Tania Bruguera Immigrant Movement

But one prevalent issue that has continued to be the source of much controversy is immigration. Founded on immigration this issue is not new to this country. Although it’s an issue that has been around for many years the mixed sentiments directed at it have only continued to become more prevalent. This may be due to the various perspectives from which it is viewed. The way in which an issue is looked at is influenced by various factors which become evident when the issue of immigration is discussed.

The presentation topic was to examine the impact of politics on Latino in United States by studying various factors such as- population, citizenship status, geographic location and age.

Whether with a cold shoulder welcome or a open arm embrace, the United States has constantly received a range of global immigrants, over half whom originate from Latin America (migrationpolicy.org). Largely driven by the prospect of the “American Dream,” the Latino immigration movement began in the 1840s and has fluctuated with new policies, including the bracero program, an oppressive operation for temporary migrant workers, during World War II, and the Immigration Act of 1965, which created the first immigration limit for the Western Hemisphere (Gutiérrez, Ewing). Since 1960, the Latino population in America has grown from 3.24% of the U.S. population to 16%, and recent estimates proclaim an approximate 11 million undocumented Hispanics, revealing the growing need for for a political reassessment of immigration policy (Gutiérrez, whitehouse.gov). Today, immigration policy, particularly pertaining to Hispanics, has become a controversial subject in the United States, bearing opposing views and proposals, accompanied by diverse impacts that could reverberate throughout the Americas.

The book starts by presenting the complex interaction between Latinos and institutions. He argues that between 2001 and 2012, Latino migrant activists and their allies could not gain momentum following short-term victories because they are against an anti-migrant hegemony. Chapter 1 opens with The Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act (HR 4437) also known as the Sensenbrenner

She like millions of others have struggled to better their future and economic status by not having any legal status at all. Being minority of the minority they have to face many obstacles and many live in fear of deportation.

Denice Frohman also criticizes the superstructures that suppress the Latinx community, specifically the undocumented community. Denice Frohman recites, “Ana Maria is now 16. Her father works 18-hour days as a dishwasher. Her mother cleans houses she’ll never get to live in so that Ana Maria can sit in a college classroom and say, “I am here.” But her guidance counselor tells her she can’t get financial aid or the instate tuition rate because of her status. She says it like an apology. Ana wonders if her family ever crossed the border, or if they are just stuck inside another one, aggravating it like a soul. Her guidance counselor stands in front of her with a mouth full of fences” (). Denice Frohman narrates the structural hardships that undocumented families usually face. The arduous labor that is accepted from undocumented immigrants and their families but not their full acceptance into an exclusive society. The dehumanization of immigrants who are here to work towards a better life, but work so hard and never actualize their dreams. Moving across one border to be faced with another border. A border full of limits that forgets about the humanity of those it ousts.

The Latino political experience, much like the experience of other minority groups, has been about fighting for inclusion. In order to be included into mainstream society Latinos had to use different methods to get their grievances heard. In a system that was not designed to benefit minorities, Latinos had to put aside their differences and come together in order to address to economic, political, and social marginalization they faced. Due to restructuring and globalization large segments of the Latino population were excluded from effective economic and political access and participation. As their numbers increased Latinos began to utilize different methods to address the changes in their communities. They used two main methods which reflected two conceptions of empowerment, the electoral based and the household model.

The chapter begins by explaining how Cecilia Munoz, an immigration advocate was working towards immigration reform in the White House in the early 2000’s. The author notes that news had broken that President Bush had met with Mexican President Vicente Fox to collaborate on plans to provide status to 3 million undocumented immigrants who were living in the U.S. Views from the White House put a stop to immigration reform plans and geared their focus on decreasing immigration patterns. After the terroristic attacks of 9/11 the topic of immigration took a different turn. Immigrants had yet another target on their backs, being labeled as potential terrorists. A shift in immigration had taken place after the attacks. Many people and organizations

The study of Latinos in politics has become a very critical to the advancement of the community. This has become the case since statistically, there has been a tremendous wave of growth since the 1940s; today there are 60 million Latinos in the U.S. and this number is projected to rise to about 150 million by the year 2050, meaning 30%, or 1 in every 3 people, in the US will be of Latino origin. Taking into consideration these numbers “minority politics” would no longer seem an appropriate term. This is why Latino political interaction has become very important, however, in order to begin to understand this realm, one has to take into consideration the various forms of exclusion Latinos have faced based on the fact they they have identified

Commentators who see immigration as a problem frequently place most of the blame on Latino immigrants (Pérez Huber, 2015). Immigration reform should be approached from a humanitarian lens, therefore seen as a moral and social responsibility, that all should work to address (Pérez Huber, 2015). Multiple Streams frame also lacks a human rights and social justice lens, immigration reform through these lenses would recognize undocumented immigration as a humanitarian crisis (Lakoff & Ferguson, 2006). More consideration should be placed on patterns of immigration and how U.S foreign policies in Latin America influence these patterns. This is a major limitation of Multiple Streams as it does not take into consideration on the process outside of the

For many Latino families, their image is misunderstood. The majority of Americans analyze Latino communities focusing on the individual. Asking individual questions such as what did that person do wrong to be poor? Why is that individual immigrating into the US? The real question we should be asking is what factors made them immigrate to a different country in the first place. After all, “nobody likes to leave their home” says Juan Gonzalez from the documentary Harvest of Empire. Researching Latinos in America requires using structural/social determinants to gain an accurate representation. In Latinos in

Even though political participation of Latinos nationwide remains low, high concentrations of Latinos still are able to wield power and influence areas that affect Latinos like economic, educational, and social discrimination and exclusion, which, ironically, affect assimilation rates in the first place. The current events in California and other Latino majority areas of the country are but a small preview of the Latino political clout that is to

On the twentieth of November President Obama addressed the nation on immigration. In his address he said that “today, our immigration system is broken -- and everybody knows it.” In 2014 there was an estimated 11.3 million immigrants living in the United States illegally, compared to the estimated 5 million in 1994 it has more than doubled since then. This hard press issue of immigration reform affects everyone living in the United States. Due to the heavy inflow of undocumented citizens sneaking into this country families are being torn apart, our economy is suffering, and the hard working middle as well as upper classes are having to pay higher taxes. The debate is over the way to handle all of the people who are living here undocumented. Immigration reform is argued between politics with a hard line drawn between the Democratic Party’s stance and the Republican party’s. Politics and the common man both bickering about how the illegal immigrants because the issues directly impact our economy and the nations infrastructure. The hope is that through communication and compromise our politicians can end this problem.

Ruth J. Abram, who wanted to create a museum centered upon an experience common to the majority of Americans, founded the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. Abram believed that the immigrant experience was something that diverse groups of people could relate to and unite together on, moving Americans “to participate in a national conversation with similarly situated, contemporary immigrants and other ‘outsiders’”(Abram 2005:21). As we can see, Abram has been dedicated from the start to civic engagement through community collaboration.

A culture War has erupted in America. The country has become visibly divided over emotionally charged topics such as: abortion, gay marriage, gun-control, and healthcare. Many Americans have chosen sides in a polarized debate which pins conservative traditionalists against liberal progressives over the direction of America’s future. One topic which has not received as much attention as the rest, yet potentially has the largest impact on the common American is that of Immigration. As of late, the immigration debate has received more traction, due to the Obama Administration’s new reform Act (Commonsense Immigration Reform Act of 2011) as well as the growing number of undocumented immigrants