Legal Violence and Systemic Oppression: Examining Latino Immigrant Experiences in U.S. Detention Centers

Background and Purpose: Politicians in the United States (US) have promoted hostile and anti-immigrant sentiment for political gain (Montoya Andrade & Serrano, 2024). This hostile rhetoric against Latino immigrants has led to systemic restrictive anti-immigrant policies. Latinos are historically among the most villainized groups in the U.S. The US immigration system has employed restrictive policies and aggressive enforcement strategies that disproportionately impact Latino immigrants and their families (Hernandez, 2024).

While immigration detention expanded dramatically from the mid-1990s through the present, presidents across political lines– Obama, Biden, and Trump– have all contributed to record deportation numbers (U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, 2024). Within this context, this study integrates Latino/a Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) (Solórzano & Delgado-Bernal, 2001; Valdes & Bender, 2021) and the Legal Violence Framework (Menjivar & Abrego, 2012) to examine how seemingly legitimate legal processes inflict various forms of violence on detained Latino immigrants and their communities. These complementary frameworks reveal how immigration detention functions as both a legal institution and a system of racialized control while highlighting the mechanisms through which these policies inflict harm.

Methodology: Data were collected through 13 focus groups conducted between October 2022 and July 2023 with 54 adult Latino immigrants (36 self-identified women & 18 men) who had been released from immigration detention. Participants were recruited through immigrant rights & immigrant serving organizations. Focus groups were conducted in participants' preferred language (Spanish or English) using a semi-structured interview schedule examining experiences in detention and post-release challenges. Sessions were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using a six-step thematic analysis approach (Braun & Clark, 2006) by four bilingual and bicultural research team members.

Results: Five major themes emerged from the analysis: 1) Discrimination - participants described systematic discrimination throughout the immigration enforcement system, from targeted policies to treatment during detention; 2) Anger - participants expressed anger at governmental exploitation of their labor while creating systems that dehumanize and discard them; 3) Mental Health Challenges - detention conditions, family separation, and mistreatment negatively impacted participants' psychological wellbeing; 4) Post-Detention Struggles - including ongoing fear, difficulty accessing mental health services, and resource limitations; 5) Resilience - despite traumatic experiences, participants maintained dignity through family connections, faith, and solidarity with others who were detained.

Conclusions and Implications: Using a LatCrit and Legal Violence theoretical framework, this study helps illuminate the continued discrimination and mistreatment that permeates US immigration policies and immigration detention centers. This study demonstrates how detention practices reflect and reinforce systemic racism and xenophobia while enacting violence through seemingly neutral legal processes. The multilayered impacts extend beyond detention to affect individuals, families, and communities. Despite these challenges, detained immigrants maintained agency and resistance within constraining systems. In keeping with the NASW Code of Ethics (NASW, 2021), social work research must continue examining both immediate and long-term consequences of immigration detention. Practitioners must advocate for the elimination of harmful immigration policies that perpetuate structural violence against immigrant communities, and provide continued culturally grounded support and services to immigrants who have experienced the US detention system.