Reflection

When I was choosing topics I wanted to do something that I knew a little about and something that I was interested in that is why I chose illegal immigration. What I wanted to find out while doing my research was how the other Americans felt about illegal immigration and why they did not want any illegal immigrants. What I found was a website that somewhat answered those questions but the website made it seem that all of America’s problems were because of illegal immigrants. In the second quarter I hope to find a website that tell me how Americans feel about illegal immigration without it being so bias against illegal immigrants. I also want to find some statistics and articles that show how illegal immigrants are good for this country. For example how do illegal immigrants impact the economy? Even though I already knew about illegal immigration I feel that I have learned a lot more by starting this blog. For example before I did not know about Quota Act (the way they chose how many people of a certain country can gain permanent residency). For the second quarter I want to find more information that I do not know about immigration.

Research

In this country anybody that is illegal is seen as a bad person. What they do not know are the facts of why they choose to come into this country illegally. If they knew the facts maybe their minds could be changed. Illegal immigrants come to this country illegally to have a better life, and because the path to become a permanent resident is extremely difficult without the resources need and not to spread diseases.

Illegal immigrants come to this country to give themselves and their children a better life than what they had before. For example a couple by the name of Maria and Juan lived in Mexico working in the fields all day, they mostly ate tortillas and beans (Katel 395). When they ventured to come to the United States Juan started to work as a landscaper and charges $600 for big jobs and Maria cleans houses for $70 (Katel 395). Those prices sound very expensive at a glance for the services they provide, but they are actually barging basement prices (Katel 395). This does not sound like a better life to most people but compared to their previous life in Mexico it is a big improvement.

The path to being a legal permanent resident of the United States is a long and difficult process. First a relative of the person wanting to be a permanent resident must file a file an immigrant visa petition and it must be approved by a US government official (US Citizenship & Services Help Center). Second the Department of State must determine if there is a visa number available to the relative, if there is the relative can apply for a visa (US Citizenship & Services Help Center). Third if a relative is in the United States they can apply to change their status to legal permanent resident when a visa numbers is available (US Citizenship & Services Help Center). If an immigrant does not have a relative in the United States that can help them this process is extremely difficult to persevere.

Some people think that some of the most dangerous diseases are spread by illegal immigrants that come from countries where these diseases have infected a high number of people. For example according to usillegalaliens.com the number of infected Latino women infected with HIV in California is twice the rate of white women. What they do not tell you is that HIV is not only spread by illegal immigrants, it is spread by everyone it does not matter whether you’re the person is legal or illegal. Another example is Tuberculosis, according to usillegalaliens.com people infected with Tuberculosis in the United States were infected by illegal immigrants from countries like Mexico, Cambodia, and Indonesia because those countries have a high number of people infected with Tuberculosis.

Illegal Immigrants are not bad people. To most people they seem like bad people because they choose to enter this country illegally. People do not see the reasons why immigrants choose to enter this country illegally.

Sources:

Katel, Peter. "Illegal Immigration." CQ Researcher (2005): 393-420.

"U.S. Permanent Resident Application Overview." US Citizenship & Services Help Center. 9 Oct. 2008 .

Wagner, P.F. The Dark Side Of Illegal Immigration: Facts, Figures and Data Show A Disturbing Truth. 9 Oct. 2008 .

Survey

In my survey I asked six basic questions. The first questions I asked was their gender an grade level. Then I asked if they thought illegal immigrants are bad, if they knew anybody illegal, if they knew what the immigration reform act was, and if they thought it would work.

I gave out my survey to ten people, out of the ten people 6 were females and 4 were males. Out of those ten people three were freshman, two were sophomores, three were juniors, and two were seniors. Out of the ten people nobody thought illegal immigrants were bad people and they all knew someone that was illegal. Out of the ten people one 9th grade female knew what the immigration reform act was and she did not think it would work.

What surprised me the most was that only one person knew what the immigration reform act was and that she was a freshman. I expected the juniors and seniors to know what it was. The answers to the first two questions did not surprise me at all. In this survey I hope that nobody answered these question just to appease the Hispanic population in the school. I hope that these answers were truly their arbitrary opinion.

In the next few blog I will be posting some statistics and some opinions about illegal immigration.