Greetings and welcome to my blog titled "The Border: Where Immigration and Race Meet". The purpose of this blog is to examine the parameters of immigration in the United States, and discuss how race and other factors are shaping its perception in the public eye. In creating this blog, I hope to spark a healthy conversation that will leave myself and my audience with a greater understanding of the issues at hand.
Immigration in the United States has become a critical topic in legislative campaigns and even everyday conversation. Recently, states like Arizona have begun to create their own immigration policies due to the impression that not enough is being done at the federal level. Although illegal immigration is an issue that definitely needs to be addressed to preserve a strong nation, I can’t help but feel as if much of the anti-immigration propaganda is motivated by racism. A particular group being discriminated against is Hispanics. Due to the growing number of Hispanics in America and their efforts in entrepreneurship at the community level, there seems to be an animosity between them and the rest of society. Often I’ve heard remarks making light of the Spanish language, even suggesting that they should abandon its use since they’ve chosen to live in America. I’ve also heard disgruntled comments about the establishment of Hispanic stores and even Hispanic workers in public facilities. Many parallels can be made to the discrimination of African Americans in the 1960s, except this time the discrimination is not imprinted in law and the group being discriminated against has greater social mobility.
However aside from Hispanics, there appears to be a discontentment with anyone appearing of foreign descent whether documented as a citizen or not. As I develop this blog, I hope to investigate the following areas related to immigration such as but not limited to:
1. 1) While living in America, should illegal immigrants be protected under our laws? This is a difficult concept for me because often I attempt to defend illegal immigration with American ideals others may not apply to them.
2. 2) Should more effort be put on removing current illegal immigrants from the country or preventing more illegal immigrants from coming?
3. 3) Would making the path to citizenship more accessible decrease the number of illegal immigrants?
Please feel free to comment and critique, as I want this blog to be a true discussion and growth for its participants. Hopefully together we will make progress and inspire better relations.
I do not think that illegal immigrants should be protected under our laws. They have illgaly entered our country and should not be seen as citizens. If we are to look at them as citizens, then why would we even call them illegal? If we give them rights when they illegaly enter, then it defeats the purpose of trying to keep them out. I think that more effort should be focused on keeping illegal immigrants from coming in our country. It seems as though it is too easy for someone to illegaly enter our country because it happens so often. More border patrol should be put in place to keep people out. And to the last question, I do think that making it more accessible to become a citizen would decrease the number of illegal immigrants. Doesn't it take something like 10 years to become a full citizen? That does seem a little long to me.
ReplyDeleteI really feel strongly about immigration. My father owns a landscaping business and has a lot of Hispanics working for him. I would agree that racism and immigration are linked. I believe that some people in America rally do not like the immigration of foreigners to our country mainly because of their race. Also, the reason there are so many illegal immigrants in the U.S. is because it is so hard to become a citizen here. The process they have to go through to become a citizen is ridiculous. Most people don't understand how terrifying it is in some parts of Mexico. The country is very corrupt and drug cartels almost have more power than the government itself. Mexicans come to America in hopes of making a better life for them and their family. I think that we should make the process of becoming a citizen a little easier because they really do have to go through too much. It would definitely decrease the number of illegal immigrants.
ReplyDeleteIllegal immigration has always been an issue that I am not able to defend or oppose. To me the topic has multiple variables that leave me undecided in my stance. Would making the path to citizenship more accessible decrease the number of illegal immigrants? Technically yes since requirements would be lower more people would qualify, but ask yourself if that’s really what is best for a country. I realize that they are here illegally because other methods of entering the country may have failed, but their existence here is a slap in the face to the many people that went through the process to become legal citizens. The process may be long, tiring, and tedious but if you think about it, would you want a brief process to become a citizen? The citizenship process is in place to assure that whoever enters the country is not a threat and will be a contributing member to society. I can only imagine a more accessible process would equal a surplus of people unfit to survive in this country, which would ultimately place more stress on the government take care of them. In this case making citizenship more accessible could mean more problems for citizens already here.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the point Mr.Senor is trying to make is that the government should drastically reduce the time it takes to become a US citizen. I think he is saying it just shouldn't be as tedious, strenuous, and eventually impossible to become a citizen. And yes, the unwritten truth is that the reason it's so impossible for some people to become a citizen is in part due to some racial profiling. It's going to be easier for a 45 yr old australian man with no criminal record to become a citizen than a 45yr old mexican. Honestly, the way the US economy is going, it might end up like England, whereby their economy is reliant on immigrants from all over the world to attend their universities, buy their goods, use and pay for their public transport systems, simply because of the increased number of unemployed UK citizens whose disposable income has reduced.
ReplyDeleteBut anyway, investigate the current immigration rules Nicholas Sarkozi of France is imposing on Algerian immigrants now and one will see that the US immigration policies,at least from what we know,might not be as bad as what we think.
In addition, the illegal immigrants in the US already should be left alone. There's no need crying over spilled milk. The US should just focus on amping up border security. However, even this isn't a long term solution to the current immigration status. The question the US gov should ask itself in order to solve the problem of border control is: Hold on, why are the Mexicans so desperate to escape their country and come here? What's really going on in that country that its citizens will be willing to sew themselves into the seats of a car just to get into our country? The US government should already know this answer, because it's not hidden, all they need to do now is act upon it.
Thank you all for your opinions!
ReplyDelete@ snap crackle and pop: You raise a valid point about the status of illegal immigrants under American law. The practical side of me feels that because they are illegal they are not entitled to our rights, but the more sympathetic side of me feels that because American rights resemble basic human rights that all people are entitled to them. However I strongly agree with your sentiments about border security and the citizenship process.
@ beachgirl5892: Your thoughts appear to echo a lot of mine. The bit about the corruption and drug cartels in Mexico was very interesting as well.
@ lazed: I completely understand your points on the citizenship process and for those reasons I am slightly torn as well. It should be a thorough process that checks the background of potential immigrant, but at the same time I don't think it should take multiple years and involve other extraneous requirements
@ Adelina: I'm glad that you brought up the immigration policies of other nations. I think it helps me to put US issues in a better perspective. Also, I think the question you propose is a good one. Maybe better relations between the US and Mexico would help as well