Crimmigration and Immigrant Socialization: How Policing Shapes Perceptions of Belonging, Citizenship, and the American Dream

This study analyzes current immigration policies in the United States, enforcement agencies under the Trump administration, and the impact of their practices on immigrant communities. Recent immigration policies have been implemented to tighten borders, change standards of citizenship qualifications, and heighten immigration policing. In this thesis, I address the following question. "How do recent changes in immigration policies affect immigrant socialization, their relationships with the legal system, and their sense of belonging in America?" This question was answered through in-depth interviews with immigrants, international students, and Americans who are related to immigrants. The research aims to understand how the current political climate on immigration is defined and internalized by immigrant communities. The study is meant to gain an understanding of how immigrant communities are impacted, what their responses to the policies and policing are, and how they are adapting to being targeted by institutions and the Trump administration. This topic is important because immigration policies are framed as applying to people outside the country hoping to migrate to America, and as affecting individuals in the country without documentation. My findings show that this is not the case. Immigrant communities are negatively affected by immigration enforcement and strict migration policies, as feelings of fear and distress come from the uncertainty of policy and the risks that are imposed on their safety due to policing practices. Immigrant communities expressed a sense of exclusion and obstacles in being able to feel fully integrated into American society. Findings from this study show that immigration policies have a greater effect on American immigrants and citizens, and prompt us to consider how reforms to the immigration system and related policies can be made to ensure that communities aren't negatively affected or isolated.