Immigration is an important topic in the United States. Our country is born out of immigration. One problem with immigration is the racism
that comes with it. There have been many
racist laws that have been passed under the guise of anti-immigration laws http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/immigration-and-emigration/arizona-immigration-law-sb-1070/index.html
This article from the New York Times, discusses the Arizona
anti-immigration law that was passed.
This law barred illegal immigrants from driving in the state as well as
attending school. This law also allowed
for police to detain a person they suspected of being an illegal alien; basically stating that police officers were
allowed to use racial profiling. We have
come a long way from segregation and racism, yet this law is enacting a very
racist policy, suggesting that by looking at someone you can tell if they are
illegal. There is an interesting set of
tests that Harvard University has put out on different subject areas,
sexuality, race, age etc called Project Implicit. These tests are set up in a way to uncover
unconscious and conscious divergences. I
urge everyone to take some of these tests, especially the one regarding race. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/
The executive branch of government
oversees immigration. This includes organizations such as Homeland Security and
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
I am Natasha and I currently
believe that immigration is a major problem in the United States. One problem is that people have misconceptions about illegal immigrants.
Many people often say that immigrants are stealing all of our jobs. This is hard to hear from someone who grew up
in California and watched many illegal immigrants work out in the fields for
little compensation. I always wondered
who they were stealing the job from because I know the person who was spouting
this ideal was not interested in going to work out in the field. Immigrants are cheap labor and many big companies
exploit this as you can see in the Food Inc. clip posted on the left from
youtube. Another fact that is often
thrown around is that immigrants pay no taxes.
This is also something that is untrue.
Many immigrants are paid over the table using false social security
numbers. Although this may not be a
great practice, this does mean that they are paying taxes. It is also important to point out that they
are paying taxes, but are unable to reap any of the benefits from this. They are unable to collect many of the social
services that money goes too. In some
states in the south and in Arizona children are in danger of being barred from
school for being immigrants.
I am Emily and I currently believe that Immigration is in need of reform. Throughout our research I have found that the boarders are becoming an increasingly dangerous place, and that there still needs to be a better way to both regulate immigration and keep people safe. That being said I also believe that immigration is giving people in this country a reason to voice racist ideas. This country has had a history of racism, and it has not seemed to end. There are many prejudices that people place upon immigrants, such as "lazy" and "violent", and people have begun to racially profile in an effort to "keep the country safe". My hope is to one day have people learn the facts about immigrants and immigration as a whole rather than the myths. Immigrants are not lazy, and are not violent and prone to crime. On the contrary, immigrants are hard working and research has shown that immigrants are less likely to be involved in criminal activity than their natural born counter parts. On the whole, I am frustrated with the way that racial profiling is becoming law, and that the myths about immigrants are the ideas being believed, rather than the facts that shed immigrants in a better light. I often hear comments along the lines of "It's those gangs, they should step in and ship them all back to where they came from" and was struck by how someone could profile an entire group as immigrants, and then wish them to be removed from the country. This thinking is dangerous and is leading American citizens into the mindset of a pre civil war era. The profiling and the stereotypes need to be addressed and serious and humane reform needs to take place for this country to succeed both economically and morally.
I am Emily and I currently believe that Immigration is in need of reform. Throughout our research I have found that the boarders are becoming an increasingly dangerous place, and that there still needs to be a better way to both regulate immigration and keep people safe. That being said I also believe that immigration is giving people in this country a reason to voice racist ideas. This country has had a history of racism, and it has not seemed to end. There are many prejudices that people place upon immigrants, such as "lazy" and "violent", and people have begun to racially profile in an effort to "keep the country safe". My hope is to one day have people learn the facts about immigrants and immigration as a whole rather than the myths. Immigrants are not lazy, and are not violent and prone to crime. On the contrary, immigrants are hard working and research has shown that immigrants are less likely to be involved in criminal activity than their natural born counter parts. On the whole, I am frustrated with the way that racial profiling is becoming law, and that the myths about immigrants are the ideas being believed, rather than the facts that shed immigrants in a better light. I often hear comments along the lines of "It's those gangs, they should step in and ship them all back to where they came from" and was struck by how someone could profile an entire group as immigrants, and then wish them to be removed from the country. This thinking is dangerous and is leading American citizens into the mindset of a pre civil war era. The profiling and the stereotypes need to be addressed and serious and humane reform needs to take place for this country to succeed both economically and morally.
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