intellectual and cognitive

As victims or witnesses to crimes, Latino immigrants fear approaching the police or the law believe it can get a family member deported. Even when they have a citizenship status, they hesitate to go to the police because they believe that such an attempt can possibly lead to deportation. The fear is further compounded as the local police has acted as “immigration officials to raids conducted inside sensitive locations” (Cruz, “Latinos Are Afraid to Report Crime as Debate Around Immigration Intensifies”). This indicates that Latino immigrants live in a state of constant fear of eventually being discovered and deported, without any sense of security especially of their livelihood, preferring to remain silent than taking action. Cunningham-Parmeter calls this “penalized silence” a result of a victim or a witness self-incriminating themselves and the potential “risk of removal from the United States…”