Behind the silhouettes of the public, an invisible struggle continues; the marginalized

voices of undocumented individuals echoes the haunting reality of their existence. Various
undocumented individuals are continuously marginalized and mistreated due to the perception
constructed by the media and hierarchy per se, especially in America’s media and its anti
immigration directed policies towards people of color. In all cases, undocumented groups are
affected in slow violence by creating gaps of equality that are out of sight, slowly but surely
unfolding a cataclysm of misfortune events. The only people who truly see this in effect are the
people who experience marginalization and until it is brought up to light by the media, it is
acknowledged by the public. Nonetheless, stories of Dreamers successfully graduating is shown
on broadcasts and in contrast, the news luminates undocumented groups as drug dealers and job
takers of the economy who are presumably the fathers of the daughter successfully graduating
from an exclusive university. The public views undocumented people as fugitives and job takers
of the economy although without undocumented farms working for low wages, its agricultural
economy would simply plummet. This suggests the need for undocumented individuals as well
as the discussion about hard working undocumented people more instead of only dreamers
rights, legalization for undocumented people and the notion that undocumented people are not
here to steal but to escape from struggles.
In the tangled tapestry of social connection, the exclusion of undocumented individuals
entwines a sinister repetitive pattern of back-handed discrimination and subjugation of low paid
undocumented workers. Javier Quintanilla was a father of three boys and one small girl, residing
and working in America for the past sixteen years. In 2008, he suddenly got pulled over for not
having a driver's license. “He was granted a stay to remain in the country…checked in with
immigration authorities every six months until March of 2017.”(Villavicencio, 2020, p.3) Javier
was abiding to all the regulations put upon him and even so he was stripped away of his rights
and volition to remain in America. The author, Villavicencio, illustrates the scantiness of
privilege and access given to undocumented individuals with the false perception of hope.
During the process of Javier's case, he was forced to have on an ankle monitor which he had to
wear everywhere he went. Villavicencio mentions how Javier is humiliated and feels as if he's
been labeled as a criminal, thereby indicating the social stigma that maintains the notion of
undocumented individuals are a danger to society. By urging the use of ankle monitors to
undocumented people, it gives rise to stigmatization and positive feedback to keep resorting to
these dehumanizing tactics. Forced deportation are tools of the government to politically
dominate and subjugate undocumented people into a lower class of hierarchy. As Villvicencio
mentioned prior to, ankle monitors provided a false sense of security and liberty. Yes,
undocumented individuals can roam around their designated area with comfort without fearing
being deported in the moment but this false comfort makes the backhanded discrimination
clearly apparent as they can’t go anywhere from their designated area.
Conversely, it is important to acknowledge the struggles of undocumented as they have to
fight everyday to merely have an average life ; the government knows this and uses their
struggle to their advantage. The catastrophic aftermath of 911 affected the lives of many and
created environmental impacts. After the last flame was extinguished, an abundance of debris
was piled; containing harmful elements including lead, asbestos and jet fuel. The first responders
were fireman and EMT workers and the “second responders” were undocumented immigrants.
They were contacted by an underground network through phone calls to clean the buildings. The
air quality and dangers of cleaning a building with an abundance of fumes and even though it
was clear, they were given flimsy equipment for safety. Many of the “secondary responders''
showed signs of diminished health even after a couple of days. “Many of them have developed
cancer…arthritis, asthma, high blood pressure…”(Villaviencio, 2020, p.3) As Villaviencio
expressed, although they attained hospital ID cards, they did not receive full care for their health
issues caused by the building's components nor did they get paid for their work. Milton Vallejo
was one of the second responders cleaning the aftermath of the twin towers catastrophe and was
assigned to clean the basement. With almost no equipment given to him, he had to think of other
ways to semi protect himself- tying plastic bags around his ankles. After a couple of days, he
started showing signs of excessive mucus which is a beginning sign of bronchitis, even so he
kept working arduously simply to see that his check had bounced. The difference in treatment
between the first responders and the undocumented workers demonstrates discrimination and
unequal access to treatment.
Countless undocumented individuals fear any contact with people of high authority due
to deception of false promises and exploitative schemes. Undocumented groups often mistrust
officials as well that purposely lure undocumented people. With an abundance of hate and pure
vile intent, many undocumented people fear the pursuit of anything other than a mere dishwasher
or construction worker- as long as these jobs have low background checks, and attainable. With
work jobs such as delivery men and low end jobs, bias crime and discrimination intentions are
occuring by people who are against the undocumented group. In the case of the author,
Villaciencio, she discusses her story about her father who worked as a deliveryman when a new
documented Puerto Rican manager was hired. Majority of the workers in the restaurant were
immigrants and as the manager recognized their status, he began to quickly threaten the workers.
“…immediately are abusive, calling the delivery guys wetbacks and spics, threatening to call
ICE on them” (Villaviencio, 2020, p.12). Hate crimes lurk as the unsettling embodiment of
bigotry. As the author illustrates, even as a delivery driver and dishwasher, the majority of the
time undocumented people lean to these job networks is unfortunately most of the time their
better option. They are perceived by the impact of hierarchy and mistreated by the stereotypes
created by the media and malevolent groups who are “above” the hierarchy. In the labor
economy, undocumented people have to come up against a hierarchy that purposely lowers their
wages through the means of terror. More so people who speak the tongue but have citizenship
have detached themselves from the identity of who they are to assimilate into a dominant culture
to stray away from being seen as undocumented. Stereotypes can unfortunately support
dehumanization of the undocumented; these harmful stereotypes lead to the perception of
undocumented individuals as criminals, drug dealers, job takers of society.
 During Javier’s case, he and his kids attempted to get signatures of their neighborhood
for a petition to remain in America “..and there are white moms who wish Andres and Omar and
Elias and Greta’s mom will be deported too.”, yet not everyone was kind to them due to
resentment or the image placed upon undocumented people to make them seem as if they are
coming to America for our economies' worth. One of the undocumented named Leonel had to go
through almost the same experience as Javier but in the end he decided to legally hide in a
sanctuary which is a space where Immigration and Custom Officers can not enter. “...holed up in
a Methodist church off the Yale campus in defiance of ICE, which considers him a fugitive.”
(Villaviencio, 2020, p.8) Nixon reiterates the narrative that all undocumented people are seen as
fugitives and the outcomes of undocumented people due to this notion of false characteristics
lingering with them. In opposition, undocumented individuals who become Dreamers are seen as
the pipe dream to “rise” to a higher identification within the hierarchy. As the news portrays
them as these humanizing rising stories of America and disregard that they are bringing in
immigrants to work on their farms with deception of the american dream; the variance of the
same party to not address their own actions shows political manipulation.
There has been a lot of progression within the years about immigration legalization and
the whole discussion about human rights versus economic strategies. In the world of greed, it is a
product of corruption and the exploitative systems that are being placed on the undocumented.
Due to this system, undocumented people have to work harder for the right to live and often
experience struggles internally and externally. By deconstructing dehumanizing detention
structural systems and advocating for moral ways of treatment,we can diminish the challenges of
undocumented individuals and prioritize cases that are truly considered a threat instead of the
perception of threat through influence. With supportive networks and integration in communities,
we can create an inclusive community by creating more opportunities for education to older
people, protection from manipulation within work situations, and overall promoting the
awareness movement to pull apart misconceptions of undocumented people as fugitives.