Anomie in The Hispanic Community in The Houston

The Hispanic community in the Houston has been suffering from an anomie since the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency. Not only is it affected the Hispanic community in Houston but all over the United States. Since the beginning of Donald trump’s presidency, he has stated how he wants to kick every Hispanic out of the country. He believes that all Hispanics are criminals and that there should be a bigger wall to keep the Hispanics out. The definition of anomie is the social condition in which there is a disintegration or disappearance of the norms and values that were previously common to the society. An Anomie occurs during and follows a period of drastic and rapid changes in the social, economic, or political structure of the society. In this case it would be a political change. Due to the election of Donald trump it has caused panic within the Hispanic community in Houston and all over the United States. Hispanics aren’t concentrated in succeeding in this country anymore they are in constant fear of getting deported and mistreated by society. The election of Donald Trump has really changed the mindset of the Hispanic community especially in Houston.

The Hispanic communities’ values have changed. People who live during periods of anomie typically feel disconnected from their society because they no longer see the norms and values that they hold dear reflected in society itself. This leads to the feeling that one does not belong and is not meaningfully connected to others. For some, this may mean that the role they play (or played) and their identity is no longer valued by society. Because of this, anomie can foster the feeling that one lacks purpose, engender hopelessness, and encourage deviance and crime. The Hispanic community feels like everyone is against them. Due to the racist comments by the president and the actions his taking it makes the Hispanic community all over the world specially Houston feel like they are worthless or not cared enough by society anymore. The population of Houston is 2.3 million. Out of those 2.3 million 43.8% are Hispanic. In recent months, police chiefs in Los Angeles and Houston have said that reports by Latinos of certain types of crime are down in their respective cities creating an anomie. Both chiefs blamed the declines on heightened fear of deportation among undocumented immigrants, a majority of whom are Hispanic. They say the trend is concerning because police departments rely on members of the community — regardless of their legal status — to report crimes when they occur. Due to Trumps election it created an anomie of where Latinos aren’t speaking out about crime or come out of their houses because they are scared of deportation. The Hispanic community’s mindset has changed from helping the society to not caring about it anymore and protecting themselves.

Another specific example of Hispanics not being valued or cared enough started when Trump wanted to get rid of the DACA. DACA is an organization that is placed to help illegal immigrants get the education they need. There are many of the DACA recipients living in Texas. Fifty percent fewer Dreamers renewed their DACA applications in Texas in fiscal year 2018. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data, immigration officials approved 18,707 DACA renewals, compared to 37,977 in fiscal year 2017.It has to be acknowledged that due to Donald Trump’s policy changes like removing DACA is promoting crime. Students aren’t renewing their student visas and staying illegally in the United States.

In conclusion since the election of Donald Trump the Hispanic community in Houston has changed their way of living and their way or acting in society. Donald trump is the true anomie of the Hispanic community not only in Houston but all over the United States. The community feels like they don’t belong here anymore. With fear of being deported and targeted against they no longer see the benefit of acting on what’s best for society but on trying to protect themselves from their racist president.

Citations

• Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopedia. “Anomie.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 20 Nov. 2017, www.britannica.com/topic/anomie.
• Crossman, Ashley. “The Sociological Definition and Implications of Anomie.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 13 Jan. 2019, www.thoughtco.com/anomie-definition-3026052.
• “Houston, Texas Population 2019.” Houston, Texas Population 2019 (Demographics, Maps, Graphs), worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/Houston-population/.
• No_Little_Plans. “Latinos In Three Cities Are Reporting Fewer Crimes Since Trump Took Office.” FiveThirtyEight, FiveThirtyEight, 18 May 2017, fivethirtyeight.com/features/latinos-report-fewer-crimes-in-three-cities-amid-fears-of-deportation/.
• Trovall, Elizabeth. “Fifty Percent Fewer Texas ‘Dreamers’ Renewed DACA In Fiscal Year 2018.” Houston Public Media, 21 Nov. 2018, www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2018/11/21/312800/50-fewer-texas-dreamers-renewed-daca-in-fy2018/.