2. Latinos Are Criminals
Most of the Latinos that migrate to the U.S. come here to work and to have a better life for their families. Several studies have analyzed the crime rate in the U.S. and have failed to show any relationship between immigrants and the crime rate. A recent study shows that areas with the most immigrants have lower crime rates. Latinos come here to work and ironically they are the ones responsible for most of the construction in the United States. Our buildings, structures, and houses are all built by Latinos.
3. Latinos Are Taking Your Jobs
About two-thirds of the Latinos that people stereotype have blue-collar occupations or service occupations. Another two-thirds of the U.S. population is in managerial occupations or sales. “They’re not taking the jobs, except at the very lowest level and in America, very few people won’t take those jobs, so there’s no competition there,” explains Marotta-Walters. Having illegal immigrants take low-cost labor jobs, especially in the agricultural field benefits not only employers but also keeps prices down for the consumer.
People are Living in Fear
“We’re creating a culture of fear and once you do that, then there are all kinds of disorders that result when there’s a mass social destabilization,” she says. Many families split up when they emigrate to the U.S. and then later reunite once they’ve settled down. They have lived here comfortably for decades and the thought of having to leave the country they’ve watched their children grow up in is a scary thing.
“I have Latino colleagues here whose children are worried and these are children that are not at any risk, but they’re worried,” she explains. “They’re not sleeping, they don’t go outside to play and they’re told that they’re going back when their parents are U.S. citizens.”
Unfortunately, the Trump administration has taken the filters out of civility, they have made it ok for anyone to say anything they want and have created a culture of fear in people who don’t even have a reason to fear. “It’s quite scary to me that the filters that keep us a civilized society are gone, that it’s ok to nullify the person that you think is different from you for whatever reason you think they’re different,” says Marotta-Walters. “Today it is race-ethnicity, tomorrow it might be something else…once the filters are gone, the ability of people to live alongside each other is compromised.”
