Attitudes Toward Police and Judges of Latina Immigrants With a Justice-Involved Child: Do Documentation Status and Family Deportations Matter?

Immigrants who are undocumented or who have experienced the deportation of family members may perceive legal actors such as police and judges differently than immigrants who are legal residents. Among a sample of 117 Latina immigrant women in California whose sons were arrested, we found that women who were undocumented had more negative specific attitudes toward police (i.e., stemming from their experience during their son’s arrest), and women with a history of family deportations had more negative general attitudes toward police (i.e., considering the police as an abstract group). Attitudes toward judges were neither associated with documentation status nor family deportations, suggesting that the association is unique to police during an era when police are increasingly involved in immigration enforcement.