...States for various reasons: a fresh start, a better living, and a quality education. In addition, they also wanted to escape oppression or to experience “The American Dream.” According to website, “The American Dream is an idea that suggests that anyone in the US can succeed through hard work and has the potential to lead a happy, successful life.” ((McMahon & Joseph, 2014) From 1776 to 1875, the United States had an open- door policy toward immigration. The law was so open-door, that Congress passed a law in 1864 to encourage immigration to the United States Devine (2008.). Due to the influx of immigrants the law has been modified many times. President Bill Clinton signed the Illegal Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996. This act addressed the problem of illegal immigrants. He wanted a firm but reasonable approach to address the issue. He desired strong boarder control, ensurance that American jobs were made available for legal works along with a policy that was pro-family. This plan would decrease the number of legal immigrants while preserving family by preserving family reunification and strengthening protections for U.S. Workers. Per Bill Clinton for President (1996) According to Americans Working to Stop Illegal Immigration under the leadership of President George W. Bush there was an increase in illegal immigration and a decrease in immigration enforcement....
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...Eric Nwozuzu Prof. Dionne Bremyer English 1102 9 March 2013 Cultural and Personal History of “Outlaw” “Outlaw” tells of the trials and tribulations a young illegal Philippine immigrant faces when living in the United States of America. He tells a little of his cultural background and much of his personal history of living in fear of being caught by the U.S. government for his illegal status. He tells of his great accomplishments while living in America and how he loves the United States and wants to become a legal citizen. Although, many Americans believe that undocumented immigrants are a threat to the United States society, this young man shows that not all illegal immigrants are violent or cause threats to social order. Throughout the story, the question of, “What will happen if people find out?” plays a significant role in the way the author goes about living his life. The cultural and personal histories of the author of “Outlaw” show significance within aspects of obtaining legal American citizenship and being able to work in the United States, the authors accomplished works, and his feelings throughout the text. “The minority threat perspective argues that prejudice and intergroup hostility are largely defensive reactions to perceived threats by subordinate groups,” such as illegal immigrants within the United States (Wang 2). Americans believe that illegal immigrants cause crime rates to soar and that communities in which undocumented aliens live are violent and...
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...Rebuttal Of Article Paper Dwight Dundas BCOM/275 4/28/2014 Doris Savron “Legalizing illegal immigrants is a bad idea.” So reads the headline of an article written for the Chicago Tribune by Dave Seminara (February 08, 2013). First I must state that I disagree with the author’s opinion in this article. The legalization of immigrants isn't a bad idea. Aside from my personal opinion, there are many studies that have shown this to be a good move for our country. The author, Mr. Seminara, made several points throughout the article to justify his opinion. Some of his title points included, “It’s not just going to be 11 million”, “Shadowy people aren't going to come out of the shadows”, Jobs Americans won't do, and “We already have guest worker programs that don't work”. According to Mr. Seminara, “A substantial percentage of illegal immigrants are here alone, and once they get green cards, they will be able to petition for their wives and children to join them in the U.S. And if they become U.S. citizens, they will also be able to petition for their siblings and parents” he also goes on to say that “11 million migrants could result in possibly 30 million new arrivals”. This conclusion from Mr. Seminara sounds like more an sensationalized theory, than actual fact. He offers no supportive data to prove how 11 million illegal immigrants will become 30 million, nor does he state how long the number would take to grow from 11 to 30 million. However, if his numbers...
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...Jennifer Gherasim 11 February 2015 Lopez 1 Illegal Immigration Facing the Border Carlos Galindo races across the street to embrace the son he lost for 3 years; it is touching until a speeding truck heads straight for Carlos. The reality of the situation: this metaphorical truck represents deportation and Carlos is just one of the many individuals who is mowed down by the consequences of illegal immigration. What is illegal immigration? It is dictated by the “migration of people across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country1”. Often, the primary reasons for immigration include hopes for a better living condition, income, and, specifically for the U.S., desire to chase the American Dream. Some illegal aliens tend to come from backgrounds of poverty and believe that, by moving to a richer country, they themselves will become prosperous. The issue with this is not their reasons for immigration but rather the method of immigration and what perils they bring to the country or themselves. The surplus of issues that arise from unlawfully entering a country are often displayed in the media. The first issue involves them coming in undocumented which branches off into two separate problems: inability to get assistance for themselves for fear of deportation and utilizing taxpayer's resources that they have not contributed to (one can be blunt and claim it as thievery). On another note, many illegal aliens may put themselves in harms way; slavery...
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...the U.S. The two articles presented for this week’s lesson contain very different viewpoints. The first, by Seper, provides a lot of alarming factual information about how illegal immigration is negatively affecting our country, especially the state of California, and needs to be taken control of. The second article, by Hoyt, is very much the opposite; it provides almost no factual information to support his ideas about reforming immigration laws. Each article was interesting, although I have to say that the article that spoke out against illegal immigration was better written and provided a lot more relevant information, not just personal opinions and accusations. It’s hard to argue with evidence, and even the side that was pro-immigration stated that there are large costs for our country associated with it. As shown in the article Illegal aliens cost California billions, "California's addiction to 'cheap' illegal-alien labor is bankrupting the state and posing enormous burdens on the state's shrinking middle-class tax base" (Seper, 2004). Illegal aliens are costing our country roughly $10.5 billion dollars a year for health care, education, and incarceration. The education system alone is spending $7.7 billion a year to put aliens, which account for about 15% of our student body, through school. Illegal aliens also used $26.3 billion in government services in 2002; can you imagine how much those costs have risen over the past nine years? They may have paid $16 billion in taxes...
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...This part of the course was more difficult for me to comprehend than the previous three, but I overall understood it. I could see this part painting part of the picture for the next part dealing with evil as we talked about ethnic cleansing, “ethnic card”, and stereotyping. I am really enjoying my time at Crawford with the students. I am getting more of a personal connection with some of the students, I even had one come up to me as I walked in the library. There is less of an awkward/shy feeling between myself and some of the students as now they are more comfortable coming up to me to ask for my help. Overall every week has been getting better and I am always experiencing or seeing something new. An individual’s identity is usually fixed...
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...Illegal Immigrants – They’re Money By Gregory Rodriguez [1] Dan Stein, the premier American nativist and president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, is shocked, shocked. He's mad at Bank of America for issuing credit cards to illegal immigrants. He says that to BofA "and other large corporations, illegal immigrants are a source of low-wage labor and an untapped customer market." You bet they are, and that's the American way. [2] Sure, I'm proud to be a citizen of a nation that portrays itself as a refuge for the "tired," "the poor" and the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free." But let's face it, Emma Lazarus, the poet who wrote those words, may have laid it on a bit thick. The truth, no less beautiful in its way, is a little more crass and self-serving. But it wouldn't have sounded nearly as poetic to say, "bring us your able-bodied, poor, hardworking masses yearning for a chance to climb out of poverty, establish a credit history and…. " We all love to rhapsodize about immigrants' embrace of the American dream, but it's more like a hard-nosed American deal — you come here, you work your tail off under grueling conditions, and you can try your damnedest to better your lot over time. [3] In their generational struggle for acceptance and security, from outsider to insider and, dare I say, from exploited to exploiter, immigrants could avail themselves of those inalienable rights that stand at the core of our national political philosophy — life, liberty and...
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...Running head: IMMIGRATION, ASSIMILATION, AND MULTICULTURALISM Exiled in America Vanessa Armendariz SOC/315 09-27-2012 Tadizia Dennis-Jackson Exiled in America A woman who was hurt and was taken her largest possession in just seconds was a heartbroken experience, not only that but a life changing one for Sergia Santibañez. She was separated from her five children and sent to her homeland Mexico. The video clip I chose to express myself with is “Exiled in America” by Angela Torres Camarena. This video clip is about a mother who lived in America for 25 years and soon was deported to Mexico, leaving 5 kids of hers in America. “Exiled in America” explores immigration United States, focusing on detention and deportation from the point of view of those who are affected most, their children. The problem here to me is that these good families are being torn apart, families that come with a purpose to find a dream and to pursue it. Not everyone is the same, not everyone kills, and not everyone does illegal acts by using the government help. Me as a perfect example I can tell you that my mother as an illegal single mother, living here for over 25 years. She never asked for food stamps or welfare. And where am I today, working with a successful company and being able to have the opportunity to sit here in class and graduate. I am not being a bad reputation of a Hispanic I am proud one. The problem here is that in 2007 they presented The Child Citizen Protection Act. This...
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...years, illegal immigration has been the topic of public discourse (Wucker, 2007). The public discourse is mainly due to the sensitivity of the issue of illegal immigration and the burden attributable to the resulting population explosion is placing on the governments and citizens as well as legal residents of states and counties in the United States (Martin, 2008). The recent enforcement of U. S. Department of Homeland Security (U.S. DHS) laws, which started in 2006, is working (Camarota & Jensenius, 2008) but the enforcement is not reducing illegal immigration, especially on the United States’ Southern border (Ewing, 2008). Baker et al, in a U. S. Department of Homeland Security report show, from 2006 to 2007 the illegal immigrant population increased by 4% (Baker, Hoefer, & Rytina, 2008). Illegal immigrant population is declining because of border enforcement of immigration laws (Camarota & Jensenius, 2008). The loss of jobs due to economic downturn in the country can also account for declining illegal immigrant population (Grayson, 2008). Despite the declining population of illegal immigrants due to enforcement, illegal immigration is still a challenge (Ewing, 2008). The persistence of illegal immigration on the border implies that the countermeasures in use in fighting illegal immigration on the borders appear to need revisions (Ewing, 2008). Statement of the Research Problem Statement of the Problem According to a report by US DHS on estimates of illegal immigrants in the...
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...Villa Toca Gina Perkins English 1301 Co.7 7 April 2014 Illegal Immigration with Mexico If you were in a situation where migrating to another country would be the best thing to do, what would you do? A lot of issues surge when dealing with immigration in the United States. We all are considered immigrants because a long time ago back when Columbus discovered this land in 1942 Europeans came in and took over the land where Native Americans had been living for many years. In other words every white in America is descendant from immigrants of some other country but yet there are people in USA that say Mexicans don’t have the right to immigrate. It’s very ironic that such people say that, it’s like saying, there are two immigrants and one says to another “You don’t have the right to immigrate, only I do.” There is a range of positive and negative aspects of immigration. Weather one should take a side for either against it or not, it’s up to oneself to decide. The definition of an immigrant or illegal alien is best summarized as a person coming in to a different country and settling without the countries permission to stay. ------------------------------------------------- The question, should amnesty be given to illegal immigrants?, Brings up a lot of controversy in all of USA. Mexican immigrants are willing to work out in fields picking crops, cleaning houses, bus tables, etc. all these jobs are jobs that immigrants are very eager to do so, even at minimum wage pay. A lot...
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...English Comp II 201 06 21 January 2013 Do Americans really need illegal workers to support our economy? It is a huge issue in America today, illegal immigration and what it means for our economy. The problem is divisive and a political hot potato. It has been discussed for the last thirty plus years and no solutions are in sight. We have some eleven million illegal, undocumented workers in America today and some argue we should round them up and send them home, regardless of the human suffering and others argue that our economy would collapse or at least be seriously harmed if we send them home. According to Colin Powell, we need them because they are the lifeblood that is keeping this country going forward. Without immigrants we would be like Japan or Europe with an aging population and no young people coming in. According to the secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, the price of food in the United States would cost three, four or five times more than it does now without the labor of illegal immigrants. Former Presidential candidate Ron Paul advocated physically securing our borders, enforcing visa rules, offer no amnesty for illegal aliens currently in this country, and end birthright citizenship. So which is it? Do we really need these workers or should we send them home? I looked at a number of sources and have chosen to start with an article taken from Business Time.com published on 1/30/2013. I liked this article because it covered several big questions concerning...
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...Media Reaction Paper Michael Vandiver Soc/315 July 7, 2015 Anita Westbrook Media Reaction Paper Hispanic immigrants are handy scapegoats for the problems in local communities, from crime to overcrowded schools. Even legal immigrants are victims of this mindset, in spite of immigration not being the root cause or even a major factor in any of the issues. Immigration has always been an issue. Those making up the majority of the population are all immigrants from other nations, having descended from those who immigrated here over the course of the last 400 years. Some of the areas in which Hispanic immigrants are most numerous were at one point the property of the Hispanic nation of Mexico. Immigrants built this country, and certain segments of the immigrants have always been accused of ruining this country. Recently, Arizona passed a law, SB 1070, which requires the police to question the legal status of those they suspect are undocumented immigrants. Additionally, it sets the official immigration police as ‘attrition through enforcement’, stating that they intend to be so harsh that immigrants flee in fear. (Martinez, 2011). Currently, the law is on hold due to challenges by the US Department of Justice for usurping federal jurisdiction on immigration. However, the law has set a horrid precedent, one that has resulted in boycotts that are costing Arizona more than $330 million dollars over the next two to three years. (Martinez, 2011). Similar anti-immigration campaigns...
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...Media Reaction Paper Jennifer Dockery SOC/315 9/5/2011 Shannon Burke, MA Media Reaction Paper Hispanic immigrants are handy scapegoats for the problems in local communities, from crime to overcrowded schools. Even legal immigrants are victims of this mindset, in spite of immigration not being the root cause or even a major factor in any of the issues. Immigration has always been an issue. Those making up the majority of the population are all immigrants from other nations, having descended from those who immigrated here over the course of the last 400 years. Some of the areas in which Hispanic immigrants are most numerous were at one point the property of the Hispanic nation of Mexico. Immigrants built this country, and certain segments of the immigrants have always been accused of ruining this country. Recently, Arizona passed a law, SB 1070, which requires the police to question the legal status of those they suspect are undocumented immigrants. Additionally, it sets the official immigration police as ‘attrition through enforcement’, stating that they intend to be so harsh that immigrants flee in fear. (Martinez, 2011). Currently, the law is on hold due to challenges by the US Department of Justice for usurping federal jurisdiction on immigration. However, the law has set a horrid precedent, one that has resulted in boycotts that are costing Arizona more than $330 million dollars over the next two to three years. (Martinez, 2011)...
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...United States today, in the past, currently and trending we are beginning to cater to our environment. The education in the United States is no longer the leading one in the World. The United States was known for producing the most educated college students placing them in the highest ranked jobs. Yet, personally immigration did affect the way that education was presented to me, my family and my community. A perspective personal journey of the education lived by an American born child to an immigrant Mexican Mother and an Indian Father whose own foundation is built on education which can and will empower millions of children. Free access to education had always been the key to the success of educating men, women and children. Yet, I can still remember the personal experience that left its long lasting effects, as it has for many others equally. The changes that happen from generation to generation as education changed due to the immigration of people into the United States. As presented in the following article, “At the dawn of the twenty-first century, immigrants were coming to the United States in near record numbers, reminiscent of the great waves that engulfed its shores at the beginning of the previous century. But there are significant differences between these waves.” (Drachman, 2006) The first wave that can be noted came in the year of 1975, while still in elementary school. Raquel was my birth name, but since the school had implemented a strict NO Speaking Spanish while...
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...and better living standards. Despite all these opportunities, there are many issues that immigrants face while trying to obtain the equality in their status-quo. Some of these issues are different visa levels, job insecurities, racial discrimination, language problems and cultural barriers that each and every immigrant has to cope up with. Initially, all immigrants face cultural clashes and have difficulty in communication since English is not their first language. Moreover, everything seems different, if not new – the attire, the weather conditions, the transport system, the traditions, mannerisms, language pronunciations. There is a lack of awareness and knowledge of how the system works which adds to their anxiety and uncertainty to deal with situations. Adjusting with these new situations can be drastic for many as they feel uprooted from their homeland and miss their near and dear ones. They feel homesick and alienated from the outside world. Most of the times, they experience difficulty in assimilating with the group since it is natural that people from same nationality often form their own private groups and are conversing in their local languages making it difficult for the other immigrant to enter that group. The topic of immigration is very close to me since I have experienced the trauma of it. As a personal experience, I would like to share it with you. I am an immigrant from India. My fiancé came here three years back, finished his master’s degree, got a job...
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