Why Illegal Immigrant Is A Slur By Charles Garcia Essay

Americans take many things for granted. For the majority of the population, life is relatively mild. People are normally not rich, but not poor, not ecstatically happy, but not too depressed either. One might say that the population generally has it easy, as compared to a large percentage of the rest of the world. It is for this reason that a great many people from other countries immigrate here. They are seeking a better life. Often, however, they get mistreated. Like the Mexican immigrants, who arrive here, only to be treated unfairly because of few opportunities, American prejudice, and Americanization. They do not come here to do harm, or to take advantage of Americans, or to do anything but

In the United States of America (U.S), illegal immigrants have been oppressed by the government. The reason why they come to the U.S is for a better life, so they can live “ The American Dream.” However, illegal immigrants struggle to live a better life due to the fact that they have a lot of disadvantages such as finding medical help, jobs, and plenty of other resources that someone who’s not citizen aren’t able to have. The U.S is known as a country that gives people human rights no matter the situation they are living in which is clearly stated in The Constitution, however, for illegal immigrants, it is the opposite due to the fact that they live in fear. Some examples would have to be taken advantage by people, and oppressed by certain races/ groups. Therefore, the U.S Citizenships and Immigration services (USCIS) should give green cards to illegal immigrants who have not been convicted of a crime because they will no longer live in fear, be able to find better jobs to support their families financially, and will have opportunities of going to college.

The essay "How Immigrants Become 'Other'" by Marcelo and Carola Suarez-Orozco illustrates the issue of immigrants never truly being accepted by natural born citizens of America. In the essay, it is discussed that immigrants are and have been treated differently. The different ways immigrants are treated differently is almost an unintelligent question to ask. Instead the question, “How aren’t immigrants treated differently?” should be asked. Even the names politicians and society have created to describe immigrants are alienating and harsh, “Illegal, undocumented, alien.” The idea of a human being illegal is something that most people overlook, but the reality is, no human is illegal. This idea of immigrants being associated with names that have such negative connotations is one of many ideas discussed in the essay "How Immigrants Become ‘Other’.”Even though America is known as a “melting pot,” immigrants will never truly be accepted as a part of society no matter the amount of assimilation due to the blatant racism, segregation, and prejudice that non-immigrants have against immigrants.

Juan Gonzalez uses Chapter 12: “Speak Spanish, You’re in America!: El Huracán over Language and Culture” of his novel Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America to introduce a truly polarizing argument that has plagued the Latino community in the United States of America. Gonzalez is quick to point out that English is the common language in this country, though he is quicker to note that it should not necessarily be so. This author is so incredibly biased in this chapter that it is nearly impossible to disagree with his opinion without feeling like one is completely shutting out the entire Latino community. However, speaking as a member of this community, perhaps it is this unique insight that allows for not only a contending opinion, but also the framework to make the opinion relevant. Gonzalez makes brash claims with little supporting evidence and relies heavily on argumenta ad passiones to manipulate the reader’s emotions instead of focusing on rationalism and sound judgment. Quite possibly, it was the abundance of this logical fallacy that made it difficult to sympathize with his argument; though, it lays the basis for this chapter analysis.

At present, the U.S. immigration system is burdened both by policy and implementation challenges. It is barely able to meet the commitments required by law and policy and is ill-prepared to address new challenges and mandates. Agreement that the system is broken may be the only point of consensus among many diverse stakeholders. The Task Force believes that immigration laws and policies are broken in four ways:

When Americans think of racism, they usually think of slavery, and that racism is no longer a problem in America. However, this is not the case. Racism is still obvious in America. Racism can be linked directly to stereotypical mindsets of certain groups of people.  Today’s racism is not restricted to whites and blacks, and it has come to define many different groups and races. Pigmentation as well as physical characteristics and features still are influential for classifying people. It is easy to overlook the racism that hides below the surface and is part of American life. Today, an estimate 54 million Latinos live in the U.S. and around 43 million people speak Spanish. Although Latinos are the country’s largest minority, anti-Latino prejudice is still common. Very few Americans recognize, acknowledge, and respect the contributions of one of America’s greatest ethnic groups – Hispanics. Americans are often confused as to who Hispanics really are and what they represent in America. Although the United States is known for having a melting pot of diverse cultures, recent studies have shown the rise of discrimination against Latinos and Hispanics immigrants. A person’s legal status should not be an excuse for mistreatment.

Americans believe that illegal immigrants are freeloaders they come to the United States to use our Social Services. Let’s define Social Services, “organized welfare efforts carried on under professional auspices by trained personnel (dictionary.com, 2011, para.1).” Examples of Social Services are Housing which is Government subsidized and public housing, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Food Stamps/Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid and Medicare, and Social Security Payments for the elderly, disabled, qualifying children of the deceased, etc. Illegal immigrants do not qualify for these social services, because they do not have a social security number. Illegal immigrants contribute to the economy of

As depicted in John Steinbeck's novel Grapes of Wrath the 1930's was a time when migrant workers like the story's Joad family had to leave their homes, cross a perilous desert, live through the social injustices of the time, and work at jobs with low insufficient pay just to have a better life (Steinbeck). Seventy years later, the situations and experiences stay the same but the people are no longer native-born Americans but illegal immigrants who sacrifice everything to come to the United States to live a better life, as a result of that the 500,000 immigrants that illegally enter the United States through the Mexican border annually and stay in the country are the Joads of today (Aizenman).

For many years, people from all over the world have come to the United States seeking a better life for themselves, their spouse, their children and even their children's children. However, not every immigrant comes into this country legally and many of these illegal immigrants are poor, uneducated and may be carrying contagious diseases. They may arrive here via human trafficking, smuggling or other methods. There is one thing we know for sure that many of them choose to remain silence when they become victims. The three main reasons they become invisible victims are they are not aware they are victimized, they don't know the right way to ask for help and they are afraid to be fired or even deported.

Illegal immigration has caused a lot of controversy within the United States. The media has influenced our society to make us believe that illegal immigrants are horrible people. One thing that I have learned throughout life is, “Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains (Rousseau 4).” This sums up how society dictates our lives and limits us to what the media wants to us to believe. Whether it is legal or illegal, everybody should be treated equally. Illegal immigrants might always end up with the short end of the stick, but they heavily support the US economy. They contribute by paying taxes every year. In addition, they adopt difficult low wage jobs that are not of interest to the average American.

The Hispanic population in America has reached more than twenty-one million and is constantly growing, yet they continue to face constant discrimination and “are widely perceived as the drugs of society.” (Chavez, Pg. 57) Chavez declares that Hispanic advocates focus more on the idea of their community’s suppression rather than highlight how Latinos contribute to American society and their admirable efforts in reaching such feats. Research has shown that “the words Hispanic or Latino occurred in close connection with the word poverty” in more than eighteen hundred stories found in print media. (Chavez, Pg. 58)

Illegal immigration was an issue in the past and is a pressing problem in the present. The U.S. Government has been trying to find a resolution to this issue for years. The United States approved the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986, which allowed the American Government to punish American companies that consciously employed illegal immigrants (Nadadur 1037-1052). The United States’ Government Immigration Reform and Control Act has been unsuccessful in controlling illegal immigration. It is estimated that illegal immigration into the U.S. has a yearly interval of three hundred fifty thousand people (Rousmaniere 24-25). It is apparent that the 1986 act was not able to keep a handle on illegal immigration. Illegal immigration

How do the different U.S. mainstream media such as newspapers and other types of news like television networks portray recent debates about illegal immigration? There will be a main focus on the New York Times representing the U.S., being one of the top prestigious papers of this nation, and the trusted channel CNN. With the variety of sources now established, we can now compare and point out its differences as well as similarities, and analyze the point of views of the people involved. As we compare these two sources, I will not only observe the article’s facts and interviews, but also, the way they portray immigrants and officials on the chosen images. We will also see distinguish the real facts from the ones that framed as facts by

Immigrants arrive here in America to establish a better quality of life. They come here to get a job, raise their families, and get an education. To express their need for stability is important. In “Border on Our Backs,” Rodriguez carries some sociological information of how Latinos feel judged. The author states, “Just who precisely needs to be pardoned? Those who are exploited and who’ve been here forever…or those who’ve been complicit in our dehumanization” (562)? He feels criminalization in the way the Latin immigrants are treated. Rodriguez talks about some racial profiling in

Anzaldúa provides a description of how white people in the Unites States view Chicanos. “Gringos in the U.S. Southwest consider the inhabitants of the borderlands transgressors, aliens—whether they possess documents or not” (549). Chicanos are the inhabitants of this specific borderland and whether they have a legal right to be in the United States or not, they are seen as outsiders who do not belong. The are viewed as transgressors, which immediately has a connotation of criminality or aliens, which has a dehumanizing tone and suggests danger and otherness. The occurrence of several events has given Muslim and Arab Americans a similar image in the view to many Americans.