What the Unions have to say

I was looking for a good article that explained this so-called "three-legged stool" immigration reform we are supposed to be expecting next year, and came across this, and thought it was interesting. The article focuses on the issue of foreign workers, and that labor unions are against the US granting more work visas. We've discussed the fact that something definitely needs to change in this area of immigration control, because the current system isn't working. Many immigrants keep coming to the US illegally whether they have a work visa or not, so something's gotta give, right? Well, the labor unions say NO. They don't want their workers to have to compete with foreign workers, especially now when jobs are becoming harder to come by.

But the author of this article seems to me to be suggesting that they better learn to deal with it, and I get his point. Trying to stop economic globalization, including foreign competition for jobs, is a waste of time if you ask me.

Anyway, its just interesting to see the debate from the unions' point of view, and important too, because they do have some substantial political influence, especially with this administration.

Immigration Detention: Give Detainees Fair Hearings

"Immigration detention can be made more humane and fair without compromising national security." After reading this article it reminded me of the Snake head Book with Sister Ping. The points made in the article were the same issues that the illegal immigrants faced once they were in a detention facility. The system "is fatally flawed." It goes to talk about how the detainees are taken as far away from the area they were first picked up at which results in isolation and sometimes no counsel at their deportation hearings resulting in an unfair trail. In their conditions detainees are more likely to just except deportation instead of returning back to detention. Its sad how the article portrays the indecisive panel; they were trying to solve a problem and give light and justice to people that really don't have a chance and on the the other side they feel the way things are set up are fine. In the end its still being debated and people are still being mistreated in the sense where there not given the full right to fight to stay in America.

Joe Arpaio, Illegal Immigration Hard-liner, Heckled by Students

Joe Arpio is one of the more infamous figures in the anti-immigrant movement. A sheriff of an Arizona county, he has been a controversial figure not just for his stance on immigration, in which he instructed his deputies to check the immigration status of people they suspect are in the nation illegally, but also for his brand of muckraking politics and allegations of misusing county property.

In a recent question-and-answer session at the Arizona State University he was heckled to the point of leaving by students. While I understand their objections to Arpio's policies, I feel that the heckling was actually counter-productive during a session where he was asked to explain and justify his actions.

12 arrested after authorities discover tunnel from Mexico into San Diego

While I am generally for immigration reform more accommodating to immigrants, particularly the ones who risk their lives in the journey from the Mexican side of the Mexican-U.S. borders, articles like this one also serve as a reminder that criminal elements take advantage of the state of immigration for their own ends.

Arizona's Immigrant Politics a Hurdle for 2010 Census

The intersection of immigration and the U.S. census is an interesting thing to read about. The census is how the U.S. government determines who the people are who live within the nation's borders. By compiling the raw data of family sizes and other information it allows the government to determine how best to allocate money for social projects. Projects that can provide access to housing, education and other services. But at the same time the census is feared by some as an opportunity to round up undocumented workers, leading to many immigrant communities refusing to fill out the forms. As a result, the census returns incomplete data which means that allocated funds will not go where they are needed most. Meanwhile there are political movements who have a vested interest in seeing an incomplete picture of the nation's population in order to maintain a political status quo.

This article touches on some of the competing interests and fears in Arizona communities as the 2010 census approaches.

‘Chaotic’ immigration system leading to wrongful deportations

This story about immigration detainees illustrates the very human cost of failing to reform the detention system that undocumented immigrants go through. Part of recent studies on the system, it describes people who were wrongfully detained and removed from the country, and a more shocking fact was the 85 people who had died while in custody in the past 5 years.

Report claims illegal immigrants have small impact on country's economy

The conflation between immigration and the economy is an especially touchy subject given the circumstances of the day, and one of the favored canards spoken by anti-immigrant groups is that the presence of immigrants deprives citizens of jobs and drives down the economy.

While this study doesn't address other social issues that would also become the subject of attack, it addresses the effect immigrant work has on local economies. It finds that there is indeed a slight economic depression where businesses use cheaper immigrant labor, however it is not the catastrophic effect that alarmists claim, and that the benefits in stimulating job growth and the movement of money results in a net benefit.

U.S. gets 22 new citizens in ceremony

I thought it would be nice to have a more positive immigration story, in this case 22 immigrants sworn in through the long and difficult citizenship process. A small number in the face of modern immigration.

One of the new citizens was a child when he was first brought from Mexico into the states by his parents, which reminded me of the discussion about children who were taken across the border by their parents, thus had no way of determining their own fate but were still punished for the actions of their parents.

Mass criminal immigration hearings unlawful

The article here talks about the efforts of an Arizona federal court trying to speed up the hearing process on illegal immigration. Rather than hearing each defendant individually, the court chose to use a mass hearing, putting large groups of defendants in the room and asking them if they understood the rights read to them. However the local court of appeals ruled that this format made it difficult for the defendants to understand what was being asked of them and constituted a violation of court procedure and the mass hearings had to be discontinued.

It's interesting to note that the appeal judges, while ruling against the practice, stated that they understood the underlying reason for it. The Arizona court was overwhelmed with immigration cases and attempted to speed things along. The appeals court recognized the need for it, but found that it violated the rules all the same. This is illustrative of how the immigration system as it is now has become a major burden on the U.S. legal system, and without reform from above, local courts are forced to enact improvised systems that risk circumventing the rights of the defendant.

Shifiting the focus of Immigration Enforcement Policy?

In what appears to be a change in the methodology of immigration enforcement, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement initiative (commonly referred to as ICE) has announced an "audit" of 1,000 different companies, looking at whether or not these enterprises knowingly hire illegal immigrants. At first glance, this seems to be a change in tactics. As pointed out in the article, normal fare for ICE consisted of mounting raids at work places, looking for undocumented workers. These raids seem to have placed priority on immigrants rather than offending businesses. These new tactics seem to be a reversal of this. However, the article points out that the list of businesses being targeted are not being publicly named. Furthermore, while 1,000 different businesses are certainly not a trivial number, I wonder if these audits are only scratching the surface. What types of business are the audits targeting? Do they represent the traditional, large scale employers of illegal immigrants such as the agriculture industry, or service industries (as the article suggests)? Do the 1,000 business as a whole target a certain business, and target a significant quantity of such businesses, or is the selection random, or not target a meaningful number of enterprises? The thrust of my questioning leads to one overarching concern; is this a meaningful gesture or not? If this "audit" does not target the traditional employers of illegal immigrants, or does not target a significant market share (that is, if the audit doesn't do enough "damage" to employers of illegal immigrants in general), then it seems to me that this action is a meaningless gesture. Whether or not this is the case, the audits are having an impact in the behavior in companies. For example, the article states that a clothing manufacture dismissed over 1/4 of its work force (~1,800 employees) after an audit raised concern over its hiring practices regarding illegals. The business community as a whole, the article goes on to state, is reacting as a whole. However, how comprehensive and what the longevity of this reaction has yet to be seen, as this is only the second audit of its kind to be conducted.

Russia vs. Georgia

This is probably the most ridiculous cartoon I found. The US has no control over the borders, who crosses or even how many illegal immigrants are currently living in the states and definitely we should send our troops to defend another country in a matter that we have our hands full with. There is no need for the US to get involved in another international fight that has nothing to do with our safety without first fixing the internal problems that we have been experiencing for the past decades.

Immigration cartoons

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/directory/I/Immigration.asp

I was looking through different websites and came across this one. All of the cartoons displayed on the link are funny. The first one struck me the most. Since I used to live in Miami, marrying somebody for their papers is a common situation there. It is known that a lot of Cubans and Puerto Ricans will marry hispanics that need papers for about 5000 dollars, and the funny thing is that the Immigration Office thinks it is official because it is a marriage between two Hispanics. I do not know how common it is among other nationalities but in Miami there are even "brokers" who will literally "hook you up" with a person and a believable story and receive money after you get your papers... it is an incredible business.

New Phone Apps

The Readers Digest version of this story is that students from University of California have developed an application for Nextel phones. The application will show immigrants illegally crossing the border where to go for water, major roads, and border patrol officials should they be too weak to continue their journey. They are doing this as a project for a humanitarian class. The application will be preloaded into an unspecified number of phones that will be delivered to Mexico as part of their humanitarian project.
I am torn on how I feel about this. Because the application does not directly give immigrants entry points, there is nothing technically wrong with the project. However, it is still giving aid to people coming in illegally.
On the other hand, it is terrible that these imigrants are "forced" to come across the border illegally because our policies take too long. It is also terrible that many of these immigrants are seriously injured or even killed as a result of their journey.
The application seems on the surface to he more help than it is harm. The government could even use the GPS in the devices to crack down on illegal immigration. Therefore, right off I believe I am in favor of the application. Because illegal immigration is not going to stop any time in the near future, I believe that we should do what we can to help others in need.

Language preservation among Cambodian-Americans

This is a short article about attempts at Khmer (Cambodian)-language preservation in the San Francisco Bay area. The Bay area has a relatively large Cambodian community, which really began during the 1980's after the Cambodian genocide ended. I thought this acticle would be interesting, because it is about a relatively small immigrant group in the US, and how they are trying to hold onto their ethnic identity. Cambodia itself is small. A huge majority of Cambodians are ethnically Khmer and Khmer is a distinct language. We've talked a little bit in class about the role of Spanish in preserving Latino culture, and its something I'm discussing in my final project also. But imagine how difficult it is to preserve Khmer language among American-born Khmers. Outside of a few urban communities, Khmer has no presence in the US and worldwide, the way some other languages like Spanish, French and Chinese do. Aside from ethnic pride, and wanting to be able to communicate with family back in Cambodia, there is no benefit to knowing Khmer.

In my opinion, Khmer culture is typical of most Southeast Asian cultures. It is Bhuddist, its traditional food, music, dance and martial arts are very similar to those if Thialand and Vietnam. BUT, most Khmers would insist on the their distinction. Language seems like the most obvious way for Khmers in America to not only maintain their Southeast Asian culture, but their more distinct Khmer culture. But because Khmer-Americans are such a small, marginalized group, maintaining their language, and in effect their distinct ethnicity, is difficult.

So I guess I'm just trying to point out this difficult situation that not only Khmer-Americans, but I'm sure many other immigrant groups, face in preserving their ethnic identity in the America.

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This cartoon made me mad. Sending the troops to Iraq was wrong in many levels but the most important want is that there were no weapons of mass destruction and than sending the troops to fight a political problem that can be resolved with rational thinking from our government is even worse. Having the troops in the borders will only make the illegal immigrants cross the border at another location. We need to fight the problem (the lack of good immigration reform) not delay the entrance of illegal immigrants into the country, and making it more risky for them to cross the border and come into the country via an unsafe place.


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Lou Dobbs & Opinion

There is a lot of commentary, mostly celebration about Lou Dobbs' departure from CNN.

What I like about this Op-Ed is that is points out how corrosive anti-immigrant rhetoric can be. It's not that I have any problem with a person having a differing opinion from my own-quite the contrary. But Dobbs and others like him have made a reasoned discussion of immigration nearly impossible, so riddled are these conversations today with fear-mongering and conspiracy theories.

If we look at Dobbs as an example, we don't have to worry about his so-called foreign "invasion." We are our own worst enemy.

in reference to:

"“Unfortunately,” he said, “these issues are now defined in the public arena by partisanship and ideology rather than by rigorous, empirical thought and forthright analysis and discussion.”Mr. Dobbs couldn’t have phrased a more apt criticism of himself. He calls himself Mr. Independent, but he is far closer in style and method to the right-wing ranters who mold the facts to shape the argument on television and on AM radio, where Mr. Dobbs still has a show. Mr. Dobbs’s CNN program has long been a nesting ground for untruths and conspiracy theories: fretting over a nonexistent, immigrant-borne leprosy epidemic; questioning President Obama’s citizenship; issuing dark warnings about the “North American Union,” a supposed plot to strangle United States sovereignty. It’s hard to pinpoint how much damage these kinds of ideas have done to the national discussion of illegal immigration, but they have been corrosive. Solutions have withered as many politicians parrot the central myth that people desperate to seek new lives in the United States are an affliction to be feared, not an opportunity to be engaged, future Americans who could enrich the country as immigrants always have and will."
- Editorial - A Farewell to Lou - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

Another Undocumented Student

This article was basically another example to the topics our speaker brought up today during his speech. Congress needs to do something about the DREAM act so that all the illegal immigrants that had no other choice but to come to the US with their parents can receive an education and live the lives they were looking for when they came to America. I comment from the speaker we had today that really shocked me was that 30 percent of the tuition we pay in public colleges goes to financial aid that undocumented students cannot obtain due to their lack of documents. In the particular case of this article, the UW student was able to get an extension on his deportation to see if he could obtain a permanent resident status or any other way to receive legal residency in the US.

DREAM

This article is one of many in our recent history that tackles the issues facing immigrants striving for higher education. There are increasingly more immigrants going to college and not being able to graduate due to their legal standing. My largest issues with this is WHY are the colleges/universities allowing them to come in and pay for an education they will never be able to complete. This is SO wrong! Although why would an immigrant go to school knowing that they will never get to graduate... (although they may not know this going into the process) I digress... This article brought to my attention the DREAM act. I'd never heard of it previously. Basically it is an act going through congress to naturalize immigrant students so that they can receive their degrees and ideally help their community. I think this is an excellent plan on paper, but I don't know how well it will work, at least now when government is already having enough paperwork issues.

Immigrant Farm Laborers

"High Risk Cheap Labor"

This story from CNN discusses undocumented agriculture workers in farms across Washington State. The story includes several interesting pieces of information from various groups and individuals, much of which I found interesting. For example, a farm owner interview said as much as 70% of his workers are undocumented.

What was most intriguing, however, was a claim made by immigration attorney Tom Roach, who stated that the use of the online "E-Verify" tool (which allows employers to verify the social security number of their employees) is not mandatory because federal authorities know that doing so would cripple, at least in part, the agriculture industry. Other statements made in the video also allude to bureaucratic complicity in the hiring of undocumented workers. Specifically, in an interview clip with Assistant Homeland Security Secretary John Morton, the secretary states that despite presidential directives to increase scrutiny on employers as well as undocumented workers, organizations like Immigrations and Customs Enforcement still work closely with employers. To me, this suggests that certain government bureaucracies are not sincerely interested in curbing the employment of undocumented workers. Rather, they pursue individual workers and resort to minor measures such as fines to create the appearance they are taking action, when in fact they wish to preserve the current agricultural system for financial reasons.

Doctor fakes exams on immigrants

So basically this article is about a doctor from LA who charged immigrants $150 for papers saying that they are healthy when he didn't perform the exam. He is now in jail for lying to the government. For some reason I'm really not surprised to hear about this. Veterinarians 'lie' on health certificates for animals to travel. I'm sure doctors lie on forms for insurance companies etc. The purpose of these exams is to ensure that these immigrants aren't bringing in viruses... um ok? There are so many viruses spreading around the world that I feel like doing health exams of immigrants is just another way for US government to squeeze more money out of these people and hinder them being able to come over financially. I think that general checkups are ideal for any person and are a good thing, but I feel like the government is treating them more like livestock than actual people, to a certain extent. As for the doctor, anyone can be persuaded to do something if there is enough money in it, and obviously there was a large demand for his service.

immigration

from the first article i see how the number of immigrants entering and staying and not excused for the crime they make when they ignore their orders here in the US. Doing so, puts them in the deportation bag with the criminals caught and sent back. its sad that people try so hard to come and knowingly stay here illigally are caught and sent back like a criminal. i also found another article very interesting....

http://www.delmartimes.net/news/262336-21-suspected-illegal-immigrants-arrested-over-weekend
In this article i actually thought of sister Ping and the Snakehead book we just finished reading. the circumstances the people endured that were locked in the cabin below deck werent specified but it never sounds like a comfy voyage. it shows that no matter where your from, america is always a destination people see a future in and will try anything to get in.

Quinceaneras

I know wikipedia is not a reliable source but this article basically talks about all the aspects we mentioned in class and it demostrates how quinceaneras are so popular in US culture that just by tapying "quinceanera" in a google search multiple pages of different information come up. This other article is also very good http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/3192-la-quincea%C3%B1era-a-celebration-of-budding-womanhood

migration

“Today, the number of people living outside their country of birth is larger than at any other time in history. International migrants would now constitute the world's fifth most populous country if they all lived in the same place” (UNFPA).

Like so many of my friends and family, including my own, they migrate out of there country for a better life. whichever the reason of leaving in their specific situation, their migration has both good and bad benefits for the US. the immigrants are low cost labor which is good in a sense but in the other hand the thought of crime and a less smarter and productive workforce can cripple a generation. the push/pull factor in economy has to be looked at as well. if the issue of migration was worked on more to resolve possible the flow coming into the US, possibly allowing more educated migrants into the US with a work visa; the US could actually grow as a whole

Haitian activists want Obama to address immigration goals

An interesting article on an immigration group looking to lobby President Obama during a Florida visit. It's interesting to see immigration groups moving ahead in anticipation of the 2010 elections, especially a group representing Haiti, which has suffered a lot of particularly turbulent storms lately. Immigration isn't yet a central issue the way health care and the Afghanistan war is, but it's sure to cause a lot of debate the closer 2010 gets, so it's interesting to see some groups trying to move on it now.

migration and overpopulation

When i came across this picture, i halted at the artists work. Then read that it was his interpretation on migration and overpopulation. The more i looked at it i understood. if the US started excepting huge amounts of migrants then our country would be overpopulated. most of the migrants that are coming in from the south are laborers that would contribute to the lower end jobs since they aren't legal. even if they were doctors in their country, they would have to past exams in the US and therefore reveal their illegal status. so then there would just be a lot of migrants fighting for under the counter lower end jobs, trying to improve their lives when really they turn into more mouths to feed in the economy-hurting the US.

Another Take On Chinatown

I thought of this song by Devandra Banhart while reading how well established the smuggling operations of the Snakeheads were around the world. Banhart, himself an American, describes the chinese children he'd have living in different countries, with the chorus describing him passing on the physical characteristics of growth, hearing, running and breathing unto black, blue, red, and gray children. It could be argued the song lends itself to a political idea of the great numbers of Chinese emigrants (am I using that right?) around the world and how they as a people are inhabiting the earth. However both the jovial mood of the song and the references to randomly colored babies implies a more humanist view that people will be people regardless of what they are called. The very idea of babies is unmarked identity, something that has yet to be molded into any ethnicity or group identity.

While searching for a decent version of the song I came upon this video which I would normally have passed over but decided to use because of the visual representations the two girls come up with. I think they do a good job of pointing out the satirical nature the song carries toward stereotyped races. The drawings of chinese babies in rice picker's hat and holding a bowl of noodles along with the black baby with a Nike swoosh on his diaper quickly lose their negative impact when the blue, red, and gray babies all appear to join the dance party in similar dress. Is this the end of PC?

"The United States of America we hear the knocking but you can't come in" that is what the cartoon says and I see it as being directed to politicians and getting them to not only hear the immigrants, but to listen to them and do something to fix their situation in the US. Helping them get documents and making it easier for them to stay in the country legally.

Article on new developments in Prince William immigration policy

This article illustrates how immigration enforcement is becoming more and more a part of local law enforcement. What I found most interesting about it is the paragraph near the end that says most people picked up on minor charges will likely not have their immigration status checked, except that may change when more resources become available. That suggests that the deeper involvement of local law enforcement in immigration checks is no longer a question of legal jurisdiction, but one of resources.

Regardless of Consequences

I chose this article because I felt it related to class discussions recently. We talked about how immigrants in America are starting to call the police when a loved one is in danger. In this article, a family was waiting for their brother to be dropped off, however they were unable to pay the rest of the fee to their "snakehead" when he got there, so he drove off with the boy. A cousin called 911 and followed the van until the police could arrest the driver and detain all the illegals in the van. The article didn't say weather or not the family was here legally, but regardless; involving the police in the matter could have serious repercussions on the family and the cousin. Either the entire family could be deported, where they could face a very angry welcome wagon, or they could be jailed here. Either way, as we discussed in class, immigrants are calling the police in on certain issues regarding immigration, be it legal or illegal. This most likely will give the INS basis for new reforms and laws, hopefully for the good, as we are seeing in our novel.

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Immigration

Everyone has there own take on what a illegal should look, act, and how to behave themselves. This cartoon shows that its meaningless. The teens dialect and conversation is somewhat amusing because they hold themselves higher than illegals. Their clothing and overall look is unique, but not a norm. also the teens see the illegal working and they are just complaining wasting the day- when if it really bothered them they should get more involved. Not all illegal immigrants are uneducated, and illegal immigrants risk a lot to get into the U.S. just so they can try at maybe a better life.

Congressman Polis on The Dream Act

This speach touches on an issue that often gets overlooked in the debate about immigration reform: the issue of young adults who were brought illegally to the US as children. Should these people be allowed to stay and become legal? By coincidence I have met two unrelated people who came to the US illegally as children. One young woman was around 13 when her aging, ill father sent her to the US to live with her Aunt and Uncle. She crossed the US-Mexican border led by a coyote, and just went thorugh that whole terrible ordeal. After graduating high school, she tried to get legal status, but was denied, and went home to Central America to wait 10 years and then apply to return to the US legally. Meanwhile, this girl who graduated at the top of her class, could be going on to college. Another young man I met came to the US illegally with his parents when he was a child. We worked together, but he got fired for using a false social security number. He now works in construction and gets paid under-the-table. While we worked together he often had difficulty getting to work because he couldn't get a driver's license.

Regardless of how people feel about illegal immigration, I think that the situation of these young people should really be looked at from a more compassionate understanding. Like Polis said, these young people are often just as American as anyone else, and they have a lot to offer our country. How are Americans at all benefiting from the loss of that young woman's bright mind, or the fact that this young man must work under-the-table? Hopefully the Dream Act will get passed, althogh I disagree about the requirement that they must go to college in order to receive legal status. That is obviously not going to be feasible for many of them; and besides, there are other ways to contribute to society besides going to college. It seems like classism to me.

Increase in Immigrant Deaths

This article discusses the number of immigrants who die every year in an attempt to cross the border. "The leading cause of death was exposure to the heat. Other causes included drownings in rivers and drainage canals, homicides by bandits who target immigrants during the long walk across the border, and rollovers of smuggling vehicles." They talked to border control about these issues and they said that they have stations set up (in the middle of the desert? where?) so that immigrants in distress can have a search and rescue team sent out for them. The death toll last year (2008) was 378 (reported). This year they say the number will rise significantly.
When I first read this article, it almost felt like they were just reporting cold facts. "Immigrants" could have easily been substituted with "raccoons hit on the road" in terms of how many die and the way they talk about it. It almost feels as though we take greater precaution to make sure wild life doesn't die in the road than we do to make sure that our fellow humans stay alive. I understand that immigration is a BIG issue, and that no small "band aid" policy will fix it and make it go away fast, but seriously?... When immigrant, fellow human, deaths are being reported in this manner, there is a bigger issue at hand that needs to be dealt with, and in a more serious manner than we seem to be taking now.

I love how they portray the republicans elephant in this cartoon. The little mouse is so tiny but in reality is something that needs to be addressed and rectified. The immigration issues should not be runned away from.

The Cost of Immigration

This article portrays the immigration issue in a different light; immigrants who are earnestly trying to become citizens and slowed by the high cost of naturalization. Many immigrants "complain" about the high cost of naturalization. Although 650-some-odd dollars for 1 person the become naturalized seems like a high price, in the big picture it isn't really that much. Considering how expensive most things in this country are, I am not surprised that the fee is that high. However, because most immigrants don't have "high paying jobs" they blame that part of the system for their inability to become naturalized. It is a high price, but I don't believe that in the big picture that it is A) not worth the money spent and B) not bad overall. I understand that it is difficult to come up with a few thousand dollars to bring your entire family here, but it is a matter of 'economic' choices, and what is most important for you and your family.

the jobs we don't want to do

I loved this cartoon; it is funny but so true. We all interact with illegal citizens and in a way use them to our advantages. A lot of illegal immigrants do the jobs nobody else wants to do, work in the fields, as a server, hairstylist... I do not believe it is necessarily bad that they do this jobs because they do a lot better than in their countries (they have access to public schools, are not being killed by their neighbors...) Immigrants that want to be here should get some kind of amnesty so they can work in any field they want not only to be stuck working the jobs citizens do not want to do, most immigrants are just looking for a better life and will do any job to get money and support their families.

http://www.cagle.com/news/Immigration06/2.asp

political cartoon

I actually laughed a bit how they portray congress in this cartoon. It also shows how even though their mouths are covered...they still going to fight for the immigration reforms.

Raising the price on immigration?

This story is about how immigration officials are facing a huge budget shortfall is considering raising the fees associated with the immigration costs significantly.

What struck me about the article was where it mentioned that the immigration group has to be self supporting. It almosts sounds like a government function is being passed off to a private sector type of organization but without a profit motive. Beyond the obvious problems of raising already high fees (which would lead many people to not immigrating at all and some to just go ahead and enter illegally) I worry about the commodification of the movement of people. I think it says a lot of negative things about our immigration process where one of the biggest hurdles is if you can pay enough in fees in what basically amounts to paperwork. Not to mention the apparent short sightedness of a plan that many people already believe to have caused a severe drop in applications in the first place.

From reading this I would hope that in the next round of the immigration debate in Washington that begin a top to bottom transformation of all the government immigration angencies so that the agency is able to make people (rather than the bottom line) the bottom line.

"Mexico Man Sentenced For Role In Fake ID Ring"

OK, so let's start with the title of this article. I will admit that I am probably one of the least "PC" people I know, but as a journalism minor I have a problem with the title of this article. "Mexico Man" seems to have an odd connotation that comes along with it. But I digress...
In this article, a man (from Mexico) is busted for selling fake IDs and papers to illegals. He has been doing this in most of the major cities in America. "Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents seized more than 3 million counterfeit documents worth more than $20 million during the investigation."
For 5 years, this man was successful in bringing many illegals into the country and providing them the fake papers. However wrong it is, it never ceases to amaze me how 'where there's a will there's a way.' He is now serving a 5 year sentence. To the many whom he serviced, he is probably a hero. He most likely reunited quite a few families in the 5 years he was in business.
It is stories like these, where people have to go to extremes, That I like to take a step back and wonder, whats taking US so long to come up with a reasonable solution.

"Welcome to America"

Eng 479
I was particuraly attracted to this cartoon becuase it dealt with some of the conversations we had in class. The U.S will allow one family member,permenant residence, if they had already lived here when they passed that act; other family members then would get smuggled through the boarder or somehow gettemperary wrker permits. Like many, they have to figure out how they can get their green cards which, like this picture, is like a maze; many dead ends and false hopes.

Mex vs. BC (Born CItizen)

Here's a funny parody of those Mac commercials. There's actually a lot going on in this video that we can comment on, such as their differing personal identities compared to how the white shopper identifies them. Then there's the declaration "But those jobs are for Mexicans!"

Illegals need healthcare

It was the first article I read this week and it is so relevant to what we were talking about in class that I just had to put it up here. It would be ideal for illegal immigrants with a clean record to be able to get amnesty and citizenship to the United States since most of them consider this country to be theirs as well and also health care for legal and illegal immigrants would be beneficial for the whole country, it would be easier to control disease spreading and would help the country in general to have better health.

Health Care and Illegal Immigration

A lot of fuss has been raised over democratic proposals for providing universal health care. A considerable point of contention on the issue has been how illegal immigrants will be treated under the bills that are now being debated, specifically whether they will be able to receive government health care paid for by tax dollars. Much has been made about this issue in recent days, particularly by Republican opponents. Despite arguments over whether or not the proposed bill does indeed offer coverage to undocumented aliens, both sides seem to agree on one point; doing so is a wrong. This is evident - ironically perhaps- in the recent outburst of Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina, who's outburst in a joint-session of congress made his opposition to such a notion clear, and that such a provision was inadvisable. President Obama's terse but firm rebuke made it clear the bill did not provide care to illegal aliens. Implicit in this is that fact that, like his rash detractor, the President also feels that illegals are not entitled to government financed health care. An article posted on Newsweek's website contests this point. Citing financial benefits such as reduced cost -going so far at one point in the article to claim that insuring the typical undocumented worker would cost less than half of what it would to insure an average natural born citizen- the piece, written by Andrew Ramano suggest that insuring illegals would actually help stabilize the proposed system. By stabilizing the cost of providing to health care with seniors with that of low cost workers who do not reside in the country much past the working age, an equilibrium is created that would lead to generally lower premiums. The article concludes by stating that despite the benefits covering illegals would offer, doing so is a political impossibility given the political climate. The sentiments of Congressmen Wilson on President Obama are follow in line with general public opinion that illegals are not entitled to American health care, which is in turn part of a general animosity directed toward illegals. Intentionally covering undocumented workers simply isn't politically viable. I am reminded of Massey's readings, particularly "The New Immigration and Ethnicity in The United States." in which he discusses white non-Hispanics and their fear of being replaced in the social hierarchy. To me, it seems that affording illegals Health Care coverage would lend a certain level of legitimacy in regards to being part of American society. Whether or not this is good or bad is up to personal opinion, but I can't help think that such legitimacy would strike at the fears Massey discusses in his article's opening passages.

Texas school disctrict turns away students from Mexico

I found this article very interesting when I found it online. I thought it was rather bold of the new superintendent to just now want to try to stop this situation. If it is a known fact that those students are coming every day to school there, why would he choose just now to stop it? And how is he going to figure out who truly lives somewhere or who doesn't? There are many people who live with family or friend's whose names aren't on bills or leases, so to say you must provide one of those as proof of residency is rather unfair. I myself live with friends and my name is on none of the bills, but I still help pay for them. There needs to be a workaround method of confirming residency besides using bills or leases. While I do agree that the situation needs to be dealt with in the first place, because the tax-payers are paying for children who don't live in the area to go to the school. What I found most interesting of all, was that at the end of the article, they seemed to be most focused on the money issue. That because they were excluding all these children from the school system, they would lose money. And to top it all that they would charge tuition to families just to go to school. Whatever happened to FREE schooling?

6 Mass. boys accused of beating sleeping immigrant

Damian Merida, a Guatemalan immigrant who has lived in this country for fifteen years was the victim of a brutal attack.  It was carried out by six boys ages 11-14, who beat Merida with bricks, bottles and rocks leaving him with brain damage.  The police say he was targeted because of his ethnicity and that its possible this isn't the first of such attacks perpetrated by the same boys.

What I found most disturbing about this story, wasn't just the age of the attackers, but the way "justice" was carried out.  The boys were suspended from school and only one is serving time in a detention facility.  If this crime had been committed against a white person I think the sentencing would have been much more severe.  After all, the boys were charged with  attempted murder!  I think its horrendous, that even as victims, immigrants are treated as second class citizens. 

Pointless Checks and Balances

Starting today, September 8 2009, all major companies will be required to verify that their employees are U.S. citizens. They are to use a website called E-Verify which will cross check the I-9 employees are to fill out verifying citizenship. The rule stipulates this only needs to be done for groups working on contracts of $100,000 or more. This is a step forward in the crackdown on illegal immigration however it seems a trivial place to start the search and recon. Most illegals (stereotypically) aren't looking for Fortune 500 jobs. If the government wants to be "serious" about the search, they should consider more "commonplace" employment (eg. Target, WalMart, grocery stores, fast food chains, landscaping companies).

Made in USA

This cartoon is so funny, but sad at the same time. It is true that a lot of American companies are moving out of the country to try to lower cost, but at the end it is only damaging our economy more.

Political Art and Immigration

Last Tuesday's class discussion immediately put two songs into my head by the band Propagandhi. The first song is the song "Night Letters" which you can hear on myspace (its the only place I could find that could stream the song, also if you wear headphones as the song contains innapropriate language depending on your situation. Which is also why I posted the lyrics). "Night Letters" is a song that declares solidarity with Haitian immigrants who have migrated to their native city of Winnipeg (alluded to in the line "I am adept at cold...your mind returns to a place not so...cold)and expresses sorrow at the situation that led them to leave their home. The second song, appropriately titled "F*** the Border" with lyrics here (again, don't read it a place you would get into trouble or have to answer unsettling questions) and the song here (second one down, wear headphones.). Is much more explicit in attacking the the system that sets up borders and controls movement across nations.
Propagandhi represent about as an extreme a viewpoint as you can get in the immigration debate and do it in a very abrasive way. The band means every word they say, the liner notes in their albums come with recommended books and websites for all the issues they stand behind.
"F*** the Border" attacks the reasoning that immigrants (who sometimes come into the country illegally though the song explicitly questions that notion) break down the civic fabric of a nation and instead question the notion of there being any other reason to migrate but economics. Specifically the economic activity that the US encourages and engages in is what caused the the unbearable economic situation in the first place. It weaves together the economic, social, and political forces behind the debate around immigration and proceeds to tear them all down in favor of free movement. It's an effective burst of an idea perfectly thrown into the swell of ideas that forces people to stop and think about their positions and recommends a paradigm shift in thinking about the movement of people.
"Night Letters" adopts a more personal tone that uses the viewpoint of an individual forced to leave their home country because of war and then expresses the singer's solidarity with the individuals uprooted from their home and their arrival in Winnipeg. Instead of attacking the numerous systems that led to an individuals reason to leave they instead sing about the hardships that someone who is an immigrant often has to deal with. It offers a more sober and compassionate view towards immigration and puts it onto a human sized scale.
Propagandhi show that individuals can use their artistic skills and resources to express how they feel about issues that can seem very politicized and devoid of any way to comment on the issue artistically without using satire. Personally, despite its abrasive aesthetic decisions I find it rather satisfying to listen to a band that tries to artfully deal with political issues on an individual and compassionate scale.

July 22, 2009 Report: NY, NJ immigration raids violated rights

This story is about the findings from The Immigration Justice Clinic at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law whom analyzed ICE office reports from Long Island, NY and New Jersey police departments.

I found this article very interesting, especially since what is essentially being reported is a violation of the Constitution. It brings up interesting questions about how, usually consistently, immigrants are viewed as below the law (even legal immigrants) and are taken advantage of. This is how many legal immigrants and U.S. citizens who are of foreign background are attacked unfairly (in reference to Professor Shutika's post about the U.S. citizen wrongly deported, as one example). The AP report also goes on to mention how this has happened before and I suspect this is on a usual basis. It talks about how many of the targets were simply suspected based on their Latino looks or language spoken. This is very similar to the Prince William County initiative, led by "Help Save Manassas" to pass local laws to allow police officers to do the same thing without fear of penalty. It also calls for the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General to conduct an investigation.
“These are violations that go to the very heart of the Constitutional expectation of privacy in this country,” Markowitz said.

I feel this article will provide some good background information and viewpoints when we discuss immigration in general next week before delving into the personal perspectives in the books. I'd love to hear your all's thoughts on the topic.

President Obama on Immigration

Here's the link to a short video of a spech President Obama recently gave. You might have to copy and paste it. http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=14986640&ch=4226714&src=news


It's interesting to me that the only reason for better immigration policy he mentions is for the benefits of trade. The members of NAFTA want to decrease protectionism, but don't they really just mean protectionism of the market for goods and capital? I think the US is guilty of ignoring its practice of protectionism in the LABOR MARKET. Perhaps if the US and Canada accepted more Mexican immigrant workers, the state and federal government officials might take more action in combating the conditions which compell Mexicans to emigrate. Governments and politicians have no power without a population to govern.

Immigrant National Anthem

Here's an example of a humorous cartoon/video that raises some important issues about our immigration system.

What do you think? Comments welcome.

Deporting Citizens

This article from the Charlotte Observer reports on the case I mentioned today in class. Obviously, this should never happen. But how can it be prevented?