The national debate over illegal immigration has been dramatically altered since 9\/11. In\u00a0his book The Latino Threat, Leo R. Chavez argues that Latina\/o immigrants\u2014including those\u00a0U.S. populations that physically resemble them\u2014have been socially constructed as grave risks to\u00a0the United States. Arizona Senate Bill 1070 (hereinafter \u201cS.B. 1070\u201d) typifies the aggressive\u00a0backlash that recently occurred in response to this perceived threat. Themes such as immigrant\u00a0sloth or vice, communicable diseases, reproductive capacity, and criminal \u201ctendencies\u201d are\u00a0routinely used to drive a wedge between the white majority and non-white immigrants\u2014
\nespecially Latina\/o immigrants from places like Mexico and Central America. Many of these\u00a0arguments appear to have their roots in how Latina\/o immigrants have been constructed as both\u00a0exotic and menacing\u2014especially those immigrant populations whose indigenous ancestries are\u00a0illustrated morphologically. In fact, I believe that the \u201cLatina\/o Threat narrative\u201d that Chavez
\ndescribes is intimately connected to the notion of a \u201csavage alien\u201d vis-\u00e0-vis anti-Indian\u00a0sentiments.<\/p>\n
In this article, I discuss how imageries based on the historical typification of Indians have\u00a0been projected onto Latina\/o immigrant populations that are in the United States without proper\u00a0documentation. I also explore the risk such a typification poses to native-born Latina\/o\u00a0populations who are oftentimes unfairly implicated in surging anti-immigrant backlashes. Key\u00a0questions this article addresses include: Is the idea of the \u201cLatina\/o Threat\u201d materially connected\u00a0to historical ideas concerning Indian savagery? If so, to what extent is this threat narrative\u00a0connected to anti-Indian sentiment? How have historical representations of American Indians\u00a0framed modern debates over the kinds of risks posed by Latina\/o immigrants to the U.S.? How\u00a0have these debates affected recent immigration policy?<\/p>\n
In section I, I discuss how S.B. 1070, as amended by Arizona House Bill 2162, frames\u00a0the Latina\/o Threat narrative in subtle racialized terms. Specifically, I evaluate whether\u00a0Arizona’s newly authorized alienage investigations are likely to function in ways that implicate
\nrace in a constitutionally impermissible manner. In section II, I demonstrate how the idea of\u00a0Indian savagery animated the way Americans typically perceived Indian societies. Further, I\u00a0assert that the savagery that was often associated with Indians was seamlessly grafted onto\u00a0Mexican immigrants and ultimately sparked an expansive xenophobic fear that drove the\u00a0development of restrictive immigration laws along racialized lines. In section III, I demonstrate\u00a0how the mixed-blood descendents (e.g. immigrants) of early indigenous Latina\/o populations\u00a0have been racialized consistent with that of their Indian forbearers. Throughout, I aim to show
\nhow the Latina\/o Threat narrative has its origins in anti-Indian sentiments which are themselves\u00a0grounded in a deep-seated fear of a savage alien.<\/p>\n