“Looking Mexican”: Indigenous and non-Indigenous Latina/o Immigrants and the Racialization of Illegality in the Midwest

Abstract Immigration laws, judiciary hearings, and enforcement strategies produce the racialization of illegality, linking “illegality” to homogenized and stereotypical images of “Mexican,” “Hispanic,” and “Latina/o” origin. Immigration scholars have shown the transgressions produced by the racialization of illegality on Latina/o immigrants and non-immigrants who fit these stereotypes. How do Latina/o immigrants of different ethnic origins navigate the racialization of illegality? What strategies do they employ to manage risks associated with illegality? Through 61 interviews with Indigenous-origin and non-Indigenous Latina/o immigrants in Kansas between 2016 to 2019, this study examines the salience of race and the active role that the body plays within Latina/o immigrants’ experiences with the immigration regime. I find that immigrants actively employ the body as a resource to navigate illegality, particularly in a context where Latina/os make up a smaller share of a white-majority population. The racialization of illegality brings social divisions within Latina/o groups, reproducing centuries-old systems of oppression where whiteness is equated with protections given to citizens, while “looking Mexican” or “Hispanic” leaves Indigenous-origin immigrants and non-white Latina/os at the hands of immigration control. This research contributes to scholars’ call to further explore the role of race and the body in immigration processes.