There is a massive crisis at the Texas/Mexico border. An estimated 12,000 immigrants are camped under the Del Rio International bridge seeking asylum. Food and water are scarce, and weather conditions range from extreme heat to tropical storms. Most people have no shelter save for the bridge itself. Horrific images have emerged of border patrol agents on horseback with whips chasing people down. The immigrants are mostly Haitians fleeing a country destabilized politically by the assassination of their president, and environmentally by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake and tropical storm that hit in August. Sociologically speaking, these conditions are the push factors that encourage people to leave their native land. On the other hand, the stability offered by the United States is the pull factor that encourage people to relocate to a new homeland. Although the United States government is working at breakneck speed to deport the immigrants back home to Haiti, it is a worthy exercise to consider the experience of immigrants seeking life in the United States.
The most obvious change for immigrants seeking life in a new country is that the culture is different from their homeland. This encompasses not only material culture or the physical artifacts that represent components of society, but also nonmaterial culture, ideas and symbols that represent components of society. For many immigrants there are obvious differences in terms of the grocery stores, roads and technology. Additionally, the laws, beliefs and values are often also different. These culture variations result in native-born individuals having different socialization, the process by which one learns the appropriate attitudes and behaviors within a culture. Because of these differences, immigrants to a new country often go through a process of resocialization, an identity transformation in which social norms and roles are altered or replaced.
Immigrants to the United States come from all over the world. If their immigration was unauthorized, their first encounter with American authority may result in them spending time in a total institution, an isolated group whose goal is to control every aspect of its member’s lives. Commonly referred to as detention centers, these facilities control every aspect of the immigrant’s life while their visa status is sorted out in the legal system. Those entering detention centers go through a degradation ceremony, an event, ceremony or rite of passage used to break down people and make them more accepting of a total institution. This can include losing access to their personal possessions, wearing a uniform, being handcuffed and assigned a number in place of their name; all while being guarded by armed immigration officers.
Certain policies associated with immigration have been quite controversial. In particular, the now rescinded Zero Tolerance Immigrant Enforcement policy of separating children from parents has resulted in over 2100 children still not reunited with their families. Arguably, the cruelty of that policy is not just in the current experience of the children, and their loss of individuals who are important to the development of self, or significant others we call parents. The full cruelty of that policy won’t be understood for decades to come. The life course perspective contends there are a series of social changes that a person experiences over the course of their lifetime. Being separated from your parents and locked up in a detention center isn’t one of the life course events typically associated with a happy childhood. If we add on social learning theory, the process of learning from one another in a social context as a result of observation and imitation, we are forced to consider not only what the children are learning from their experience in the detention centers, but also how will it impact the rest of their lives?
Agents of socialization, which are individuals, groups, and institutions that influence the attitudes and behaviors of members of society, affect all of the steps of the immigrant experience. In the context of immigration, these agents of socialization are a reflection of society projected to the larger world. The Haitian immigrants on the Texas border are not unique in their desire to seek a better life. The United Nation estimates that millions of people will be displaced by climate and political instability in the coming years. These people will be pushed to immigrate to a new country because their own has become uninhabitable. In the end, the United States as a destination or pull country will have to consider whether our immigration policies will make it easier or harder for us to look at our own reflection.
This blog post provided by the co-authors of SociologicalYOU (Sixth Edition), a digital NextGen Introductory Sociology textbook engaging students in critical thinking to “Connect Sociology and YOU!” For more information, contact Support@SociologicalYOU.com.
