While race and religion plays a profound role in the integration and everyday life experiences of migrants, the events of September 11th have made the assimilation process nearly impossible for countless immigrants of a non-white ethnicity, especially individuals of an Arab or Muslim background, primarily due to the racists bigotry and stereotypes which derive from immigration enforcement practices post 9/11. Furthermore, “while race is widely perceived to lack an empirical basis, it persists as a salient feature of individual, as well as group, identity, and as a significant principle underlying the social and political order” (Provine & Doty, 261). More specifically, considering that “today the majority of Arab Americans arriving are Muslim,
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Commonly, because of immigration enforcement practices and unfavorable law enforcement conduct that is carried out publicly on individuals of the Muslim descent, or appearance, many Americans stereotypically racialize the Muslim and Arab community as a threat to society, therefor unethically and wrongfully marginalizing and criminalizing them as a result. Furthermore, “in the case of Arab Americans and Muslim noncitizens, the racialization process draws on interpretations which associate phenotype with religion, resulting in profiles that are based on what a Muslim “looks like”” (Sheikh, 82), creating the stereotype in which infers that all Middle Eastern looking individuals follow the Islamic religion, when in many instances such assumption is not factual. As such, individuals with characteristics that resemble Islamic terrorist, often are falsely detained, deported, or undesirably publicized throughout the media, making the migrant experience far from desirable for many Middle Eastern immigrants as well as many American Muslims. Likewise, “events following 9/11 including the War on Terror, the emergence of Homeland Security, and the Patriot Act, as well as more micro-transformations such as heightened security at airports, have
Commonly, because of immigration enforcement practices and unfavorable law enforcement conduct that is carried out publicly on individuals of the Muslim descent, or appearance, many Americans stereotypically racialize the Muslim and Arab community as a threat to society, therefor unethically and wrongfully marginalizing and criminalizing them as a result. Furthermore, “in the case of Arab Americans and Muslim noncitizens, the racialization process draws on interpretations which associate phenotype with religion, resulting in profiles that are based on what a Muslim “looks like”” (Sheikh, 82), creating the stereotype in which infers that all Middle Eastern looking individuals follow the Islamic religion, when in many instances such assumption is not factual. As such, individuals with characteristics that resemble Islamic terrorist, often are falsely detained, deported, or undesirably publicized throughout the media, making the migrant experience far from desirable for many Middle Eastern immigrants as well as many American Muslims. Likewise, “events following 9/11 including the War on Terror, the emergence of Homeland Security, and the Patriot Act, as well as more micro-transformations such as heightened security at airports, have