Share this Cartoon

Share this Cartoon

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.


Posted using ShareThis

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