"Immigration Legislation Should Not Punish All Illegal Immigrants"

Many people are in agreement that there needs to be immigrant reforms. This article is attempting to show that not all immigration is bad, it can even help the United States. This author believes that the want for a immigration will continue and that if it is going to, then only "qualified" people will be allowed to immigrate. the question is who defines whether someone is qualified or not. If this method of qualification is going to be established, then I believe it is necessary for the qualifications to be written down. All people should have an equal chance at immigration. Stopping immigration would also cause problems for security, "Ground truth comes from all sources, and often from immigrant communities. If communication shuts down because immigrants are afraid to approach local law enforcement for fear of being deported, then we lose important information and we jeopardize the security of our nation." In a previous article that I read it said that terrorist are able to live in immigrant neighborhoods and go undetected. However if they are noticed someone could tell the cops, but they will not be willing to if they are afraid. The immigrants do not hurt the economy, they actually help it. I feel that a lot of the things that immigrants do to help America goes overlooked. As a result of that people tend to only see the negative aspects. It also says that the immigrants do not take the American jobs. I feel that is one of things that America needs to understand. People are in fear of losing their jobs and they need to realize that they do not need to fear the immigrants. I think that if that fear could be put aside then there will be less racism against the immigrants.Many job fields are dependent on immigrant labor, which means they play a large role in supporting the economy. With such a poor economic climate, I think the government should be doing everything in their power to help boost it.

With immigrant reform there will be the correct number visas given based on the United States economy. It will also assist in other aspects such as, "future immigration will be within the law, instead of underground, so that immigrants are less likely to be exploited, less likely to harm American wages and jobs, and are more likely to pay taxes." There is now a bill trying to get passed by the Senate that addresses a lot of the things many Americans are worried about. Such as being able to get jobs and ensuring good working conditions for temporary workers. I feel that it is very important to make sure that the citizens are the ones who get the first chance at employment. They are the legal citizens and they need a job just as badly as the immigrants do. The main point the article is making is that the immigrants are needed. If they are truly needed then I feel that there should be a way to help them become citizens, but only if it is done legally. The high volume of illegal immigrants does not help their situation of the citizens. The government needs to find a balance that makes everyone happy.


citation
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. "Immigration Legislation Should Not Punish All Illegal Immigrants." Contemporary Issues Companion: Illegal Immigration. Ed. Paul Hina. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 8 Feb. 2010 .

"Immigration Laws Do Not Treat Immigrants Fairly"

I had always realized that there were many Americans who did not treat immigrants with respect, but hearing these stories show that it is also the government treating them this way. The article opens with a few stories about immigrants who are possibly going to be deported, all on injustice and in-humanitarian grounds. There are children who have escaped because they were facing great opposition in their birth countries, but when they arrived they were arrested and may be sent back. There is other stories about women who either were adopted and tried to get citizenship or they were beaten by their husband but the police arrested them. I feel that America should be helping these people, they have done nothing that grounds them for deportation. The United States is known around the world for their humanitarian efforts, however when these immigrants need help the only thing that they do is threaten to deport them. Where is the justice in that, where is the immigrants equality. There are three acts that are at the root of the issue,the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) and the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. The INS also has great power in deporting immigrants and their decisions cannot be appealed. They now have an overflow of detainees, and they numbers are going to continue to increase. The detainees are even kept away from their families, the INS seems to taking away all of their rights.

There was a woman who was deported when she was trying to see her children, and she still sees that America is a great country. It just goes to show that many immigrants are escaping such extreme oppression that they are just use to being treated so poorly. That is not right, if a person's papers are legal than they should be allowed to enter the United States. What really surprises me is,"Another provision of IIRAIRA is aggravated felony, which reclassifies past crimes of noncitizens to more serious and deportable offenses, even if they have already served their time for the infractions, have been rehabilitated, or never spent a day in jail." In America you can not be tried for the same crime twice, so why are they immigrants. The article sums this issue up in the best way, "The U.S., a nation of immigrants, cannot be free if it takes freedom from those who believe in the promise of justice for all." I agree what the government is doing is going against what America is all about and things need to change.

citation
Paul, William G. "Immigration Laws Do Not Treat Immigrants Fairly." Current Controversies: Immigration. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 7 Feb. 2010 .

"Immigration Must Be Restricted to Protect America Against Terrorists"

As I was reading this article I realized that many of the ideas that I have been thinking about are things that others things about as well. There are many loopholes for people who are trying to get into America. This is shown by the mass illegal immigration in America and this article tries to demonstrate that it can also relate to the terrorist attacks.I had never thought of this connection until I read this article and it proves that the connection is there. The author discusses how there are many neighborhoods like the one a few of the 9/11 terrorist lived in where there are so many immigrants that it is so easy for people to go unnoticed. The article says, "Patterson's mayor notes: "We have 72 identifiable nationalities here, 170,000 people in eight square miles. With a lot of different folks moving in and out of the city, unless you raise a ruckus, you could live here for a while without anyone noticing."'Due to all the chaos in the neighborhood, it is extremely hard to notice everyone who is living there. It really scares me that these people can live in America for so long and do such a horrible thing and the whole time no one knew that they were even there. At the beginning of the article it says that there needs to be tighter regulations, but to do that the government would need to spend more money. Money is not something they want to be spending more of, so I feel they need to do better with what they all ready have. Maybe they could start with better training courses for the people who are suppose to be looking out for these things. As I have been watching the news in recent weeks have seen more arrests of people planning terrorist attacks while living in America and this trend does not seem to be stopping. For a long time I was under the assumption things were in control. It has become very clear that in order for the United States to control the terrorist attacks, they have to start having tighter regulations of immigration.

The article says that the danger comes from within America, "Precisely because of mass immigration and open-borders policies, perhaps thousands of unnoticeable young men have been able to enter the United States (and Europe) to prepare jihad against their enemies. Short of expelling entire populations in a massive act of ethnic cleansing, there is virtually nothing the United States and the West can do about the new enemy within." There may not be much to do to prevent the terrorist from coming into America, however there are actions that need to be taken that can help to protect the citizens once they are here. In the end it will be very hard for immigration reforms to be enforced because many leaders and upper class see the immigration as a way for cheap labor. I think that people who see it that way need to be thinking about the protection of all Americans, not just making money.

I understand that the United States cannot just start "ethnic cleansing" people in America. Yet they need to do something. We cannot allow another 9/11 to occur and they only way to do that is to tighten the immigration regulations.


citation
Francis, Samuel. "Immigration Must Be Restricted to Protect America Against Terrorists." Opposing Viewpoints: National Security. Ed. Helen Cothran. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2004. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 7 Feb. 2010 .

"Opposition to Illegal Immigration Is Based on Racism"

This article is trying to prove that the many things people say about why immigrants should not be welcomed, just means that they are being racist. There are various arguments discussing how immigrants hurt the environment, take American jobs, and threaten American culture. There are even organizations out there that try to "immigrant bash." I feel that if America is willing to accept immigrants into the Country and they should also be accepted into the society as well. People say though that allowing them into society is just causing more problems. The author of the article believes the haters are able to cloak their motives by saying that they are looking out for the best interest of the United States workers. One of the organizations trying to bring about reform is the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). One of the things that FAIR has attempted to do is create Proposition 200 in Arizona which works to stop immigrants from obtaining their drivers license. I think this is just cruel and it is not going to stop people from trying to immigrate to America. People who are trying to immigrate from their country are mostly in search of a better life. The better life consists of more equality, better living conditions and a better job. For the most part people are able to get those things in America and not having their drivers license will not stop them. Many of the poorer immigrants could probably not even afford a car anyways.

In response to the argument that the immigrants do the jobs that American citizens prefer not to do, the article says that not letting them have the jobs can force the working conditions to be bettered. "'Well if immigrants were not so readily available and easily exploitable, those employers would have to make the jobs more attractive by cleaning up the workplace and offering better pay.'" That may be true, but what are the chances that a business owner is going to put out the extra money if they are able to find such cheap labor. There are already so many companies outsourcing to other countries that if they were forced to this then they would most likely move as well.

One thing that article talks about which I actually am in agreement is with overpopulation. If America become over populated then the conditions are going to deteriorate for everyone and things could go into chaos. That is why I believe there should be strict regulation on immigration. People have to go through the proper process so things stay in order. If they chose not to follow the process that is when the United States is going to be overpopulated and have many problems.

citation
Schepers, Emile. "Opposition to Illegal Immigration Is Based on Racism." Opposing Viewpoints: Illegal Immigration. Ed. Margaret Haerens. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 5 Feb. 2010 .

"America and I"

The short strory America and I by Anzia Yezierska focuses on her early experiences as a Polish emigrant living in America. Yezierska came to America with a vast array of hopes and dreams, but as the story progresses it is clear that the dreams are out of reach. In the beginning she says this is what she thought America would do for her, “In the golden land of flowing opportunity I was to find my work that was denied me in the sterile village of my forefathers.”(69). Yezierska believed that she would be able to find a better life in America. She was not the only one who believed the golden image of America. Many immigrants believed that America could give them a better life, but when they arrived in America they realized reaching that dream would be harder than they had anticipated. During her early time in America she went through a few different jobs, but none of them made her happy. One of the things stopping Anzia from doing what she wanted to do was the fact that she was not able to speak English. Due to the fact that she could speak the language, her employers were able to take advantage of her. The first people that she worked for in America ended up not paying her anything at all. They thought it was enough that she was being fed and had shelter and she was asking for more than she deserved. I found it to be surprising that they would treat her so poorly, because they too were immigrants. When Yezierska went to the Vocational Guidance Center at the Women’s Association started one of the workers told her, “America is no Utopia. First you must become efficient in earning a living before you can indulge in your poetic dreams.”(75). This person is pretty much telling her to give up on everything that she believed about America. The woman is supposed to be helping her find a good job, but instead she is crushing all her dreams. This is one of the examples of how many Americans did not want to the immigrants to become Americanized. By not helping her, the worker was helping to perpetuate the division among the native born Americans and the immigrants. In order for the United States to be a strong unified Country then it needs to do what their name is all about: be united. If they allow the people to immigrate then they should also be accepted into society. At Anzia’s third job, they treated her as a worker should be treated. On top of that they taught her English, which is the key to surviving in the American society. Yezierska did not understand why the people she worked for did not like using the language of their birth Country. What she did not understand is that to succeed you have to Americanize and part of Americanizing a person has to learn English. I think that an immigrant should never forget the language of their birth place because it helps to make up who they are. It also helps to give the United States the nickname the Melting Pot. Anzia Yezierska is an excellent representation of what it means to be an American immigrant. America is not a land that has streets paved with gold, but that does not mean there is not great opportunity. To find the potential that America has to offer one must Americanize without losing themselves. In order to accomplish the transition they must be welcomed into the society. If that happens the immigrants may be able to find their “gold streets” that they are yearning for.

citation
Yezierska, Anzia. "America and I." "The Oxford book of Jewish stories." Ed Ilan Stavans.New York:Oxford University Press, Inc,1998.68-77 Print.

Where I am At

As I have continued to study immigration I have noticed that we are an extermly strict Country. For over a few hundred years, people have been trying to immigrate to America, but they have been met with great opposition. Throughout the years there has been quotas passed on how many people are allowed to come to America. Along with the quotas there was deals with other Countries on how many people would be allowed to immigrate or even let people immigrate. Due to the restrictions on immigration, many people have taken it into their own hands, doing whatever they can to cross the border. There are millions of illegal immigrants living in America, many of them doing the jobs that most Americans prefer not to do. This is why I think people always have such a hard time allowing immigration, people do not follow the laws. The one idea that has stuck with me this whole time is the fact the Americans were not just racist to African Americans, they treated other groups of people just as poorly. Many of the immigrants were forced to live in bad conditions and were not immediately welcomed into the society.I find this to be very interesting that a Country who prides itself on being about equality and freedom will not grant that to all people. I think the United States has problems with both the idea of immigration and the people who are immigrating. They have to learn that if they are going to allow people to immigrate then they should be able to accept them as well.

Theodore Roosevelt: Gentleman's Agreement

I feel that in the case of the Gentleman’s Agreement both the Japanese and the American governments were overstepping their boundaries. They should not have the power of preventing people from living where they wish to live. Both the governments agreed that this was what was best, but did they even ask the people. The only people who could emigrate to the United States were those who, “seek to resume a formerly acquired domicile, to join a parent, wife, or children residing there, or to assume active control of an already possessed interest in a farming enterprise in this country, so that the three classes of laborers entitled to receive passports have come to be designated former residents, parents, wives, or children of residents, and settled agriculturists.” The only thing that the people in power did right was allow for families to be united, other than that the agreement limited the freedom of the people. In the past America has not been very accepting of various groups of immigrants, but by the Japanese having the power in this situation, they did not look bad. The Japanese were the ones in control because they were the ones who issue the passports. What I find most surprising is that is the United States is based on the ideals of freedom and equality, but they are not willing to give that to other people. The Japanese attempting to immigrate most likely have good reason, but they cannot take action and move. The governments had forced them to stay where they were, instead the governments should let the people do as they wished.I think that immigration should not totally stop, but it should be regulated. If immigration is not regulated than the governments, then a country of very unhappy citizens will be formed.

citation
"Theodore Roosevelt: Gentleman's Agreement (1907)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010.