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?