States have taken it into their own hands to deal with illegal immigration. And with an issue like this, it is no shock that certain states have gone simply too far, enacting harsh laws that impede on the natural rights of the individual.
Illegal immigraiton isn’t something that will just go away if you ignore it after awhile. It is a problem, and it’s highly important that we take the time to fix the issue at hand. But, if this issue is left to the states, it is no question that intolerant will enact unjust laws. For example, the Voter ID Bill that nearly had Texas state legislatures coming back to Austin for round two- a special session.
Back in 2008, ICE officials, US Legal immigrants, and US citizens were brought before a House Judiciary Subcommittee to challenge the detention and removal procedures. The committee found that ICE was in violation of many civil rights laws and forced to establish new regulations that protected the rights of immigrants and detainees. And yet, again, we have another case where an ICE official has plead guilty to corruption and aiding a Mexican drug cartel. And lets examine where this case took place, our good friend Arizona; who may just be the least immigrant friendly state along the border.
KBH announced last Monday that she will be running for governor of TX. And, to combat Bill White, she announces that Immigration will be her top issue. But I ask, in midst of economic recession, a climate change crisis, and a major healthcare debate, why has she decided to run on the issue of illegal immigration? Waste of time. She needs a stronger issue that applies to the working class families of Texas today. And, for the record, she voted NO on comprehensive immigration reform in 07, voted Yes to declaring English as an official language in 07, No on the guestworker program in 07 as well as a series of other immigration reform legislation. If she wants to fight to immigration reform, she should have begun doing it a long time ago.
This article is absolutely ridiculous. No wonder this columnist only writes on hardliner right wing sites. He really has nothing to say except the mainstream arguments such as they are pouring our over our boarders and destroying our economy. When will they get a new battle cry?
We often think that our country is the only one who struggles against illegal immigration. In fact, many other countries fight this common problem. The video above outlines France’s fight against immigration.
The emergence of new media and the cult like following that it entails has given new wings to the pro-immigration movement. Blogs like Immigration Equality Blog have compartmentalized the debate into categories each with their corresponding blogs. This specific blog is backed by a PAC named Immigration Equality.
A new development of the new media in all spheres of political life is the ability for the most insignificant organizations to gain face time via there puppet blog.
What will this ability create? Could it create a more fractured political system? Or will it lead to uniting of various small interest groups into PAC’s who size can actually accomplish something.
As the textbook eludes to, the emergence of new media in politics and policy making has forever changed the game. This article I found from the Brookings Institute confirms this thought and explains in more depth how and why this is the case, especially in regard to the immigration debate.
New media, through its ability to broadcast news instantaneously to people around the globe, has the potential to play a very influential role in whether immigration reform happens or not. People take bloggers, talk show host, and other new media outlets seriously, and because these types of outlets are able to spread their message on a massive scale, they’re able to garner tremendous amounts of support and influential power.
Can they truly change the landscape of the immigration debate in the way that the Brookings Institute seems to think they can, or will new media in this case be just another place for the extremists to shout their opinions to the world?
Unlike the press coverage of immigration in the U.S., which focuses mainly on the should we or shouldn’t we/are they good or are they bad style debate, this article from BBC News takes a different approach.
Rather than taking the traditional approach, the article focuses more on the economic side of the detention of those who are found here illegally. According to the report, there has been talk over the last few months of taking detainees out of jails, where they’re forced to reside alongside traditional criminals who’ve been charged with all sorts of different crimes. Instead, the proposal includes the option to renovate old nursing homes and hotels into virtual holding tanks, while saving money at the same time. This way, the American government pays less money to house the illegal immigrants while they await deportation, etc, while also allowing those being detained to be removed from the criminal barracks.
It seems that this article and a foreign press in general takes on a more lenient/sympathetic role in regard to immigration. Maybe it’s just because it isn’t as big of a problem in those regions of the world? Who knows, but I think we could learn a thing or two from their way of thinking.
This just rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it’s just me, but instead of making signs to warn drivers that immigrants may be dragging their children across the street (at least that’s what it looks like the sign portrays), we should find a way to make legal immigration a more viable option. Who knows it might just be beneficial to our society. We know they’re coming here anyway, and instead of complaining how they’re taking from the system without giving back, we should allow them and others an easier way to become contributing taxpayers.
It seems like our law makers are taking this sign a little to seriously for that to happen though. Every time immigration makes its way to the floor we take the low road and call for beefed up security. Maybe this time we should actually try for real reform.
“THIS IS A DISGRACE AND A SLAP IN THE FACE OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WHEN, PEOPLE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES (ie) MEXICO CAN COME HERE ILLEGALLY AND TAKE JOBS FROM LEGAL CITIZENS AND NOTHING IS BEING DONE ABOUT IT. ITS NOT FAIR AND NOTHING GOOD WILL COME OF THIS. THINGS ARE GETTING WORSE FOR AMERICANS INSTEAD OF BETTER IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY. OBAMA SHOULD HAVE NEVER MADE PROMISES TO THESE PEOPLE THAT HE KNEW HE COULDN’T KEEP. ITS NOT UP TO HIM AS TO AN AMNESTY BEING PASSED FOR THESE PEOPLE, WHICH IS SOMETHING THEY DON’T DESERVE. THEY’VE GOT ALL OF THE JOBS ALONG WITH ALL OF THE FREEBIES THAT THEY WANT. ITS NO WONDER THEY CAN AFFORD TO EAT THE BEST STEAKS IN THE GROCERY STORE! THIS SUBJECT MAKES ME SICK.”
Found this comment in a forum on this article from the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC website.
First of all, immigrants are most definitely not to blame for the plight our country has gotten itself into. Take that anger to corporate America, where mortgage companies, super-banks, and backwards CEOs have all seemingly found a way to line their pockets with the money of American taxpayers.
And as for steak and freebies, while it may be true that illegal immigrants do take from the “system,” they’re also contributors. Sales, property, income, and social security taxes are all paid by immigrants. That’s not all though. Many Americans have the audacity to complain, saying that illegal immigrants are taking jobs away from citizens and those here legally. All I can say to that is (1) you probably wouldn’t do the job they’re doing anyway, (2) certainly wouldn’t appreciate the salary they’re making as much as they do, and (3) you probably wouldn’t work as hard as they do.
Immigrants come to the United States in search of a better life, and once they find it, are then forced to live in a state of constant fear of deportation. If we had a system where legal immigration was a more viable option, and there were less “illegal” immigrants, would that make those in favor of deportation happy? No.
Save the best steaks for yourself, just throw those here illegally a bone.
Most of the stories posted on this blog are from American mainstream media sources. I thought it’d be interesting to look at the other side and examine how Mexican media covers the growing immigration problem.
This is a rather old article, but important none the less. The Guadalajara Reporter released an article back in August examining the talks held by President Obama, Calderon and PM Harper. The article basically discusses the growing problem behind immigration, corruption on the side of drug cartels and Mexican government.
But, this newspaper quotes an AP article arguing that America is too soft on corrupt officials who are involved with drug cartels. At one point in the AP article Calderon says, ” to get drugs into the United States the one you need to corrupt is the American authority, the American customs, the American police – not the Mexican, and that’s a subject … which hasn’t been addressed with sincerity.” Calderon added, “I’m waging my battle against corruption among Mexican authorities … we’re risking everything to clean our house, but I think there also needs to be a good cleaning on the other side of the border.”
It is interesting to see that the other side think that America isn’t doing enough to help the underlying problem of immigration. Lets face it, the current economic policies of Mexico and a corrupt government force many to migrate to the US. But, according to this article, the US doesn’t do much to help solve the problem we complain so much about.
This article written by David Montgomery of the Washington Post outlines a “big sticking point” for healthcare reform; illegal immigrants, and their coverage within the proposed bill.
The big problem with both debates (immigration and healthcare reform) is that so many people in the United States have a huge problem with helping out their fellow neighbors. I hate to say it, but we’re all just a little too selfish, and it’s beginning to become ridiculous. Individuals don’t choose where they’re born, and in most cases don’t choose to be poor and unable to afford outrageous health insurance premiums. In this way, the two issues most definitely coincide. I understand that limits are necessary, that without them our would would be chaos, but shouldn’t there be a line drawn in the sand somewhere? Is it really that horrible to pay a few extra dollars in order so that someone (whether here legally or not) can receive the medical attention they need, and as a human being deserve?
Personally, even though I’ve been through some rough times in my life, I still consider myself to be blessed. I think its time that we as a community of Americans step up to the plate and think about the world around us. Life isn’t about what kind of car we drive, or how big our flat screen television is, it’s about who we are and what we do with our lives.
If we can put a few dollars in a tip jar every now and then, we can most certainly put a few dollars toward helping those in need, because illegal or not, everyone is human and everyone deserves to be treated as such.
This video FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform) which is a pro-immigration reform PAC. The ad attempts to discredit supports of anti-immigration reform parties by displaying quotes that pulls the subjects credibility into question.
Unfortunately this ad did not convince me. It is to easily detectable that the facts were pulled due to their outrageous nature. For how professionally the ad was constructed they could have afforded to spend some more time on the idea of ad.
A New York Times article chronicles a development on Capitol Hill regarding a new facet of the illegal immigration problem in the United States. According to reports published by Human Rights Watch and Transactional Records Clearing House, numbers of immigrants are being transferred quickly or more frequently than necessary. This action can and does cause problems within the bureaucratic system in which these transfers take place. Furthermore 60% of these detainees are facing deportation without a lawyer.
This situation in ICE is in is a consequence of fuzzy legal description s and tight budgeting. ICE has had to shift its allocations around and even reported having low numbers of detainee beds in response to the reports. Furthermore, the constant transfers must stop. This only complicates a complicated and ill defined system, plus only costs taxpayers more money, which supposedly is the negative consequence of illegal immigrants in the first place.
This post from the AP is pretty interesting. As a result of Project Steamline, no tolerance zones were set up along the border in Texas, Arizona and California. In these zones, immigrants who are caught have the chance of being tried in federal court.
However, because of the high volume of immigrants caught coming through these zones, many officials have turned to efficiency, reading the rights of these immigrants in groups rather than individually. And in some cases, the court tries the immigrants in groups, instead of individually.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that a federal court in Tucson, Ariz.,where mass hearings have been held for defendants arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents, violates federal law which requires that each defendant be read their rights and be given an explanation of what a guilty plea means.
The problem with mass court hearings is that in the case of immigrants, many have no idea what they’re pleading guilty to or how to defend themselves.
