Reflective Blog

Illegal Immigration to the United States was my second choice in topic. I had decided I wanted to write about Mexican History first, but since one of my friends also wanted to do Mexican History I let her do it, so I ended up doing my second choice in topic, Illegal Immigration to the United States. I wrote about Illegal Immigration to the United States because I wanted to understand the topic more. I am surrounded by immigrants, and I wanted to understand their situation. Also many people are churlish against immigrants, and I wanted to know why, as well as why they migrate to the United States. Researching and writing the blog about Illegal Immigration to the United States, I was able to answer those questions and I was also able to learn more about the topic.

I gained knowledge of what immigrants went through to get to the United States and the difficulties they faced once being here. I learned that immigration has a good and a bad side. For example, many people dislike immigrants, and one reason for that is that they believe immigrants are taking citizen’s jobs. But the good side is that immigrants take jobs that citizens don’t want and that are low paid. Also, I learned that many different people from all over the world circumnavigated to the United States. They come to better their life: to escape economic problems, persecution, and other things. Immigrants migrate to countries more advanced then theirs. I also discovered the pros and cons of an amnesty: how some people disagree with giving illegal immigrants an amnesty but how immigrants will help the economy.

I gained much more knowledge of illegal immigration to the United States, but now I feel that I know plenty of the topics and I’m bored of it. I feel I know enough about Illegal Immigration to the United States. I know how and when Illegal Immigration started. I learned why immigration is good or bad and the different opinions about an amnesty. I know what immigrants faced when coming here and how they were taken advantage of. Now, what I don’t know much about is how immigrants become citizens, so I would like to research about that.

Amnesty for illegal immigrants

Amnesty is an acceptable solution for illegal immigration because it wouldn’t be fair for immigrants to be kicked out of the United States. Amnesty will raise economy, and lessen conflicts between illegal immigration. An amnesty would be auspicious for illegal immigrants. Amnesty is a pardon, especially for those who have committed political crimes. In this case immigration amnesty would forgive the act of their illegal immigration, driving and working with false documents, and other related illegal acts. Immigration amnesty would benefit 12 to 20 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States, (us amnesty.org).

The United States can’t and won’t throw out the illegal immigrants from the United States. President Obama said, "We are not going to ship back 12 million people, we're not going to do it as a practical matter. We would have to take all our law enforcement that we have available and we would have to use it and put people on buses, and rip families apart, and that's not who we are, that's not what America is about. So what I've proposed... is you say we're going to bring these folks out of the shadows. We're going to make them pay a fine, they are going to have to learn English, they are going to have to go to the back of the line...but they will have a pathway to citizenship over the course of 10 years.” (Us amnesty.org). It’s not possible that the United States can send all immigrants back home. And obama already said that he wouldn’t. McCain said, "I know of no one who believes you can just round up 12 million people.”(theatlantic.com). Therefore it doesn’t matter if 12 million immigrants are granted citizenship or not because ether way you cant send them all back home. Immigrants are already here and trying to make a better life.

Many immigrants have been in the United States for many years. Immigrants work hard and have a right to be in the United States. Obama said "Everybody who lives within these borders has a right to a life that is full of opportunity.” Illegal immigrants are hard workers, and the government does make money of them. If an amnesty were to happen it would benefited both illegal immigrants and the United States. “Cheap labor adds to the flexibility of business, leading to cheaper prices, better quality products, and higher profits“. (Balancepolitics.org) Immigrants help the United States because it increases the diversity and expands the culture of the country. Immigrants take jobs that Americans don’t want, and that gives immigrants jobs in the U.S. that others don’t want to do. Immigrants use different identities therefore they don’t file tax returns, or do other typical things Americans do. Legal immigrants don’t have to hide. Since they don’t have to hide they have time to attend school to learn history, English and marketable skills. Legal immigrants are more likely to assimilate with other Americans and adopt the culture. Lastly, they can eventually earn the right to vote and participate in our political process, meaning they can develop a decision-making stake in the future of our country. Amnesty would be good because both illegal immigrants and the United States will gain from it.

Many people don’t agree in giving immigrants an amnesty. Rep. Edward Royce said,“Amnesty is unfair to law-abiding legal immigrants who work their way through the legal system to obtain citizenship, and it sends the message that individuals who want to come to our country need not follow our laws.” Amnesty for some Americans is a bad idea. More immigrants mean more opportunity for terrorists, drug dealers, and other criminals to enter the country. Poor immigrants consume a high amount of government resources (health care, education, welfare, etc.) without paying a corresponding high rate of taxes. (balanced politics.org). Less-skilled American citizens earn less money and have fewer job opportunities because they must compete with immigrants in the job market. Conservatives are afraid that an influx of Latino voters will give the Democratic Party an invincible majority in our elected government.

People that don’t want amnesty are very acume toward immigrants. They are afraid of being in a place where no English is spoken, higher unemployment, social services benefits we can't afford to pay, more crime, and new diseases. They are afraid of the unknown. (civil liberty.about.com). What those people should think about is that the 12 to 20 million people are already leaving in the United States, and an amnesty will only benefit certain people. Amnesty is a good solution that would benefit both the United States and illegal immigrants. Even though some people would disagree Illegal immigrants do help the United States. Since immigrants are already in the United States the government might as will give them the amnesty so they can stop hiding, and start pay taxes and participating with the United States.

Sources

Messeril, Joe. "Should America Maintain/Increase the Level of Legal Immigration?" Balancedpolitics.org. 8 Nov. 2008. Web. 23 Oct. 2009. .

　

mmigration Amnety." Usamnesty.org. 15 July 2009. Web. 23 Oct. 2009. .

　

"Why Amnesty Isn't a Solution." Fairus.org. 2007. Web. 23 Oct. 2009. .

　

Head, Tom. "Why I Support Amnesty for Undocumented Immigrants." Civilliberty.about.com. 2009. Web. 23 Oct. 2009. .

Survey Blog

This week I set out to find what people in my school think about illegal immigration to the United States. I asked three questions to fifteen different people. The questions I asked were about illegal immigration to the United States. I asked the questions because I wanted to have different opinions about illegal immigration to the United States. The first question was how much do you know about illegal immigration to the United States? Most of the people said they knew a little, five said they knew a lot, one they knew everything, and another one said they hardly knew anything. The second question I asked was do you support illegal immigrants in the United States? The majority said yes, four said they didn’t know/care, and one said no. The next question was do you think the border fence was a waste of time and money? Ten said yes four said I don’t know, and only one said no. The final question was do you think President Obama will reform immigration policy? Seven voted yes, five voted I don’t know, and three voted no.

From the fifteen voters eight were female and seven were male. From those eight females, three were Latinas, four Anglos, and only one with another ethnicity. From the three Latinas, two said they knew a lot about illegal immigration. The other Latina said she knew a little. One of the female Anglos said they knew a lot about illegal immigration, and the other three said they knew a little. The female with another ethnicity voted that she knew a lot about illegal immigration. All three female Latinas voted yes on supporting illegal immigrants in the United States. Three female Anglos voted yes in supporting illegal immigrants, and the other one voted I don’t know/ care. The last female with a different ethnicity voted yes in supporting illegal immigrants in the U.S.

The next question was do you think the border fence was a waste of time and money? Two female Latinas said they didn’t know the other one voted yes. All four female Anglos voted yes on the question, and the female with another ethnicity also voted yes. The last question I asked was do you think Obama will reform immigration policy? Two female Latinas voted I don’t know, and the other Latina voted yes. Two female Anglos voted yes on the question. One voted no, and the last female Anglo voted I don’t know. The female with another ethnicity voted I don’t know.

From the seven male voters, three were Latinos, three Anglos, and the other one had another ethnicity. Two male Latinos voted that they knew a little about illegal immigration and the other one voted that they knew everything. Two male Anglo voters voted that they knew a little about illegal immigration. The other one voted that he knew a lot. The last male voter with a different ethnicity voted that he hardly knew anything about illegal immigration to the United States. Do you support illegal immigration? Two male Latinos voted yes and the other one voted I don’t know / care. One male Anglo voted yes, the other Anglo voted no, and the last male voter voted I don’t know/care. The last male voter with another ethnicity voted that he didn’t know. The next question was do you think the border fence was a waste of time and money? All three male Latinos voted yes. One male Anglo said no, the other said yes, and the last male Anglo voter said he didn’t know/care. The voter with another ethnicity said he didn’t know. The last question was do you think Obama will reform immigration policy? Two male Latinos said yes, and the other one said no. Two male Anglos said yes and the other Anglo said no. The voter with another ethnicity said he didn’t know.

The way people voted turned out to be okay. Even though most of the answers turned out to be the same there were some questions with different answers. Why people voted the way they did, I don’t know. I do know that the majority don’t have anything against illegal immigrants; I believe this because most people said they didn’t know/care about illegal immigration to the United States. To further my topic, I should keep up with what is going on with illegal immigration today, how it affects different people, and why. I could also describe why this topic should be kept from bellicose actions, why immigrants have to cross the border using chicanery.

website review

The website usimmigrationsupport.org is useful, truthful, and gives easy to understand facts on immigration today. The website usimmigrationsupport.org is fast to navigate, it’s laid out perfectly, and it doesn’t use circumlocution, it gets to the point, and you can find information fast. The best thing is that it is an independent organization; it’s not trying to make money like other websites. It provides you with reliable information because what is written is checked before being posted. It credible because the website has different certificates like, Truste, High- Assurance SSL Security , Trustkeeper and many others that provide email Privacy Seal, trusted download Programs, and protects all information submitted online. Last update was this year in 2009, and it provides contact information. The website talks about what an immigrant is, why they migrated, how they got to the United States, what immigrants do once they’re in the U.S., and it also gives a little background information on immigration. The information given also talks about what some people think about immigration, therefore it’s not biased.

There is a lot of content on this site, so you can learn about many topics. For example, Immigrants are individuals residing in a country illegally. Immigrants are also known as undocumented aliens, migrant, unauthorized migrant, illegal migrant or illegal aliens. Some immigrants enter the country legally but overstay the number of days on their visa or they violate the terms on their permanent resident card or refugee permit. Many immigrants leave loved ones and valuable possessions behind to come to their new home or country. Immigrants leave their home country due to political or economic reasons. Immigrants move to countries with advanced technology, greater resources, or that offer better opportunities for them or their children. Children of illegal immigrants born in the United States automatically gain citizenship.

Some other information I learned on this site is that, there are many different ways that immigrants cross the border to get to the United States. Some circumnavigate different countries to get to the United States. The most popular method use by Caribbean’s is by home made boats because they have to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Immigrants from South America fly into Mexico and there they fine illicit assistance of a coyote (smuggler) to help them cross the borders. If you cross with help of a coyote, they usually cram you into shipping containers, trucks, or boxcars. They may also be able to pay of corrupt authority figures. Most coyotes find a way to get to their destination and it sometimes includes the death of some people. It may also take numerous times to successfully cross the border, because security measures have increased and with advanced technology it’s difficult to pass the border and avoid detection.

The website even addresses some issues with illegal immigration. Once in the United States illegal immigrants become employed in what is known as “low skilled jobs.” Because there’s no requirement to be fluent in the English language, landscaping, construction, restaurants, hospitality, prostitution, agriculture and domestic services are popular with immigrants. “Some argue that illegal immigrants tend to take on the jobs that resident or citizens refuse, while others argue that illegal immigrants take away jobs in general.”(usimmigrationsupport.org) Work regulations in the U.S. prohibit employers from hiring illegal immigrants, but some employers don’t care. Some employers even take advantage of an employee’s undocumented status. Not everyone comes to the United States voluntarily. In the 19th century the importation of slaves was big. They used slaves to work. Eventually that ended but now human trafficking is still common. Young woman are promised jobs, it seems like a good idea at first, they need to escape poverty, but the when they get here they find out their purpose is for prostitution. In general the website usummigrationsupport.org gave good information that was easy to follow along. The information was accurate and reliable.

"Illegal immigration." Usimmigrationsupport.org. Us immigration support, 2009. Web. 6 Oct. 2009. <

http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/illegal_immigration.html

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