This rise in deportations is due to laws passed in 1996, and a massive infusion of money into immigration law enforcement with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. With an annual budget of $60 billion, DHS has been able to expand its operations far beyond those of its predecessor, the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
When we look at who is getting deported, however, it is clear that Asian and European immigrants are almost never deported, while blacks and Latinos are deported in massive numbers. And, nearly all deportees are men. Sound familiar? Yes, racial and gender disparities in immigration law enforcement look a lot like those in criminal justice law enforcement.
Police are much more likely to arrest blacks and Latinos. In New York State, 94% of those arrested on drug charges are black or Latino. And, yes, whites and Asians do use and sell drugs. They just rarely are arrested, and, as a consequence, rarely face deportation.
Now that President Obama has forced more cooperation between police and immigration law enforcement through the Secure Communities program, we can expect to see more blacks and Latinos deported.
Repost from: Racism Review
so not true bout asian not being deported as much as black and so on. Thats maybe because you dont know of any asian and i could see that just base on what you said and where you are living at. Its happening everywhere to anyone that isnt an american.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. Here are the DHS data for deportations in 2011:
ReplyDeleteTotal 387,242
Africa 1,695
Asia 5,165
Caribbean 6,000
Central America 76,603
Europe 3,765
North America 283,304
Oceania 304
South America 10,348
Unknown 58
5,165 from Asia versus 6,000 from the Caribbean. Sounds like similar numbers until we remember that there are about one million undocumented Asians in the United States, and about 23% of the foreign-born in the United States are Asian.
Asians are 10% of undocumented immigrants and about a quarter of all foreign-born.
Yet, they account for about 1.3% of people deported in 2010.
So, yes, it is inaccurate to say that Asians are never deported, but correct to say that Asians are deported less frequently than black or Latino immigrants.
If you would like to see a more detailed analysis of this, please check out Chapter 3 of my book, Immigration Nation.