Week 7 - Arwin Mauricio - A03

The theme of Week 7 is “Immigration: Criminalization of Immigrants.” Each of the two readings related to immigration to the United States in some form. The reading by Ackerman and Furman directly made the connection between the privatization of prisons and the criminalization of immigrants. The other reading by Brown focused specifically on the lives of Liberian refugee immigrants and their view of the United States. 

The reading “The Criminalization of Immigration and the Privatization of the Immigration Detention: Implications for Justice” offered a shocking revelation by making a connection of the privatization of prisons and the criminalization of immigration. Prior to this reading, I understood that the criminal justice system is broken and the country currently has an overincarceration problem which negatively impacts minorities more than white Americans. However, I did not consider the idea of a “prison industrial complex” that was described in the reading. It is unethical for institutions such as prisons to make a profit out of prisoners who are essentially a permanent customer base. After hearing the logic for criminalizing immigrants, it makes so much sense for these private prisons to advance the narrative of “dangerous illegal immigrants” since it adds to their bottom line. 

Also related to the topic of immigration, California’s push to become a “sanctuary state” seems to be a counteraction towards the demonizing of immigrants. However, I wonder how effective has it been to protect immigrants that are undocumented. The reading said that California has the largest prison population in the country. A major factor to that may be the population size of the state compared to the rest of the country.

Question: Is the nativist sentiment occurring across other countries such as those in Europe also influenced by private prisons push to create the narrative of dangerous migrants?

References:

Ackerman, A. R. and Furman, R. (2013). The Criminalization of Immigration and the Privatization of the Immigration Detention: Implications for Justice.

(2014). [Image] Retrieved from https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2014/7/13/1313677/-Criminalization-of-Immigration-Causes-Warehousing-of-Thousands-in-Inhumane-Privatized-Prisons.