Fraud Narratives: The ecology of skepticism towards Latino immigrants

There are longstanding assumptions of fraud targeted towards Latino immigrants in the US. These narratives can impact immigration policy and bureaucratic incorporation of immigrants.

This dissertation project consists of three separate studies that investigate how assumptions of fraud directed towards Latino immigrants impact the construction and application of immigration policy at the federal, state, and local levels in the era following welfare and immigration reforms of the late 1990’s. Two chapters in particular concentrate on how fraud narratives effect immigrant crime victims under the U visa program. The focus of these projects is directed towards Latino immigrants specifically, as they comprise the large majority of immigrants in the US, as well as the large majority of U visa petitioners. Literature on welfare fraud and Latinos in the US has revealed that the public expansion of the welfare system after the New Deal was met with a stratified public assistance for different racial and ethnic groups, leading to harmful stereotypes and impacting the bureaucratic incorporation of immigrants. More studies are needed to understand how certain fraud narratives persist despite the restrictive shifts in welfare and immigration policies of the 1990’s and their contemporary effect on the administration of visas for vulnerable victimized immigrants seeking assistance. CA/NCF