ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that state-sanctioned violence against Latinos is propelled by the pervasive, dehumanizing political rhetoric in discourse surrounding immigration reform and Latinos. It provides a brief history of the prevalence of, and the motivations behind, Latino lynching in California between 1850 and 1935. In the context of immigration and anti-Latino violence, implicit bias reveals itself in in-group versus out-group thinking. The chapter highlights troubling examples of modern anti-immigrant rhetoric, and anti-immigration practices and policies across the country, and discusses how political climate breeds racial bias and violence, including institutionalized violence against Latinos in the criminal legal system. Approximately 60 percent of hate crimes motivated by race or ethnicity target Latinos. In fact, the rising rate of police and Border Patrol killings of Latinos has coincided with the rising rate of hate crimes against Latinos. In popular media, stereotypical portrayals reign supreme and overwhelmingly depict Latinos as criminals, disposable immigrant laborers, or hypersexualized personalities.
