Lowell Immigrant Communities in the Climate of Deportations

摘要

In the climate of increased anti-immigrant sentiment, deportations of immigrants from the United States are on the upsurge. This article begins with a review of current immigration laws enabling detentions and deportations of undocumented immigrants, as well as permanent legal residents with a prior criminal conviction. It then explores how immigrants and refugees interact with this national climate in Lowell, Massachusetts, a traditional immigrant city in the Northeast of the United States. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions have clearly had an impact on Lowell. Our findings indicate that fear and mistrust of local authorities is driving behavior of immigrants, who are reluctant to seek medical services or to report violence to the police, whom they suspect of collaborating with ICE.