In Times of Uncertainty: The Great Recession, Immigration Enforcement, and Latino Immigrants in Alabama

Abstract

This chapter explores the interconnected effects of the Great Recession and the escalation of immigration enforcement on the lives of Latino immigrants living in the United States. The Great Recession has disproportionately impacted Latinos, exacerbating preexisting economic inequalities across measures of employment, income, poverty, and wealth; these effects are intensified for Latino immigrants, who are concentrated in the construction and building trades that have been hit especially hard by the collapse of the US housing market. Still, the consequences of the Great Recession for Latino immigrants extend far beyond economic factors, as the downturn has been used as a rhetorical tool to advance anti-immigrant policies and practices. The resulting escalation in immigration enforcement is manifested through the steady devolution of immigration enforcement powers to state and local police officers as well as the proliferation of state-level immigration restrictionist legislation, which combine to produce uncertainty and vulnerability in the everyday lives of unauthorized immigrants and their families. Since the unauthorized are racialized as Latino in our popular consciousness, those of Latin American ancestry and origin are often targeted by anti-immigrant policies and practices. The southeastern state of Alabama, which boasts the most comprehensive and punitive immigration restrictionist law in the United States, offers a telling example of the ways that such legislation has impacted the lives of Latino immigrants.