Casey French
On Wednesday, Professor Barry told the class to put a word or phrase that comes to mind in reference to "immigration". This activity was very interesting for me. Many of the words and phrases had a negative connotation attached to "immigration" while others were more sympathetic and historically based. "Ellis Island", "Illegal", "Opportunity", and "Foreign" depict conflicting viewpoints. I found that some of the connotations dehumanized the issue of illegal immigration, making people from Mexico especially feel that their presence in the United States is unwanted. This topic hits me personally, because earlier in the semester, I wrote a personal narrative on my friend who is an illegal immigrant. Throughout his life, he's struggled in so many ways...things many of us take for granted. He couldn't get a job without admitting of his legal status. He can't apply for a drivers license, so he is constantly paranoid that if he gets pulled over, he could face criminal charges. However, it was not his choice to come to the United States. His family moved here when he was young. His childhood is my hometown, not Mexico. If you want to read my personal narrative, here is a link to my friend's story.
Immigration is a natural right for those looking for better opportunities in the United States. As a country, we should create a fair immigration reform.
Please watch this video. It will give you a wonderful perspective on how illegal immigration hurts younger generations that live with the stigma of being undocumented.
This video does a great job showcasing how detrimental our country's immigration policy can be for children. I found this quote at 1:32 especially telling: "A lot of these kids had no choice about whether they would come here. They found themselves in the United States at the age of 2 or 3; the only country they know is our country." If more people knew that Mexico-to-America migration is exceeded by or nearly exceeded by America-to-Mexico migration, would there be a strong push for immigration reform? I would expect so, and I believe that immgration reform for people that entered the U.S. as children should be the issue of highest priority for any immigration debate.
ReplyDeleteYour video and personal narrative were exceptionally well done. It's easy for a lot of politicians to argue about harsher immigration restrictions when they don't actually know anyone who has come to this country for the same reason that all our ancestors did. Many of these people think of themselves as being American, as opposed to Mexican, so why shouldn't they be able to apply for citizenship and be able to be recognized as a citizen of this country they call home.
ReplyDeleteIt gets really strange when you get into the details of it all. My sister works at Brooke Army Medical center in San Antonio which is primarily a military hospital but they are also required to treat people who come into the emergency room. It isn't uncommon for them to have to deliver babies of Mexican women who just happened to be in the area shopping at a near by strip mall when they are 40 some weeks pregnant. Obviously they only want citizenship for their child but it again it gets into hairy legalities when issues arise when different members of the family have different citizenship statuses. It's too general of a system now and I think there needs to be some circumstantial revisions to the entire system.
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