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La Migra is a slang term used to refer to US immigration enforcement and border patrol agencies. It is derived from the Spanish word “migración” and is commonly used in areas with large Hispanic populations. La Migra can cause fear and anxiety for legal and illegal immigrants, and some employers use this fear to control their employees. Immigration reformers aim to ensure basic human rights for all, including those caught up in immigration raids.
La Migra is a Spanish slang term used to refer to US government employees who are responsible for immigration enforcement and border patrols. Agencies such as United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol are both called La Migra. The term doesn’t just apply to law enforcement at the border; it is also used to refer to immigration officials who inspect businesses in the course of searching for illegal immigrants.
The term comes from migración, a Spanish word that means “migration” in English. It is widely included in the wider community in parts of the United States that have large Hispanic populations, such as states located along the Mexican border.
When entering the United States legally, dealing with La Migra at the border can still be an unsettling experience. ICE officers have the authority to search vehicles and confiscate passports while they are being searched. Due to the proliferation of “watch lists,” legal immigrants with suspicious names can find themselves detained by ICE agents until they can prove their identity. While living or working in the United States, immigrants from any country are subject to inspection and documents may be required to prove their legal residency.
For illegal immigrants, obviously, La Migra represents the terminus. At the border, ICE agents make an effort to prevent illegal entry into the country. This is accomplished by patrolling the border and heavily guarding entry points. ICE also works in the United States to track down and deport illegal immigrants. Unfortunately, because documentation for legal immigrants can sometimes be incomplete, they have also occasionally been involved in ICE raids.
Due to the large proportion of illegal immigrants from Central and South America, Hispanic immigrants are often vetted more closely than immigrants from other nations. Some feel they are being discriminated against because La Migra appears to be inspecting restaurants and businesses with a large percentage of Hispanic staff more frequently. A shout of “La Migra!” in a busy kitchen it can make most staff disappear, legal or otherwise, until the coast is clear.
There have been reports of employers using La Migra’s fear to control their employees. In some sectors, illegal immigrants are seen as almost a available resource, especially in border states. If field workers are rounded up and deported, a new batch can usually be found quickly, as many people seek their fortunes in the United States. Fear of La Migra can put an immigrant in an awkward position, as unscrupulous employers have been known to use it as blackmail. Even regular immigrants are not exempt from this fear, as the ICE raids in the early 2000s demonstrated.
Concerns about immigration policy in the United States have existed since the founding of the country. In the early twentieth century, immigrants from Ireland, Italy and other impoverished European nations were vilified. By the early twenty-first century, attention had turned to immigrants from Central and South America. Immigration reformers would like to ensure that everyone in the United States, legal or otherwise, receives basic human rights and respect. Some of these reformers are openly critical of the practices employed by La Migra, especially when the innocent are caught up in the wave of an immigration raid.
