Fear and Vulnerability: Social Consequences of Enforcement Practices in the Lives of Undocumented Immigrant Young
Wednesday, October 1, 2014 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM EDT
Commerce Building, 3006
Drawing from in-depth interviews with young adults who migrated to the U.S. as undocumented children, Elizabeth Vaquera argues that the current immigration enforcement system embodies a colorblind racial project of the state rooted in the racial structure of society that results in racism toward immigrants. Approaching racism from structural and social process perspectives, Dr. Vaquera illustrates the social consequences of enforcement practices in the lives of these immigrant young adults. Although legal discourse regarding immigration enforcement theoretically purports colorblindness, racial practices such as profiling subject immigrants to arrest, detention, and deportation, in effect, criminalizing them. Further, enforcement practices produce distress, vulnerability, and anxiety in the lives of young immigrants and their families, often resulting in legitimate fears of detention and deportation since enforcement measures disproportionately affect Latinos.
Elizabeth Vaquera is an Associate Professor in the Dept. of Sociology at the University of South Florida.
The event will be held at 4087 University Drive, Fairfax VA 22032, 3rd flr 3006.
This event is part of the Institute for Immigration Research [IIR] monthly Colloquium Series. IIR Colloquium Series brings together researchers, academics, and policy contributors to share their work related to immigration with GMU faculty, students, staff and the surrounding communities.
