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Immigration from Mexico and Latin America currently is a topic of considerable political and social debate, often fueled by distorted public perception about crime, terrorism, drug trafficking, and other offenses allegedly committed by immigrants. Recurrent depictions of Mexicans in the media convey them as illegal aliens who sneak into the United States to commit crime, steal jobs, and create havoc. Less common, although still on occasion, are Mexicans portrayed as hard working, earnest providers for their families who are pursuing the American Dream. Almost never are Americans shown images or informed of the risks and vulnerabilities that Mexicans, including Mexican-Americans, legal Mexican immigrants, and undocumented "aliens," experience.
The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of Mexican immigration to the United States (both legal and undocumented), by exploring the ways in which Mexicans living in the country experience social interactions within the context of their immigrant lives. Using features of social exclusion theory, this paper presents a description of some current effects of immigrant stigmatization. It is not intended as an all-inclusive account of all the situations that immigrants experience, but rather as a starting point of discussion on this important topic.
Social Exclusion as a Phenomenon
Behrman, Gaviria, and Székely (2003) explain that economic disparity is one of the main reasons why social exclusion takes place in social groups. In the case of Latin American countries, including Mexico, economic instability often deepens the gap between the poor and the rich creating social exclusion within their societies (Behrman, Gaviria, & Székely, 2003). However, a study conducted by the Bank of Mexico (2007) showed that six out of every ten Mexicans had a job before becoming emigrants and three in every four had at least one relative already living in the United States. These situations help to suggest that incentives for immigration are not exclusively of an economic nature or focused only on the economic disparity between Mexico and the United States. Other factors should also be considered, such as an overall better quality of life, family ties, political and social stability, and perceived lower crime rates.
Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto explains that beyond poverty, Latin American countries including Mexico, face the unique challenge of fighting social exclusion (Reséndiz, 2006). Behrman, Gaviria,...