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Blog Post #10: Infographic

Work Cited Zong, Jie, and Jeanne Batalova. "Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States." Migrationpolicy.org. Migration Policy Institute, 08 Mar. 2017. Web. 05 June 2017.

Nicholson, Michael D. "The Facts on Immigration Today: 2017 Edition." Center for American Progress. N.p., 20 Apr. 2017. Web. 05 June 2017.

Yee, Vivian, Kenan Davis, and Jugal K. Patel. "Here’s the Reality About Illegal Immigrants in the United States." The New York Times. The New York Times, 06 Mar. 2017. Web. 05 June 2017.

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Blog Post #9: Civic Action Assessment of Issue

1.      I think the most important thing for any citizen is to use their voice and stand up for what they believe in. I believe that coming together for causes helps a lot, because there’s strength in numbers and it helps the visibility for people who can make a difference (government officials).

2.     I have learned in this class that the people really have a lot of power in influencing decisions and making the difference. People are free to vote and voice their perspectives and that can make all the difference in what happens in government.

3.     I do feel that it is my civic obligation to help address the problems my civic action issue has created because it is something that affects me directly every day of my life. The problems caused by the fact that our immigration system isn’t at the place it should be puts a lot of people at risk of deportation as well as causing other inconveniences, from social to economic. I personally know people who are just trying to have good lives and have tried many times to get their documents and come to the U.S. legally but can’t get all the documentation they need, or it takes years, even decades to process.

4.     I have not personally volunteered my time to this issue, however I observed the May Day rally from social media, which was a huge day for Latino immigrants. There was a “Day Without Immigrants” strike where many immigrants and supporters went out and actively spread their message, saying that this country was founded on immigrants and just because not all of them have their papers doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve respect. I wanted to show my support and go to San Francisco to participate, however I was in school and had to just simply watch from my phone screen. I think it’s still important to know what’s going on at the very least, so it did help to have it all over social media to make it more visible to the public, and that was a great sight to see. 

5.     I am willing to be a part of rallies, write letters and sign petitions, anything to get my voice heard about this issue because it is one very personal to me and I need to see it changed for the better so that me and my loved ones can live our lives with a feeling of security, which is a privilege I think everyone should be able to have.

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Blog Post #8: Interest Groups and PACs

1. National Interest Group

a.       Federation for American Immigration Reform

b.       The goal of this group is to educate and increase public awareness of immigration issues, present solutions, hold our leaders accountable for answers, and ensure the public's voice is heard.

c.        This group believes that immigration policies should not be based on favoritism toward, or discrimination against any person on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, gender or nationality.

FAIR seeks to reduce overall immigration to a level that is more manageable and which more closely reflects past policy (from 1 million+ a year to 300,000 a year)

It seeks to hold politicians accountable for the issues they've said they would fix.

d.       This group endorses Donald Trump (which makes me question what kind of reform they’re really going for)

e.        FAIR is located in Washington D.C.

f.        I was not able to find any volunteer opportunities

g.       I found that FAIR released a statement back in 2016 in response to the Policy and Standards Division of the Library of Congress which proposed to replace the terms “Aliens” with “Noncitizens,” and “Illegal aliens” with two headings: “Noncitizens” and/or “Unauthorized immigration” and FAIR responded in opposition, saying that “Alien” was the proper terminology under the United States code and therefore should not be changed. I hate that so much.

2.State Interest Group

a.       California Immigrant Policy Center

b.       A brief statement assessing the position/perspective of the interest group.

c.        The California Immigrant Policy Center promotes and protects safety, health and public benefits and integration programs for immigrants. It was founded in 1996 as California reeled from the ugly aftermath of Proposition 187 (a 1994 ballot initiative to establish a state-run citizenship screening system and prohibit illegal aliens from using non-emergency health care, public education, and other services in the State of California.) CIPC plays a leadership role in Sacramento, working alongside lawmakers, advocates, policy makers, and community members to support policies that benefit all Californians.

d.       CIPC believes that our nation’s immigration policies should reflect our country’s core values of fairness and respect for work. Immigration law should protect all workers’ labor and civil rights, uphold labor and employment standards for all, and restrict, rather than build on, a burdensome “employer sanctions framework.” CIPC works to support local campaigns and workers, as well as advance policies that protect immigrant workers.

e.        This interest group is located in Los Angeles California

f.       The California Immigrant Policy Center convenes bi-annual regional trainings on immigrant issues to deepen capacities of organizations and communities across California. Every other year, CIPC holds a Statewide Advocacy and Organizing Conference to honor legislative champions, community leaders, and bring together advocates of immigrant rights. Lastly, For over 20 years, the California immigrant rights movement has convened annually at the state capitol for a day of advocacy, to champion the rights of the community and celebrate immigrants as part of the fabric of our state.

g.       This group touches on everything from giving all immigrants access to what they need, to mass deportations, and takes a stand for immigrants who don’t have a voice.

3.Opposing Interest Group

a.       English First

b.       This group wants to pass legislation making English the official language of the United States.

c.        This group believes that since the Constitution is written in English, that the official language of the United States should be English, and legislation should be passed making it so.

d.       This group supports anything and everything that says English should be the official language of the U.S.

e.        It is unclear where this group is located 

f.        No volunteer opportunities

g.       I wasn’t going to consider this an immigration interest group until it was tagged as one, and I think that sends a very hostile message.

4.       I may be biased, but I genuinely thought the CIPC was the most organized and most successful of the three because they really seem dedicated to their cause and have so many different volunteer opportunities. They really want to get people involved, they don’t just place a donate button on the screen, they share specific cases within this cause that they’re fighting for and make it very clear how dedicated they are.

5.PAC

a.       US Immigration Reform PAC

b.       This PAC is centered around having better border control and reducing immigration into the U.S. to where it is more manageable.

c.        They have raised $19,353, spent $24,907, and have $5,766 as their end cash on hand.

d.       They spend much more money on Republicans than they do Democrats. In 2016, they spent $16.8K on Republicans and no money at all on Democrats.

e.        Some of their donors are: KC McAlpin, Louise McAlpin, Dr. And Mrs. John Tanton and Elizabeth Van Staaveren. K.C. McAlpin, who gave $5,000 in addition to who I assume to be his wife’s $5,000, is on the board for a pro-English organization, so I think that gives more of an anti-diversity kind of view on immigration, like every aspect of immigrants’ journeys should be controlled, including the language(s) they speak, and that doesn't sit right with me.

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Blog Post #7: Political Party Action

Republican Party

a. About immigration, the republican party believes that the U.S. government should first put the interests of existing citizens. They also say that the border should be completely The rest of their paragraph on immigration is just a sophisticated way of saying they have to try to prevent immigrants from stealing Americans’ jobs.

b. I agree that the government should tend to its citizens, but have a better method of moderation over immigration than the one they propose (just keeping them all out).

Democrat Party

a. Not only does the Democrat party have a page about immigration, but theirs is titled “Immigration Reform,” already getting the fact across that their focus is to fix flaws in the system. They state that they are fighting for every immigrant who feels threatened and want to “work toward comprehensive immigration reform that fixes our nation’s broken immigration system, improves border security, prioritizes enforcement so we are targeting criminals - not families, keeps families together, and strengthens our economy.” They acknowledge that the United States is a nation of immigrants and embrace immigrants rather than attacking them.

b. I completely agree with this point of view. I believe that the solution should be to fix the system instead of being hostile toward immigrants who are just looking for better lives.

Libertarian Party

a. Libertarians believe that if someone is peaceful, they should be welcome to immigrate to the United States. They see that immigrants are just in search of better lives, and should only have to be blocked entry if they have a history of violence or is a violent person. They go on to discuss the solution, saying “Libertarians do not support classifying undocumented immigrants as criminals. Our current immigration system is an embarrassment. People who would like to follow the legal procedures are unable to because these procedures are so complex and expensive and lengthy. If Americans want immigrants to enter through legal channels, we need to make those channels fair, reasonable, and accessible.”

b. I absolutely agree with this. I was pleasantly surprised at how understanding this policy sounded, and went further to see the Libertarian party’s views, which were that each person should be free to make their own choices so long as they do not infringe on others’ rights, which I completely agree with.

Green Party

a. The Green party believes that the U.S. needs an immigration reform because our current situation has created social injustice. 

b. I agree with this stance because they say they want to better the system both from  government point of view, and also a social, human perspective.

Peace and Freedom Party

a. The Peace and Freedom Party calls for open borders, an end to deportation of immigrants, and full political, social and economic rights for resident non-citizens.

b. I agree with this, and I feel like it was very expected for the Peace and Freedom Party to want everything completely free and open, but it doesn’t really touch on how to better the immigration system, which has major flaws that need to be addressed.

c. I thought the Libertarian party and the Democratic parties both expressed so much dedication toward trying for a better immigration system. I figured I would agree with the Democratic party, but the Libertarian one surprised me a lot, mostly because I didn’t really know about them, but was pleasantly surprised.

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Blog Post #6: Executive Action Assessment of Issue

While Trump does not have an issues tab for immigration specifically, he does touch on the issue under the tab for law enforcement. He expresses that his solution to to stop illegal immigration, to stop the gangs and the violence, and to stop the drugs from pouring into our communities is to build a border wall. 

I completely disagree with this position. Seeing as this tab focuses on controlling violent crime, it stuns me that so much of it focuses on immigrants and targets them as the problem, the ones keeping the innocent Americans from being happy

Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly is in charge of the cabinet that most closely manages my issue (Department of Homeland Security)

With honor and integrity, we will safeguard the American people, our homeland, and our values. This does relate to my issue because it guarantees safety for Americans.

The DHS’ citizenship and immigration services would be suitable for responding to my issue. They recognize that America is a nation of immigrants, and therefore provide services dedicated to improving the quality of citizenship and immigration services, as well as making recommendations to improve the administration of immigration benefits by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

I believe that the Department of Homeland Security has the right values and ideas, and wants to work toward a reform of the system, but Trump has different ideas, and even though he does want to up funding for the DHS, his vision of what America needs is different than what should be worked towards.

This article I read was written by Nicole Prchal Svajlenka. She writes about how immigrants will be needed in the near future to fill the jobs of older, retiring workers, and immigrants are be very important for economic growth. The intended audience for this article is anyone who is interested in economics or immigration, or both. The author believes, and supports with evidence, that more and more jobs will need to be filled, and says that heavily immigrant caregiver occupations are where the demand will be coming from. I agree with this. People like to say that immigrants just steal jobs, but when you have jobs that “native” Americans don’t want to do, you need immigrants, even if just for economic growth.

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Blog Post #5: The Legislative Branch

What is their perspective on your issue? Congressman Desaulnier, Senator Harris and Senator Feinstein are all for immigrant rights and immigration reform.

Have they sponsored any bills that relate to your issue? All three have voted in favor of bills that stand for illegal immigrant rights. Senator Harris sponsored bill S. 349 to clarify the rights of all persons who are held or detained at a port of entry or at any detention facility overseen by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

There are many bills pertaining to my issue. The featured bill is House Bill H.R. 244. This bill provides $1.163 trillion to go toward national defense, border security, and other emergency needs. I would vote yes. Even though it is not a solution to the flawed immigration system, it does put a bit more focus on it. This bill originated in the House. It has been reviewed by the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and was passed by the Senate after being reviewed by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. It is now waiting to be signed by the president. I am glad that there are many people who want to put focus on the immigration system and find all different kinds of solutions, and even though the system itself would probably take much more work to fix, I think this is building good momentum to potentially find a fix to the way we work immigration in the United States.

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Blog Post #4: State Action

Assembly Member Baker:

It seems from online records that Assembly Member Baker is for immigration reform, seeing as she herself said that she was “looking for government that’s not out of bounds in terms of size and growth” in an interview with KQED news. Baker also voted in favor of bill SB 10, allowing for undocumented immigrants to be eligible for health care. I agree with her position because I believe that people in the United States should be cared for no matter how they arrived.

Assembly Member Baker has not sponsored any bills that relate to my issue.

State Senator Glazer

State Senator Glazer also voted in favor of bill SB 10, along with bills SB 54 and SB 4, which establish a statewide immigration sanctuary policy, and expand health care coverage to undocumented immigrants, respectively. Again, I agree with his votes.

State Senator Glazer has not sponsored any bills that relate to my issue.

California Bills

a.      SJR-1 Immigration

b.      It was introduced December 5th, 2016.

c.       The last major action of the bill was on January 1st, 2017 where it was re-referred to Com. on JUD.

d.      I feel very strongly for the bill, I think it acknowledges that there is a problem in the immigration system that needs to be fixed, and using the right principles, it can be. And that is exactly what this bill calls for.

3. SACAPS— The article I read was about questions people have about the border wall. The article was written by Tal Kopan. The intended audience is anyone who wants to be up to date on what’s happening around and with the border wall. This article is important because it sheds light on the issues that come up when coming up with the wall, and since it does focus on that, the bias of the author is against it, which I am also. I think the wall does much more harm than good.

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Blog Post #3: Constitutional Issues

Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Ventura

Decided Nov. 4th, 2002

In 1993, Orlando Ventura illegally entered the United States. In 1998, Ventura was considered by an Immigration Judge for his application for asylum. Ventura claimed he was a target for prosecution because of his political views. His request was denied because the political climate of Guatemala had changed since he had arrived in the U.S. and it was believed that he was no longer in danger. The BIA agreed with the Immigration Judge, but the Court of Appeals rejected the BIA’s conclusion.

Should an appellate court remand a case to an agency when additional investigation within the agency’s area of expertise may be required? 

This case ultimately ended up focusing more on the method and process after having gone through a couple stages, and questioned the appellate court’s rights. 

The appellate court should remand the case for further agency review when the matter to be reconsidered is one over which the agency has statutory authority and expertise.

(See #6)

I’m not sure if I agree with the ultimate decision. I think that allowing Ventura to have the asylum would have been better and not stringing along the process for so long so that he didn’t have to deal with that strain while everyone else tried to figure out the system.

SACAPS—This article is about people who have sued Trump for the travel ban. It was written by Vivian Yee, and is intended for people who are interested in the travel ban, or are trying to get more information, but could be either for or against it, although the bias of the author is against the travel ban. This article mentions that this one case is not the only one against Trump for the ban, and I think it brings to light how so many regular people who are following the law are not able to go back home. I agree with this article and think the ban is unecessary.

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What are the limitations of language when discussing race? @fernandaNYT of @nytimes explains why #WordsMatter. https://t.co/S490kwa6ZR http://pic.twitter.com/s09YIbCiVO

— Define American 🇺🇸 (@DefineAmerican) March 26, 2017

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Blog Post #2: Economic Assessment of Issue

Individuals, businesses and government are all affected by immigration reform. Immigrants, both legal & illegal, work in this country for companies, and contribute to government taxes. Individuals are most affected by this because it is a difficult and lengthy process to become a citizen or permanent resident of the United States, and people get scared that they may be deported before having the opportunity of doing so. The resolution/immigration reform would probably be considered a want in a broad, general sense, because most people are coming to the US for better opportunities, and even though the conditions in their native places may not be great, some of them are still able to survive in those conditions. In order to deal with the issue and/or alleviate it, the USA would just need to incorporate more labor to come up with a controlled method of letting more people in. An Immigration reform would help politically to add diversity, and economically because more people would be working, and by bringing more people into this country, it helps balance out the growing number of senior citizens we have that will no longer be working. I agree that we do have to find a way to better the immigration system, because that will then lead to a better America. The opportunity cost of finding a fix to the immigration system could be the money spent on more/better education for future workers in this country, and an opportunity cost of deporting illegal citizens could be the labor they could’ve been engaging in to help benefit the U.S. I think that the challenge of fixing the immigration system is worth it, and could help more in the long run. Industries in the United States such as the agricultural industry profit from having immigrants work for them, so a reform that could bring in more immigrants would absolutely help them profit. This issue is the result of people being unhappy with the way the immigration system is set up, and how difficult it is to get everything done. The issue could potentially be fixed by having more money, as long as that money went towards speeding up the process of becoming legal in this country.

This graph, which can be found in this Huffington Post article, depicts some economic impacts of immigration reform:

The subject is the nature and timing of matters regarding immigration reform and what would happen in certain situations, aka how much money could be brought in. The audience is native-born Americans, American citizens and immigrants, both legal & illegal. This graph is slightly biased considering it shows only gains, and no gains for no action taken.

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Blog Post #1: Getting Started

Tumblr:

A blog that I found that pertains to my issue is called immigrate-now. They share articles related to immigration reform. The owner of the blog is Jack Herzig, an Immigration Attorney who stands for the issue. The blog is aimed at people who are for immigration rights and reform, and was made to bring attention to the flaws in the immigration system. I agree with a lot of the articles he shares and I think it’s very important to discuss and pay attention to what’s happening with our people. I followed this blog as well as others which can be found here.

Twitter:

On Twitter, I followed many accounts that also pertain to my issue. Five of the accounts I followed are: DetentionWatch, AmericasVoice, RI4A, immcouncil and USCIS. These accounts challenge the current immigration system and work toward getting reform. One tweet that I found interesting and that I agree with was posted by immcouncil. The tweet, in light of recent events and relating back to the holocaust, says that the refugee ban is cruel and contrary to American values.

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Trump bans all refugees but says Christian refugees are OK

In an exclusive interview with Christian Broadcasting Center’s The Brody File Friday, Trump revealed that his call for “extreme vetting” of refugees entering the United States was a polite euphemism for a ban on Muslims.

David Brody asked Trump if his executive order issuing a 120-day ban on all refugees entering the U.S. would affect Christian refugees overseas.

Trump told Brody that Christian refugees would be a priority of his since he believes they are facing religious persecution in the Middle East. 

He then reassured that Christian refugees would receive assistance from his administration, despite his call for a 120-day ban on all refugees. Read more

follow @the-movemnt

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Protesters Take To Airports Across America Over Trump’s Refugee Law:

Let Them In!  Let Them In!

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“Undocumented” is a better term than “illegal,” but this article is worth taking a look at to change misconceptions and misinformation surrounding undocumented immigrants and, specifically, their (tax) contributions to our society.

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