Changing political tides in the United States of America have inspired a more divisive and heated conversation about immigration policy, specifically addressing the southern border. One approach to the topic at hand accounts for the possible economic effects of an influx in human capital. While this perspective is no doubt important, understanding the individual human experience of immigrating from or through Mexico and across the border provides important context. As migrants move north through Mexico, a common familiarity with systematic abuse at the hands of gangs, officials and locals looking to make a quick buck can be documented. The border represents something intangible that brings new challenges and risks, from avoiding narcotics traffickers and Border Patrol agents to having a place to go once across. Arriving in the United States presents a frequent reality for the undocumented involving the abandonment of identity, acceptance of demoralization via a narrow bandwidth of job opportunities, and, for some, the freedom to have agency in one’s own story. The lives of migrants are filled with sometimes different yet all the while common hardships and the pursuit of a better tomorrow. Understanding a small selection of these perspectives will hopefully provide more complete insight into how and why people race towards the border, ultimately allowing policy decisions to truly be comprehensively informed. Coming to the decision to embrace the unknown and the dangers of
He illustrates the suffering people experience at the hands of the desert, the loss that shatters the families of those who lose their lives during the journey, and the desire for the American Dream that motivates the border crossers to risk their lives. The emotional tales in the book give a face to a group of people who are nothing more than a statistic to many Americans. The vast majority of people seem to have no comprehension of the impact that different policies will have, regardless of their support for or rejection of our current immigration policy. Big picture information about illegal immigration is intangible and incomprehensible to most. The emotional arguments provide readers with information that the average person can work with, such as the story of Memo and Lucho crossing the border and eking out a life in the US afterwards (De León 167-201). The stories provided by the book can also connect the effects of immigration policy on the individual to the impact it can have on large groups of people who had no intention of crossing the border. For example, the testimony about Maricela’s life and death provided in Chapter 10 connects the suffering Maricela experienced to the pain her family and friends feel after they learn of her death (De León 243-264). These stories aid in the creation of better arguments about illegal immigration.
The idea of political culture is found within the state’s history. The history of the state is impacted by the people settled in the region, religious backgrounds, and geography. The history of the state influences the attitudes and beliefs that people hold regarding their political system. Daniel Elazar theorized a connection between the states’ history and attitude towards government by explaining differences in government between states. Every state is different with some common ground. Elazar’s theory divides states into three types: moralistic, traditionalistic and individualistic. The state’s constitution defines the powers of government with political culture bias. Because of the state constitution, the political culture
Immigrating to America is a process in which many people all across the world entrust as their one way ticket to a better life. Whether they do so legally or illegally, coming to the United States ensures better opportunities, economically, politically, and so on, to people who would have otherwise been worse off in their countries of origin. Even so, the common understanding of being “better off” can be considered a misconstrued concept when it comes to living in the states. Many families that choose to immigrate to the U.S. fail to realize the cultural hardships that newcomers tend to face once on American soil. Anything from racial discrimination or bias at work, in neighborhoods, at school, etc., can all be challenges that people encounter when making a move to the U.S. Such challenges are described by Richard Rodriquez in his autobiography Hunger of Memory. In this passage, he explains how cultural differences between Mexican and American ways of life have shaped him into the person that he is today. He also chooses to highlights the problems that he faces growing up in a predominately white neighborhood, while attending a predominantly white institution. Much of his writing consists of the cultural differences and pressures he feels to assimilate to Western culture and how this process, in turn, changes him into the person that some may find to be unethical, but nonetheless, someone he is proud of.
Immigration is both a domestic issue and global concern. It involves economics, politics, and culture. Unlike other current issues, it has been at the center of the American experience for hundreds of years (Tirman, John). Every year, hundreds of thousands of immigrants from around the world, come to the United States. These immigrants have many different motivations as to why they leave their home country; but as currents events indicate, it is injustice, poverty, and violence in their own country that generally make people move to save themselves and to ensure a better future for their families. Many of these people believe the United States is the best place to go, because there is more freedom, protection, and benefits,
Our country was founded on immigration, but in recent decades the term ‘immigrant’ has been linked with turmoil. There has been great uncertainty within the American population of what to do about immigration reform, or if immigration is even a problem in our country. Arizona’s Scarred Generation by Fernanda Santos describes the chaotic changes taking place within most densely populated latin american states, mainly Arizona. Policies such as DACA have relieved some of this uncertainty within younger immigrant populations, especially latin americans growing up here who had no choice in being “undocumented” immigrants, but some laws such as SB 1070 ( a law allowing police to search latin american citizens based on their appearance), Proposition
Immigration is a rapid growing issue for the United States. For a long time people from other countries have been coming here to look for bigger and better things for themselves, as well as for their families. This article digs to the core of the issue, illegal immigration. Chideya wanted to know three things: 1) What is the reality behind the perceptions of Mexican Americans, 2) How do the residents of El Paso look upon the Mexicans, and 3) How do Mexican-Americans see themselves and their cousins across the border.
The main takeaway from Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini’s documentary “Immigration Battle,” is that the United States’ immigration policy is decidedly flawed. The policy facilitates the separation of families in which some members are U.S. citizens as well as the deportation of immigrants whose work benefits the nation’s economy. Taking into consideration the problems that immigrants have had to endure, the solution to the immigration crisis should not be to limit the number of immigrants allowed into the country, but rather to install an open border policy. This recommendation is based on a moral and economic justification. Helping immigrants escape poverty is the right thing to do and these individuals often inject valuable skills into the American economy. Arguably, one could also conclude that America’s prosperity lies in its diversity.
In 2012, there was a surge of Mexico's citizens transitioning into a country where they weren’t fully accepted, all to better their children’s lives along with their own. Being a immigrant in America is hard due to having to start over from nothing. Immigrants find themselves working hard manual jobs despite not having any interest in the field they are working in. Some immigrants also see themselves as a burden to the country due to having plans
Jose Antonio Vargas, courageous author of the essay “Outlaw”, contributes a first-hand life story to the boiling pot that is the argument over immigration. He recalls his own story chronologically, beginning with the month and words spoken by his mother on his day of departure over twenty years ago. He justifies the reasoning behind his leaving by retelling almost every illegal immigrant’s initiative, a craving for “a better life”. Vargas takes the reader on his journey, piggybacking through his fight for citizenship. He explains the numerous obstacles he’s had to bob and weave around and the laws he’s had to duck and cover for. On paper, Jose is the perfect American citizen, loved by his teachers and bosses a clean cut right side of the tracks
Immigration has always been a topic of conversation in politics, especially in the last election. People’s views towards whether immigration is a bad or good thing for the economy is up for debate. Many people find that immigrants destroy the economy, and have no right coming into the United States. Whereas some people view immigrants as a vital part of the United States’ social class, and they view immigrants as strong, willful people who made the difficult decision in coming over to the United States. In the two articles, “In Trek North, First Lure Is Mexico’s Other Line” written by Randal archibold, and “The Heartache of an Immigrant Family,” written by Sonia Nazario, it gives people an insight into the struggles and hardships families endure
During and prior to the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, the American political system saw the formation of political parties as the republic began to mature. Nevertheless, most Americans did not participate in the elections due to property restrictions to voting. Up until 1828, the states chose the presidential candidates through popular votes. Originally, measures such as the Electoral College and state representatives, put in place in the 1700s, functioned to limit participation in the democratic process in order to prevent excessive influence by ordinary people. This changed, however, with advent of the Jacksonian era of democracy. The son of Scottish-Irish immigrant farmers, Andrew Jackson’s ascension to power marked a change in American
In the essay “Imagining the Immigrant: Why legality Must Give Way to Humanity” and the article “The Perpetual Border Battle”, both professor John J. Savant and former director of CIA Mark Krikorian, give us each their perspective on necessary alterations in our border systems and ethics owing to the current immigration issue in our country. Illegal immigration is frown upon since it violates our constitution. Opponents to these unethical actions deliberate that our border control is in need of extensive advancements. In contrast the more humanitarian side of society contemplate the possibility of an agreement that will constitute to the non-violation of the law yet consider the desperation of these immigrants trying to provide the essential necessities for their loved ones.
The “American dream”, a national ethos of the United States, is sought after by many struggling immigrants who go through much risk in order to make a better living in the U.S. A long debated issue over illegal immigration into the U.S revolves around Mexican/Latino immigrants. With Honduras having little to no medical care and harsh living environments, many of its citizens seek to find jobs to support their families. Enrique’s Journey, bye Sonia Nazario sheds a new light on immigration in the U.S with the account of one particular Honduran boy who is trying to immigrate to the U.S. From the view of privileged individuals, these immigrants may be seen as a problem, with a simple solution; do not let them into the U.S. However, this problem has a much more complex lining.
Many American citizens, a majority of which do not have a lot of immigrants in their city, have implied that Mexican immigrants have been entering the country of America at an all time high. This essay was made to prove that these immigrants are actually leaving the United States of America at an unprecedented rate. There were about 5.8 million unauthorized Mexican immigrants in America in 2014 whereas in 2009 had about 6.4 million illegal immigrants, according to Pew Research Center data (Gonzalez-Barrera). The main importance of this essay is to write about the cause of Mexican immigrants leaving the United States of America and the effect of these immigrants leaving America. Specifically, Mexican immigrants leaving America and returning
The American Political System The American political system is a federal system, which consists of