LATIN@S ARE (NOT) ILLEGAL ALIENS Raise your hand if you would like to be treated as Mexican-Americans are in American society today. Latinos and Latinas compose over 17% of the population, making them THE largest minority group present in America. However, an oppressive stereotype is forced upon them, one that shows all hispanics as illegal aliens, when in fact 9 out of 10 Mexicans immigrating to America do so legally. Also, there is an assumption that the small portion of immigrants that do come to this beautiful country illegally are doing so with malicious intent when in fact is it frequently due to familial ties. A mother illegally crosses the border in order to see her children put into a school system that will genuinely care for them. A family who cannot get a passport crosses the …show more content…
Theses “stories” happen every day, and the only crime committed is that of the USCIS. (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) The stigma associated with illegal immigration is one of ignorance and misunderstanding. To associate illegal immigration with negativity is misguided and unjust. If the only way to ensure the prosperity of your children or to send a loved one on to the great beyond was to cross a border, wouldn’t you do it? What position is the American populace in to judge the actions of another when such actions are solely acts of passion which have no negative repercussions. It is clear that the stereotype comes from the small fraction of immigrants who are, in fact, illegal aliens. The tendency to focus on the minority is clearly exhibited in the stereotyping of all Mexican-Americans as undocumented; the few that do immigrate illegally cause the view of the whole to be distorted to the point where it is a horrible misrepresentation of reality. It is baffling that as members of an elite society founded on equal opportunity and liberty, we focus on the few who do not follow the rules-though such rule breaking can be