Advancing Integration: The Social Work Response to Restrictionist U.S. Immigration Policies

This paper argues that social workers must combat historical misinformation, ethnic-racial bias, and narratives of immigrants as threats to advance integrationist immigration policies and immigrant well-being. First, we draw on aLatinx critical theoretical perspective (LatCrit) to expose the role of U.S. immigration policy in the social construction of a large and oppressed Mexican immigrant population that is partially integrated but not legally recognized. Then, we analyze how restrictionist immigration policies violate social work values and human rights and contrast this with an integrationist approach. We conclude with implications for advocacy for integrationist policies and responses to restrictionist policies.