When DACA and other immigration policies that would give many undocumented some legal status. However, many undocumented immigrants were excluded from these policies because there is a notion of a good and bad immigrant. Examples of a good undocumented immigrant subjects immigrants to the ideology of the American Dream. Such as a single mom providing for her children, a dreamer striving to go to an ivy league university, or making families complete. While the bad undocumented immigrant is seen as a criminal, gang member, and a felon. This dichotomy of a good or bad immigrants sets an idea that only a certain type of immigrant is deserving of legal status. This excludes many immigrants from being apart of the host country's social and political engagement. Thus, this sort of dichotomy also leads to racial profiling by police enforcement that can lead to deportation of undocumented immigrants.
Similarly, the dichotomy of a bad and good undocumented immigrant leads to an idea that some people are deserving of the safety and programs connected to citizenship. Undocumented immigrants don't have the ability to access healthcare and in many states can't obtain a driver's license without a social security number. These structures for daily life are limited for undocumented immigrants and if there status is exposed, they are threatened with deportation. The idea that only the good immigrants are deserving of legal status denies basic human rights and daily life structures to live in a host country. Especially when someone is characterized as an undocumented criminal should have equal access to basic healthcare and rights compared to a good immigrant.
A familiar dichotomy of a good vs. bad undocumented immigrant is also used for religion, specifically Islam. Post 9/11, the violence and negative stereotyping of Muslim men and women has increased. The dichotomy of a good and bad Muslim, I'd argue, is to continue the stereotype that all terrorists are of Muslim faith, but not all Muslims are terrorist. This dichotomy is used to defend Muslims, but instead continuously causes misconceptions of Muslim men and women, which still encourages violence towards the Muslim community. This dichotomy excludes the Muslim community from the religions that America will protect under the freedom of religion.
How can we address policies for undocumented immigrants without using the dichotomy of a good or bad person?
I feel like the answer is just to eliminate any arguments stating that only 'good' immigrants deserve protection and privileges because that perpetuates and enforces stereotypes. But due to certain practices the police and other authority figures perform, such as ocular assessments of whether a person is deemed a threat or not, it is almost impossible to erase such thinking entirely from society. Some people think it's best to have authority figures decide who seems suspicious based on how they act but unfortunately they end up also basing it off of race. If people believe that Hispanic/Latino men with baggy pants are typically in gangs, they will associate all Hispanic/Latino men with baggy pants a threat. But if a white man wears baggy pants, they won't be grouped into the same thinking. Racism is something learned and embedded into a person's thinking whether they like it or not due to how society is, so while it is unrealistic to say the best way to address these policies is to end racism, I do think it is somewhat realistic to say the standards and enforcement of the policies (particularly, making them so that they stray from this kind of dichotomy) could be possible.
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