The Mass Incarceration of Undocumented Latinos/as in the Prison-Immigration Industrial Complex: The Collateral Consequences

Roberto Jose Velasquez

Source Title: Police Brutality, Racial Profiling, and Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System

ISBN13: 9781522510888|ISBN10: 1522510885|EISBN13: 9781522510895

DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-1088-8.ch013

MLA

Velasquez, Roberto Jose. "The Mass Incarceration of Undocumented Latinos/as in the Prison-Immigration Industrial Complex: The Collateral Consequences." Police Brutality, Racial Profiling, and Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System, edited by Stephen Egharevba, IGI Global, 2017, pp. 1-22. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-1088-8.ch013

APA

Velasquez, R. J. (2017). The Mass Incarceration of Undocumented Latinos/as in the Prison-Immigration Industrial Complex: The Collateral Consequences. In S. Egharevba (Ed.), Police Brutality, Racial Profiling, and Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System (pp. 1-22). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-1088-8.ch013

Chicago

Velasquez, Roberto Jose. "The Mass Incarceration of Undocumented Latinos/as in the Prison-Immigration Industrial Complex: The Collateral Consequences." In Police Brutality, Racial Profiling, and Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System, edited by Stephen Egharevba, 1-22. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2017. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-1088-8.ch013

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Abstract

In this chapter, the authors discuss the current mass incarceration of Latinos/as in the United States. While Latinos/as have always been overrepresented in the criminal justice system, especially in relation to their population size, the number of Latinos/as, especially those who are undocumented, is now increasing at epidemic proportions in prison. Paralleling the Black experience about mass incarceration, which has its historical roots in slavery, the authors discuss impact of mass incarceration on the Latino/a community, and how mass incarceration places the Latino/a population at-risk for destruction of its community, most notably the family. The authors, who are primarily mental health professionals, share their concerns about how mass incarceration is tearing at the foundation of this community as it has in the African American community and is likely to have negative long-term, and perhaps permanent, effects that are yet to be known. While it is beyond of the scope of the chapter to discuss the specific assessment and treatment of Latino/a persons affected by mass incarceration, the authors do focus on problems that are arising in this community as a result of persons, especially parents, being incarceration because of undocumented status in the United States.