eBook
Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
Related collections and offers
Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781628952353 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Michigan State University Press |
| Publication date: | 07/01/2015 |
| Series: | Latinos in the United States |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 378 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
U.S. Latinos and Criminal Injustice
By Lupe S. Salinas
Michigan State University Press
Copyright © 2015 Lupe S. SalinasAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-62895-235-3
CHAPTER 1
History and Evolution of the U.S. Latino Population
As early as 1803, American foreign and domestic policy began to shape the future of a permanent Latino presence in the United States when the United States purchased the formerly Spanish-ruled Louisiana Territory from France. The purchase of Florida followed in 1819 (Oboler and Gonzalez 2005, 4:268; Weber 1973, 14). Soon thereafter, Moses Austin and his son Stephen entered into an immigration agreement with Mexico. Anglos began to migrate from the southeastern United States to Mexican Texas. Inevitable racial and cultural conflicts between Mexicans and Anglos led to a call for independence by the white immigrants, resulting in the determinative battle at San Jacinto in April 1836.
Texas became an independent republic, but one that depended on a future alliance with the United States. By 1845, the time ripened for Manifest Destiny to proceed westward (Voelker 2004). Anglos believed that they were ordained by God (Griswold del Castillo 1998, 31–32) to expand democracy and freedom to those who were capable of self-government, excluding Native American people and non-Europeans. The United States acquired roughly 500,000 square miles of the former northern part of Mexico, land that today constitutes the U.S. Southwest and Northwest (PBS "U.S. Mexican War").
Approximately 75,000 Mexicans decided to remain and receive American citizenship in 1848 (McWilliams 1948, 52). Between 1870 and 1900, the Mexican population grew slowly until reaching greater numbers by 1930. The exclusion by Congress of Chinese immigrants from the 1880s to 1943increased the demand for Mexican labor. Of the almost 50,000 workers, Mexican-descent persons made up 70 percent of the section crews and 90 percent of the extra gangs on the principal western railroad lines (Taylor 1934, 92–93, 168).
These Mexican workers were later joined by vast migrations from Mexico. The first influx, precipitated by the Mexican Revolution, began in 1910. A second wave through 1930 resulted in the increase of the Mexican American population by nearly one million. During and after World War II, encouraged by the Bracero Program and attracted by the agricultural labor market, a third group of Mexicans came to the United States. In addition, in the early 1960s, about 3,500 Latinos immigrated through official channels each month (U.S. Census Bureau 1970, 2).
The termination of the Bracero Program in 1964 did not curtail the growth of the Mexican population. Instead, natural economic forces increased the undocumented population. In 1974, the INS reported the apprehension of over 788,000 aliens (U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service 1974, iii). The increased undocumented immigration resulted from not only the termination of the Bracero Program but also the imposition by Congress of the Western Hemisphere quota in the Hart-Cellar Immigration Act, a policy decision that limited immigration from Latin American countries (Acuña 1972, 143–44).
This increase in the undocumented population results from what is referred to as the "push-pull" factor. American businesses "pull" (attract) lower-wage workers from other countries to perform duties generally considered unattractive by the domestic work force. Simultaneously, the sending country's economic hardships result in "pushing" their usually large populations to seek a means of feeding their families by going to another country. Once in the country, unauthorized immigrant families have U.S.-born children, who by constitutional edict are American citizens.
The Central American, Caribbean, and South American Latino Populations
The early 1980s saw a rapid increase in immigration not only from Mexico but also from Central America, the Caribbean, and South America (Fry 2009). By 2010, this migration wave resulted in Latinos constituting 22 percent of all children under the age of 18 in the United States, up from the 9 percent in 1980 (Liu 2012, 620). This large number of Latino youth can only point to a continual growth of the U.S. Latino population.
According to the 2010 Census, 308.7 million people resided in the United States on April 1, 2010, with Latinos representing 50.5 million (16 percent) of this total. In 1970, Latinos totaled 9.6 million of the nation's population (Gibson and Jung 2002). This ethnic group increased to 35.3 million in 2000 and then to 50.5 million by 2010. The Latino growth from the 2000 to the 2010 Census accounted for more than half of the 27.3 million increase of the entire U.S. population. More dramatically, between 1970 and 2010 U.S. Latinos experienced a growth rate of 426 percent (Ennis, Rios-Vargas, and Albert 2011, 2).
In 2010, Mexican-origin Latinos accounted for 63 percent of all Latinos. All the other major Hispanic nationality groups grew significantly. Puerto Ricans, for example, accounted for 4.6 million, and Cubans and Salvadorans reached 1.8 million and 1.6 million, respectively (Ennis, Rios-Vargas, and Albert 2011, 2–3).
Latinos who reported other Hispanic origins also increased. This group includes other Central Americans, South Americans, and Spaniards. These nationalities, which have seen large percentage increases in their American presence, migrate from nations that experience severe violence and economic problems, such as Spain, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras (Ennis, Rios-Vargas, and Albert 2011, 3).
The Latino impact on the United States can perhaps be better appreciated by a comparison of immigration from one century to another. In 1910, Germany was the top country of birth among U.S. immigrants, with Germans constituting the biggest immigrant group in seventeen states and with Mexico dominating in only three states (Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas). In 2010, persons of Mexican descent represented the major immigrant group in thirty-five states, while Germany dropped out completely from the number one position. The remarkable fact is that among the thirty-five states, Mexican immigrants dominate on the West Coast, from south to north; in some states along the Canadian border; in a few East Coast states, and in the South and along the Southern border, with the exception of Florida (Krogstad and Lopez 2014, 2010 map).
In 2010, some 41 percent of all Latinos lived in the West and 36 percent lived in the South. The other 23 percent resided in the Northeast and the Midwest. In the West, Latinos accounted for 29 percent of the population, exceeding the then national Latino population average of 16 percent. Of major importance to the rights of Latinos in the criminal justice system, the 2010 Census revealed an extraordinary 57 percent Latino growth in the South, an increase that was four times the overall 14 percent growth of the population. In the Midwest, the Latino population increasedby 49 percent from 2000, more than twelve times the 4 percent growth of the total population in that region (Krogstad and Lopez 2014, 4–6).
Excluding the Texas statistics from the Southern tallies, the large Latino increase in the other Southern states has led to culture shock for the Anglo population. Businesses such as the Alabama tomato growers and the Georgia poultry-company owners might love the Latino work force, but other Southerners despise them on racial and cultural grounds, and others criticize them for allegedly taking jobs from Anglos.
These population figures are critical, as well, in explaining the adverse reaction by police and government against this population (Perez 2012). Specifically, those arrested encounter a criminal justice system lacking in bilingual attorneys, court interpreters, and cultural awareness and sensitivity (Salinas and Martinez 2010, 543). In times of budget pressures, administrators limit costs by using court employees as interpreters. This practice infringes on the rights of LEP individuals who require the effective assistance of counsel and the ability to confront witnesses.
As to the Cuban-descent Latino population, more than three-fourths (77 percent) of the 1.8 million Cubans in the nation reside in the South. In Florida, Cubans account for 1.2 million persons, or 68 percent of the total Latino population. Puerto Ricans constitute the second largest population in Florida, with 848,000, or 20.1 percent. In 2010, about 74 percent of the nation's 50.5 million Latinos, or 37.6 million, lived in eight states: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Arizona, New Jersey, and Colorado (Ennis, Rios-Vargas, and Albert 2011, 5, 8).
In conclusion, a few major cities — New York, Los Angeles, Houston, and San Antonio — alone account for nearly 6 million Latinos (Ennis, Rios-Vargas, and Albert 2011, 11). These numbers necessarily place an excessive strain upon the administration of the court systems. Unfortunately, the higher Latino numbers can also lead to aberrant police and prosecutorial behavior, implicit bias, racial profiling, and disparate treatment in the courts. These four cities, for example, represent the settings of some of the worst abuses of minority and Latino civil rights in recent years. They include the New York racial profiling (Floyd decision involving black and Latino victims), rampant police abuses in Los Angeles (Ruben Salazar and Xavier Ovando), the Houston denials of due process by prosecutors, police officers, and judges (Ricardo Aldape-Guerra and Jose Campos Torres), and a questionable conviction in San Antonio that resulted in an execution (Ruben Cantu).
Latinos constitute a significant culture and language population group that has identified Spanish as the language most spoken at home (37 million) after English. To put the group's population growth in perspective, census data illustrate that the U.S. population more than doubled from 132.1 million in 1940 to 308.7 million in 2010, a 133.6 percent increase. By comparison, during the same time period, U.S. Latinos increased geometrically, from about 1.4 million to 50.5 million, an increase of 3,507 percent. These realities prompt certain politicians to rally their voters as they decry the "browning" of America. The ethnic and racial commentaries also trigger violent reactions, which at times result in death — a subject discussed in another chapter (Liu 2012, 609, 615).
Many events have increased the Latino population count. First, the 1910 Mexican Revolution and a somewhat open border through the 1930s contributed the initial substantial wave. Second, the Bracero Program policies beginning with World War II incited the desire of many Mexicans to work in the United States. Third, the higher-than-average birth rate and economic troubles in Mexico, political upheaval in Cuba, and economic needs in the United States contributed to the Latino migration (Rozemberg 2005, A1, A6). This growth continued, notwithstanding the governmental efforts known respectively as Operation Deportation and Operation "Wetback" in the 1930s and 1950s (Salinas and Torres 1976, 873–75) as well as efforts of the post-9/11 Congress to close the Southern border and strengthen national security.
Despite the rapid U.S. Latino growth and the protections guaranteed by the Constitution, U.S. Latinos suffer disparate treatment in the judicial system. Several factors contribute to these injustices. One primary factor centers on the attitudes or prejudices of the financially and politically dominant Anglo community. A second factor involves the political-organizational weaknesses of the Latino community, characteristics that lead to irregular and limited voting. When significant voting occurs, as the nation saw in the reelection of President Obama, the results often lead to something called respect, or at least the appearance of some degree of deference in return for political support. Future developments might level the voting playing field. Demographers recently found that since 2000, the U.S.-born Latino population grew at a faster rate than its immigrant population (Krogstad and Lopez 2014). These facts should encourage politicians genuinely to include Latinos in the process. In addition, the greater number of voting-eligible citizens should in turn inspire more Latinos to vote and run for office. The "my vote does not count" explanation for nonparticipation will hopefully appear only in the history books.
American Foreign Policy and the Growth of the Latino Population
Towards the end of the 1800s, American policy involved intervention to exclude or remove European influence and promote American control in the Caribbean Basin (Oboler and Gonzalez 2005, 4:269). Once the United States got involved in the Spanish-American War in 1898, it gained a foothold in Cuba and then invaded Puerto Rico, helping defeat Spain. The United States then helped Panama gain its independence from Columbia in 1903, opening the door for the United States to control the development of the Panama Canal (Liu 2012, 444).
Foreign policy as to Puerto Rico and Cuba shaped America's irreversible ethnic and linguistic diversity. The nation's adoption of Puerto Rico as a Commonwealth presents an even more perplexing historical anomaly as it relates to the increasing anti-Latino rhetoric among some civic and political groups, state legislatures, and even Congress. Pursuant to the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish-American War of 1898, Spain ceded the territory today known as Puerto Rico. Congress later declared that persons born in Puerto Rico would be United States citizens. Puerto Ricans possess the privilege of using Spanish along with English as their official languages (Liu 2012, 444, 592).
The Cuban migrations of the 1960s and the 1980s brought large numbers to our shores. Over 200,000 Cubans arrived here by way of approved airlifts beginning in 1959 (Perez 1986, 131). In 1980, Fidel Castro sent another 125,000 Cubans, in large part because he considered them dissidents, criminals, or individuals with mental illness and other social problems (Caldwell 2012).The Cuban American population also increased as a result of American immigration policy known as the "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy, a procedure that allows those who reach dry land in the United States to remain in the country (Aleinikoff, Martin, and Motomura 2003, 1011–12). Cubans intercepted at sea are deported. For those who manage to reach American soil, they are allowed to stay in the United States and petition for adjustment of status (Morley 2007). In spite of constant patrols of Florida waters by the Border Patrol and the U.S. Coast Guard, in one recent four-year period more than 131,000 Cubans settled permanently in the United States (De Salas del Valle 2008).
One harsh aspect of this disparate policy, which favors Cuban immigrants, is that many drown in their quest to reach South Florida as they travel in unseaworthy boats. A final negative aspect of the policy is that it permits pro-Cuban immigration over other ethnic groups. Most apprehended undocumented immigrants, in contrast, lack the option to remain in the United States to adjust their status. Notwithstanding this discrimination, observers and critics need to understand a few facts. First, the President of the United States, i.e., the Executive Branch, is our foreign policy chief. Second, the Congress, the Legislative Branch, has plenary power in the development of immigration policy. Under these circumstances, the third branch of government, the judiciary, has limited jurisdiction to void any discriminatory or irrational policies.
Development of the Dominican, Central American, and South American Communities
As to the growth of the Mexican population, American domestic policy regarding employment needs in the agricultural, construction, and service industries enticed many to enter surreptitiously once legal avenues disappeared or diminished. In contrast, as previously discussed, Puerto Rican and Cuban migration developed as a direct result of American foreign policy. In the case of these two nations, threats from Spain and from Castro's Communist takeover led to an American national-security concern that prompted this nation's adoption of Puerto Ricans and Cubans into the American populace.
Similarly, the catalyst for Caribbean and Central American migration was almost exclusively America's foreign policy. Both political and economic forces contributed to America's concerns. The United States, acting over several decades through the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency, supported civilian tyrants and military dictatorships in the Caribbean and in Central America. Among these actions, American leaders supported the military junta in El Salvador and the Somoza family dictatorship in Nicaragua, governments that used extreme violence against their own people (Zinn 1999, 572). An indirect and inevitable consequence of these policies has been the migration of refugees from these Latino nations, with, ironically, a large number seeking refuge in the United States.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from U.S. Latinos and Criminal Injustice by Lupe S. Salinas. Copyright © 2015 Lupe S. Salinas. Excerpted by permission of Michigan State University Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.