Preparation For The Next Life

According to data from the Pew Research Center, there were approximately 10.5 million undocumented immigrants in the United States as of 2021, representing about 3% of the total US population. The reasons these immigrants travel to the US are enormously varied: Some seek greater economic opportunity; some wish to reconnect with family members already living in the US; and many come seeking refuge from political instability or persecution in their countries of origin. The presence of these immigrants generates significant political controversy, with political leaders often unjustly characterizing them as a threat to national security and the economic prospects of US citizens. While many ask why such immigrants do not come to the US through legal channels, the reality is that restrictive and discriminatory laws make legal immigration to the US difficult to impossible for the vast majority of the world’s population. In general, only three categories of non-US-born people are eligible for permanent residence in the US: those with a family connection to someone who already has legal status; those with an approved claim to political asylum; and those with advanced skills that qualify them for work sponsorships, such as surgeons or biochemists (“Why Don’t Unauthorized Migrants Come Here Legally?” United States Conference of Catholic Bishops). Like Zou Lei in Preparation for the Next Life, many undocumented immigrants live in fear of being deported from the United States, and this fear, coupled with a lack of legal protections, makes them highly vulnerable to exploitation by employers; several domestic industries, such as the agricultural industry, rely on exploiting the precarity of undocumented people to maximize profits. These fears have increased after President Trump and his administration began to crack down on immigration enforcement while he was in office, and policies put in place more recently under President Biden’s administration have done little to improve conditions for undocumented immigrants.  

Many undocumented immigrants face significant challenges in accessing services like healthcare, education, and employment. United States federal policies exclude undocumented immigrants from publicly funded resources like The Affordable Care Act. Undocumented immigrants often face discrimination in the workplace and are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse as the United States does not offer undocumented workers any legal protections (Abua, Joseph. “Challenges with Undocumented Immigrants in the U.S.” UAB Institute for Human Rights, 16 July 2020). In the landmark US Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe, the court ruled that all children, regardless of immigration status, are entitled to free public education on the grounds that they are protected under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. However, many undocumented immigrants fear enrolling their children into the public schooling system as they worry it may lead to being reported to immigration officials (“Access to Education - Rule of Law.” The United States Courts).