Why Are They Illegal Immigrants?

Mawi Asgedom, an author, public speaker, and a refugee from Ethiopian origin, in his TEDXGRANTPARK talk, How Immigrants Make America Great (2016), addresses the topic of immigration in the United States of America and argues that immigrants make America “more safer and prosperous” and bring “stronger values” because they are simply living in the nation. He backs up this claim by doing the following: first, he refers to examples on how immigrants make sacrifices to make this country safe; next, he gives staggering statistics on the percentage of immigrants living in America today; last, he provides many cases of companies founded by immigrants that creates thousands of jobs for Americans. Mawi Asgedom, an immigrant himself, wishes to convey to readers the importance of how the “bedrock values” of immigrants, which are generosity and entrepreneurship, make them a “10” and how immigrants make America’s economy better overall. The author’s audience likely consists of those interested in immigration policies as is evident through his references to the immigration statistics and the response of the increased job market here in the United States due to the immigrants; he addresses readers with a tone that is very formal and serious but adds some humor to capture his audience, the viewers of TEDXGRANTPARK and other interested in the approach to immigration in the United States.

Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz’s, Labor and Legality is a book written on the Mexican immigrant network in the U.S. She centers it on the Lions, a group of Mexican men from Leon, Mexico that all share their lives and help explain the many networks and strategies that are used in order to excel and gain happiness. There have been many different sorts of misconceptions about immigrants, and in recent years about undocumented immigrants from Mexico. The U.S. has made a sort of war on illegal immigrants and has made it a seemingly high priority in the media and in politics. Therefore, many Americans have been mislead and ill-informed about the history of immigrants/undocumented immigrants. Gomberg-Muñoz’s Labor and Legality helps set us straight. She unveils undocumented immigrants for the people that they are instead of the criminals that the media leads many to believe. Although she doesn’t have a wide range of participants for her study, I believe that she addresses many of the misconceptions and just plain ignorance that American people have of people that are undocumented; why stereotypes are supported by the people themselves, why politicians include stronger illegal immigration laws, and everything in between. Many of her topics reveal a sort of colonialism that the U.S. practices on Mexico; the exploitation of undocumented peoples to the benefit of the U.S. through economics, hypocritical laws and campaigns, and the racist and prejudice consequences.

Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, shares his life-long journey as an undocumented immigrant in his text, “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant.” As the title suggests, Vargas attempts to convey to his audience, who likely never has and never will experience anything similar to what he has, what it is like to live as an immigrant in the United States of America. Skillfully, Vargas details the perfect number of personal stories to reach the emotional side of his audience, which is anyone who is not an immigrant. Through the use of his personal accounts Vargas is able to effectively communicate that immigrants are humans too while simultaneously proving his credibility, as he has experience and a vast amount of knowledge

This paper explores the United States, Immigration Policy from an historical, fair and factual perspective. The Immigration Act of 1990 States limited “unskilled workers to 10,000 a year. Skilled labor requirements and immediate family reunification were major goals. The Act continued to promote the nuclear family model, foreign-born in the US was 7%”. This paper will also explore the demographics and diversity, of immigrants, throughout the U.S. This paper includes an article form the website of the Washington, D.C., Immigration Policy Center, and American Immigration Council. This paper will examines significant research data from the Pew Research web site on Hispanic trends and immigration, around the United States. This paper will also cover numbers, facts and trends which shape the immigration policy. This paper will also include five different books written by authors concerning the immigration policy and public issues which most concern Americans. This paper will cover topics of history of social problems and the policies that address immigration, special interest groups advocacy groups, political party and supporters, social justice and ethical issues, policy outcomes of illegal immigrants and how other countries compare to the United States when dealing with immigration.

There are many vulnerable populations within the United States. One of the many vulnerable populations are undocumented immigrants. Undocumented immigrants also known as illegal immigrants according to Wikipedia (2016) is defined as “the migration of people across national boarders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country” (para 1). The United States of America has one of the largest population of immigrants. In this paper, I will be discussing the multiple stressors related to undocumented immigrants as well as the programs that can be used to help alleviate those stressors.

The topic of Mexican immigration recently made headlines again when republican presidential candidate Donald Trump released a 3 page statement detailing his blunt beliefs on Mexican immigrants. Trump’s blunt statements against Mexican immigration have led many to join the discussion of Mexican immigration. The views on the issue vary, some believe that Mexicans are the route to all of America’s unemployment trouble while others believe Mexican’s simply take jobs American’s refuse to take. Either way, there are nearly twenty four million people of Mexican decent living in the United States that have started their own communities which contribute to American society. Many American’s however, refuse to accept this and are still prosecuting Mexican’s. This can be seen in the media, public schools, and in the work place.

On November 20, 2014, Former President of United States of America, Barack Obama gave a speech on immigration at the White House. This topic concerned ample families in the United States of America, as a lot of them are not legally residing in the states and the other families who are citizens and documented are threatened by the increasing number of illegal immigrants because they might become their competition in employment, education and business opportunities. Barack Obama Addressed these concerns in a unique perception that enlightened the audience and gave examples and ideas that led them to view this problem under a different light that isn’t necessarily negative. The president’s connection with the audience was not only logical and

The subject of illegal immigration coupled with the concern of the growing number of illegal immigrants in the United States has been a long standing national debate. A single finite definition of the term “illegal immigrant” has proven difficult to specify. For the purposes of this paper, I will use the term “undocumented immigrant” defined as an individual who has “entered the United States illegally or violated the terms of their residency status” (Chan, Scott, Krishel, Bramwell, and Clark, 2006).

What are the experiences of Latina/Latino “Undocumented, Unafraid, and Unapologetic” (UUU) activist living in San Diego County, California under the Trump presidency? By UUU activist, I mean anyone who self-identifies as a Latina/Latino UUU activist, and is advocating, in any capacity, for affordable education for undocumented students, the DREAM act, DACA, and comprehensive immigration reform. Based on in-depth interviews in San Diego County, California, with Latinas and Latinos, over the age of eighteen, who self-identify as UUU activists, I will begin to address this question. A Latina/o critical race framework will guide the current study. The aim of my work is to capture the struggles, motivations, and challenges UUU activist face and

There are not many people who know that there is war going on within America. A war, that is capable of impacting the future of America. Millions of “Dreamers” are fighting to be recognized as American citizens. In recent months and years, the debate on immigration reform has been heated and often uninformed. Every president mentions in his speech to take action on immigration reform. But unfortunately he ends up taking action against immigrants by deporting them. Is the country founded by immigrants has closed doors for the immigrants? People are fighting for the immigration reform. In order for the bright future of America we need to fix the present problems. A land of opportunity has taken many hits but the immigration reform made us think about our legal system. It is essential to understand that “immigration reform” is not a cup of tea. The question many are asking is that how can we accept millions of people into our labor force? We are already struggling from unemployment rate, which is peaking high. In this paper I will be primarily focusing on the role of immigrants on our economy, businesses and society, and how it impacts our society.

Undocumented Americans are like any other Americans, but with limited freedoms and opportunities as their other American peers. In the United States, undocumented Americans number about 2.1 million, and almost half of them are now adults (Friedman, November 10th, 2016). Many of these undocumented Americans were born in Mexico, moved to the United States and began their lives as American since they were young. This particular group of immigrant youths face uncertain futures clouded by fear and frustration due to the lack of rights, opportunities, and supports from both the general publics and the government. Many undocumented Americans do not fully realize the constraints of their status until they become young adults. Undocumented Americans’

The contentious debate over the Dream Act Movement in the U.S. is examined from a liberal perspective, focusing on three types: families, power, and rights. This paper will analyze the importance of the Dreamers that have played a vital role in the United States economy. Following, the advocacy of undocumented youth to realize the passage of the Development, Relief, and education for Alien Minors (DREAMER) act, limited by a bipartisan legislation that would entitle undocumented youth a pathway to citizenship. Using the Latino/Hispanic race framework to emphases socio-political that surrounds the immigrant debate. Moreover, the ways undocumented youth announce about their identity and agency and the ways they fabricate their demands publicly

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

Immigration is currently a hot topic, within in the United States government. Currently the United States Congress is fighting to decide the fate of the Dreamers, and the Immigration bill DACA. Like many controversial issues within the government, the Democrats and Republicans are in a disagreement on what to do. Each article, examines a different take on the current immigration reform. Bier’s main argument is that individuals who are contributing to immigration reform are ignorant, that Immigrants are not hurting the American Labor market. The next article, I examined, was written by Eric Cantor; Cantor states that although the parties each have a high stake in the decision, Congress makes on DACA, there must be a decision otherwise, the law will remain status quo. Next, we look at Gessen’s article, the main argument is that immigrants should not be looked at valuable or illegal, they should not have to be talented in order to be welcome within the United States. Lastly, Vargas, an undocumented Immigrant, discusses the difficulties of being illegal within the United States, yet still shines a light on the positive influences he had throughout his childhood and time in America.

In an intense debate on solution to undocumented immigrants living in America, Journalist Jose Vargas opens with, “What do you want to do with us? And to me, the most important question, as a student of American history, is this: how do you define American?” This is but a few emotion striking moments captured in the documentary “Documented”. Washington Post reporter Jose Antonio Vargas uses his own life as a glimpse of the hardships faced by hardworking Americans who are labelled as undocumented immigrants. Feeling as if he had been living in fear for 18 years while establishing a career as a successful journalist, Vargas came out as being undocumented and began documenting his journey toward humanizing the millions of illegal immigrants who