First Advisor
Dr. Arynn Infante
Date of Award
Spring 6-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Criminology and Criminal Justice and University Honors
Department
Criminology and Criminal Justice
Language
English
Subjects
immigration, latino threat, united states, immigration control, immigration enforcement, crimmigration
Abstract
Despite America’s rich history as a self-proclaimed “nation of immigrants,” immigration policy in the United States has functioned as a tool of social control designed to systematically exclude and restrict groups of people that pose a perceived threat to national identity and safety. This perceived threat has effectively been communicated through harmful narratives that stratify immigrant communities from the rest of society. Through this framing, support for punitive immigration policies thrives. Currently, Latine immigrants and their families have been the target of discriminatory immigration policies and enforcement tactics. No work to date has synthesized the current state of the immigration crisis in this country with an attempt to provide a picture of what a healthy immigration system could look like—one rooted in evidence-based policy and compassion. This literature review offers a brief overview of the history of immigration, demonstrating how it has centered whiteness and paralleled mass incarceration as another system of control. This work concludes with several proposed suggestions and recommendations for immigration reform as a culmination of an analysis of the interdisciplinary body of work that has been presented thus far.
Recommended Citation
Gallo, Nina, "The Power of Perception: Latine Threat Narratives and Immigration Control in the United States" (2026). University Honors Theses. Paper 1865.