04/18/2320080207©Robert LeRoux Hernandez, 2008
1
Hispanics and the Law in Massachusetts
Seminar 4: Latinos in Hiding
February 7, 2008
College of the Holy Cross
04/18/2320080207©Robert LeRoux Hernandez, 2008
2
• Latino
• Latina
• Hispanic
• Hispanic-American
• Hispanic Origin
• Undercount
• Foreign born
• National origin • Migration• Immigration• Undocumented
resident• “Illegal alien”
KEY TERMS
04/18/2320080207©Robert LeRoux Hernandez, 2008
4
0
1000000
2000000
3000000
4000000
5000000
6000000
7000000
8000000
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2006
total populationHispanicsArea 1
04/18/2320080207©Robert LeRoux Hernandez, 2008
5
05
101520253035404550
Population Growth 1990-2000(%)
total populationHispanicsNon-Hispanics
Massachusetts Population Growth Comparison
04/18/2320080207©Robert LeRoux Hernandez, 2008
11
Who benefits from what data?
What’s going on?
Who knows?
Critical eye to data
04/18/2320080207©Robert LeRoux Hernandez, 2008
16
Immigration: a Global Issue
• Is Immigration a crisis?
• Patterns
• Long-term population trends
• Fertility rates
04/18/2320080207©Robert LeRoux Hernandez, 2008
18
5. Conflicts of Laws and Perspectives
• International Law-human rights
• Constitutional Law- equal rights
• Federal statute-immigration
• State Law-benefit programs; driving
• Municipal Law-Sanctuary
04/18/2320080207©Robert LeRoux Hernandez, 2008
19
Fourteenth Amendment
• Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
04/18/2320080207©Robert LeRoux Hernandez, 2008
20
Undocumented Residents
• Migrants– Economic adversity– Access to services– Hiding from the law
• “Illegal aliens”– Economic fears– Racism– Anxiety about difference and change
• Hispanics– Ethnic empathy/shared history– Broadening stigma
04/18/2320080207©Robert LeRoux Hernandez, 2008
21
PERSPECTIVES• The Boston Yankees• Irish “stock”• Undocumented Worker• Small business • Large business• Documented Immigrant• 4th Generation Hispanic-American
Professional
04/18/2320080207©Robert LeRoux Hernandez, 2008
22
Speaking from Perspective
• Defining our terms• Consistency of
perspective• Identity with perspective• Fact, fiction and image
04/18/2320080207©Robert LeRoux Hernandez, 2008
23
Turning the Social Sciences Inside Out
• From the other side of the microscope
Something stared back
04/18/2320080207©Robert LeRoux Hernandez, 2008
24
6. What’s Going On With
Migration to Massachusetts
04/18/2320080207©Robert LeRoux Hernandez, 2008
25
Estimated Unauthorized Migrant Population in
Massachusetts• 150,000 - 250,00 (Pew)• 508,530 total Hispanic population in
Mass. (2005 census estimate)• WBUR: Countries of Origin Mass. Immi
grants• WBUR: Top 10 Countries of Birth Immig
rant Labor force arriving 1990-2000
04/18/2320080207©Robert LeRoux Hernandez, 2008
26
F.A.I.R.• Illegal immigration, like legal immigration to
Massachusetts, is heavily Mexican. • We estimate that Massachusetts' illegal alien
population now numbers about 83,000 persons.
• The continued addition of illegal immigrants over the next 45 years, assuming it continues at current rates, is projected to add more than 281,000 persons to the population from newcomers and their offspring
04/18/2320080207©Robert LeRoux Hernandez, 2008
35
Numbers are driven by ideology more than science
• Numbers tell the story they are framed to tell• Aggregation of individual historical realities
may be the best we can do• The larger the aggregation, the less reliable
the history?• Knowledge is the object of study• Knowledge means self-understanding• History/oral tradition