As I was looking for an article I came upon an article in Upfront magazine. The article was named “Mexico & the U.S.: What kind of border?” This article briefly talks about the impact of 9/11 on immigration and about a fence in Imperial Beach, California which allows people on both sides of the fence to see and talk to each other.
This article states that at Imperial Beach, California there is a park that allows people on the Mexico side of the border fence and people on the U.S. side of the border fence to talk and see each other. One of those people is Manuel Meza who travels three hours to the fence to see his wife who is in Mexico because of immigration troubles. He attests that when he is there he shares lunch with her and that even though they are both in different countries their love has grown stronger. Many people like Manuel travel Friendship Park to see and talk to love ones that are on the other side of the fence.
Before 9/11 Americans and Mexicans had high hopes for the immigration situation because George Bush was elected president. This was because he was in favor of the guest worker program that would have allowed Mexicans to come and work in the United States legally. After 9/11 the United States chose to enhance the security along the border by passing a bill that would add 700 mile of fence to the border.
This article show people how families are torn apart by the fence at the border. This article showed me that there is a place where people can see each other even though they are on opposite sides of the border.
Source:
Archibold, Randal C. "Mexico & the U.S.: What Kind of Border." The New York Times Upfront 1 Dec. 2008: 6-7.
Monday, November 10, 2008
A Day Without A Mexican
A Day Without a Mexican is a movie about how the state of California would be affected in a hypothetical situation if every Latino in the state disappeared. The movie was directed by Sergio Auro who has also directed movies such as Harvest of Empire and Plan B. The movie stars actors John Getz and Maureen Flannigan. This movie won best screenplay at the Cartagena Film Festival in 2004. This movie is a comedy but lacks jokes.
In my opinion A Day Without a Mexican is a movie that people should watch if they would like to know how the agricultural industry would be affected if there were no illegal immigrants. This movie also gives you some facts about illegal immigration that people may not have known.
What happens in the movie is one day all the Latinos suddenly disappear except for one. Then the state of California goes into turmoil because there is nobody to work in the agricultural business and that means that the people that are left can not get any fresh produce. So then people want the Latinos back and they start experimenting on the only Latino left to try to see where they went and to get them to come back. to know the rest you should watch it.
Source:
"A Day Without a Mexican." Wikipedia. 25 Nov. 2008.
In my opinion A Day Without a Mexican is a movie that people should watch if they would like to know how the agricultural industry would be affected if there were no illegal immigrants. This movie also gives you some facts about illegal immigration that people may not have known.
What happens in the movie is one day all the Latinos suddenly disappear except for one. Then the state of California goes into turmoil because there is nobody to work in the agricultural business and that means that the people that are left can not get any fresh produce. So then people want the Latinos back and they start experimenting on the only Latino left to try to see where they went and to get them to come back. to know the rest you should watch it.
Source:
"A Day Without a Mexican." Wikipedia. 25 Nov. 2008
Debate
When it comes to immigration there are to sides to it, there are the people that oppose it and the people that agree with it. When asked if illegal immigrants are good for the U.S. economy Walter Ewing of Immigrationpolicy.org is agrees and Mark Krikorian of Cis.org does not.
Walter Ewing attests that illegal immigrants account for 5 percent of the United States total labor force and that immigrants pay taxes to help fund social security and Medicare even though they are not eligible for these programs. He also states that illegal immigrants constitute $18 billion in the Texas economy and that if the United States were to grant them legal status their contribution to the economy would be grater because they would be able to get better jobs which means they will earn more money (Ewing, 2008)
Mark Krikorian states that illegal immigrants are bad for the economy. This is because they pay little taxes. He says that illegal immigrants pay little taxes because they a little amount of money. He also states that because most illegal immigrants are high school dropouts they cannot support their families so they go on welfare. (Krikorian, 2008)
Walter Ewing and Mark Krikorian present valid arguments. Walter Ewing says that they are good for the economy because they pay their taxes and help fund governments services. Mark Krikorian says they are bad because the pay only a little amount of taxes and they force low skilled Americans out of their jobs.
Source:"Are Illegal Immigrants Good For the U.S. Economy." The New York Times Upfront.
Walter Ewing attests that illegal immigrants account for 5 percent of the United States total labor force and that immigrants pay taxes to help fund social security and Medicare even though they are not eligible for these programs. He also states that illegal immigrants constitute $18 billion in the Texas economy and that if the United States were to grant them legal status their contribution to the economy would be grater because they would be able to get better jobs which means they will earn more money (Ewing, 2008)
Mark Krikorian states that illegal immigrants are bad for the economy. This is because they pay little taxes. He says that illegal immigrants pay little taxes because they a little amount of money. He also states that because most illegal immigrants are high school dropouts they cannot support their families so they go on welfare. (Krikorian, 2008)
Walter Ewing and Mark Krikorian present valid arguments. Walter Ewing says that they are good for the economy because they pay their taxes and help fund governments services. Mark Krikorian says they are bad because the pay only a little amount of taxes and they force low skilled Americans out of their jobs.
Source:"Are Illegal Immigrants Good For the U.S. Economy." The New York Times Upfront.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
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.
Friday, October 10, 2008
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
Tuesday, October 7, 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.
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.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Website
The website fairus.org is as a great website to learn more about why illegal immigration is bad because it gives a lot of statistics and it is accurate. This site is very easy to navigate because of the drop down box on the left side of the website. The site is visually appealing because it is simple and does not have any advertisements or animations that distract the reader. This site is accurate because it use has the correct amount of people living in the United States, the correct amount of people that are illegal immigrants, and other statistics such like that. The websites also uses charts and graphs to give the reader some visuals. The site is also credible because it is updated constantly (the most resent being September 25, 2008) and has contributors from Former Colorado Governor Richard Lamm and Representative Brian Bilbray, Chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus. Fairus.org is good at only telling why illegal immigration is bad, it does not say anything about why illegal immigration can be good and it does not do a very good job telling the other side of the story. When it comes to credibility fairus.org has an apparent bias to proving that illegal immigrants are bad. For example fairus.org has a section dedicated to showing the illegal crimes that illegal immigrants have committed (http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=research_seriouscrime). Overall this is a great website to find information to prove that illegal immigration is wrong.
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