Ariana Vivas was only 9 years old when she handed a note to Illinois Representative Luis Gutiérrez during a press conference an advocacy group had organized. Ariana, like many young Hispanics, had been born in the Unites States. However, her father was part of the recent deportations that countless undocumented immigrants and family members dread. Ariana’s testimony of her father’s deportation is a common story among children with undocumented parents. The documentary, Immigration Battle, explores the controversial issue of immigration. Immigration Battle takes you inside the halls of Congress to give you a perspective of the fight for immigration reform, the debate, the politics, and how Washington really works.
PBS Frontline’s documentary, Immigration Battle, produced and directed by Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini (2015), portrays the life and death of the immigration reform bill. The film initially follows Rep. Gutiérrez who advocates the immigration reform bill that would give millions of undocumented immigrants an opportunity to become U.S. citizens. The increase of Latino electoral voters encouraged Republicans and Democrats to fix the broken immigration system. On May 2013, the Senate passed a bill that would put millions of undocumented immigrants on a pathway to citizenship. To achieve this goal, the Senate needed the House to pass its own version of the immigration bill. If the House failed to comply, the Senate’s bill would expire and the next session of
In order to dehumanize a group of people, there must first be a clear separation between who is the “us” and “them.” The conservative documentary Border War: The Battle Over Illegal Immigration (2006), takes the viewer into the lives of several people who are impacted by the growing issue of undocumented Mexican immigrants crossing the The Mexico–United States border. This film creates a one-dimensional or single conception of undocumented immigrants through the use of language, such as “illegal” or “alien” and various other combinations. Another method is through the imagery it showed while there was dialogue being said. Most of the imagery in this film creates a narrative that undocumented Mexican immigrants are violent and a threat to Americans. Additionally, the sympathizers and protesters against border reform were portrayed as anti-American radicals. The production of this documentary was not only used to direct our view of undocumented immigrants to a single account, but also to establish false truths that turn undocumented immigrants into a “them.”
“If you move, I’ll kill you. I’ll break you in two” (Nazario 87). Enrique’s Journey, a nonfiction book by Sonia Nazario, painstakingly follows the trek of a young teenage boy’s treacherous journey to the United States from Honduras. At the tender age of five, a horrified and confused Enrique watched his mother Lourdes walk away from him and onto El Norte, The North. Eleven years later Sonia Nazario, a project reporter for the Los Angeles Times, traces each bitter step of Enrique’s gruesome and long expedition to reunite with his estranged mother. A novel for the ages, Enrique 's Journey allows for insight into the plight of millions of individuals that cross the border illegally due to life circumstances. This fast paced novel and this critical analysis paper depict and explain a problematic and undeniable issue polarizing the Western world: illegal immigration.
Tanya Golash-Boza illustrates a personal life experience about the video of a baby who was having health issues because his mother was deported, and he kept rejecting the bottle. Surprisingly many comments on the video expressed hate towards the mother for being immigrant, and towards the baby for now being the orphan son of an immigrant. Many Americans have developed hate against immigrants because the government has created a stereotype of them as burdens and deviates. Politics and society focus on how immigrants can affect the economy or the country's security, creating a common feeling of contempt. Focus in the material issues has faded the human side of some members in society. The government forgets that immigrants are humans with rights, friends and family bonds. Any enacted law will affect
SUMMARY: Reporter, Brittany Hughes, in the video, “Reality Check: 'Here Are the FACTS on Illegal Immigration”, published in Youtube addresses the topic of illegal immigration and argues that illegal immigration costs taxpayers millions and that immigrants do not always want assimilate in American culture. Hughes supports her claim by using statistics to add more merit to her argument. The author’s overall purpose is to educate her audience about the harsh realities regarding illegal immigration to ensure her audience is educated about the facts and not the rhetoric of politicians’. Brittany Hughes employed a harsh tone in order to appeal to her audience’s logic to further solidify her argument against illegal immigration. EVALUATE: Ms. Hughes,
Immigration has been a controversial topic for a while now. Linda Chavez dives into this controversial topic in her essay “The Realities of Immigration” to come up with a solution. She combats incorrect information with the establishment of ethos and logos. Furthermore, Chavez uses a passionate tone and shows credibility in her essay which allows her to win the audience’s trust. In this essay, Chavez is persuasive with the tone she uses by clearly organizing her arguments, her word choice, and facts; although at some points she seems biased, she presents valid information to convince politicians of reconsidering their stand.
The book starts by presenting the complex interaction between Latinos and institutions. He argues that between 2001 and 2012, Latino migrant activists and their allies could not gain momentum following short-term victories because they are against an anti-migrant hegemony. Chapter 1 opens with The Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act (HR 4437) also known as the Sensenbrenner
Who is Dayani Cristal? (Silver, 2013) dives into the background of what happens when immigrants die on their journey to the United States, and further emphasizes how the “illegal” identities construct migration as a criminal act. This film looks far beyond the perspective of being an undocumented immigrant and illegally crossing the border, and more towards a dangerous journey focused around family and values. To further emphasize a more personal anecdote of an immigrant coming to the United States, the film uses an immigrant named Yohan Sandres-Martinez as its focal point. By using Yohan, a real person with struggles and showing the negative results of the immigration, such as Yohan’s death. Who is Dayani Cristal? humanizes immigrants in
The documentary, “Immigration Battle’’expose the problem of race and ethnicity with immigrants in the United States. The immigration Battle shows that United States of America is a country with a diversity of multicultural religions, races and nations. United States is a nation of many immigrants but this country still being racial until today. It is hard to see how immigrants are being treated and kept from their rights and need to be hide for the fear of being deported. The video shows a bipartisan immigration reform in the election of Obama’s by passing a common ground between Democrats and Republicans.
Throughout history, illegal immigrants have experienced judgments and challenges in America. In “The Border on Our Backs,” by Roberto Rodriguez, and in “Se Habla Entitlement,” by Star Parker, the two authors both address immigration and hold angry attitudes towards aspects of how it is handled even though the reason for their anger is very different. Rodriguez, an immigrant, uses a personal approach taking it to a more personal level unlike Parker, born into a minority family, who uses actual facts from American history as well as providing several factors of the topic and numerical statistics. At first, her essay has more validity to the reader, than Rodriguez’ essay by its objectivity. Demonstrations by immigrants are not as apartheid as Rodriguez or Parker describes, and although Latinos are a separate culture, they need such demonstrations for acceptance and for a voice to be heard.
Yee, V., Davis, K., & Patel, J. (2017, March 06). Here’s the Reality About Illegal Immigrants in the United States. Retrieved November 10, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/03/06/us/politics/undocumented-illegal-immigrants.html
The “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” was written by a bipartisan group that included some of the most prominent senators from both parties. Responding to one of President Obama’s biggest domestic policy priorities; the bill would have had broad-reaching effects on immigration policy and would have reduced the inefficiencies of our outdated
Ewa Cybulska and her sister Magda come to America seeking a better life escaping the Great War in Poland in the movie “The Immigrant.” Many people view this movie as a modern visual for what the life of an Immigrant was like in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. How accurate does this movie depict the life of an Immigrant from the gilded age? Can one watch this movie and fully understand how these immigrants live their lives in this time period. The movie “The Immigrant” does a good job in the aspect of showing the way a women immigrant that was desperate for money such as Ewa had to live but it focuses on this particular situation such as Ewa and Magda’s. To fully understand what immigrants that were flooding to America in this time
Recently illegal immigration has become a very pressing issue among people. Many people around the borders are being greatly affected by the issue and think immediate action needs to be taken to put a stop to the issue. The Documentary Border War: Battle Over Illegal Immigration takes a stand on the issue using many examples of pathos, ethos, and logos to try and persuade people that illegal immigration is a very serious issue and we need to put a stop to it. This documentary follows the lives of people who have been affected by illegal immigration, and explains how they feel about the issue. Another way that people can look at the issue of illegal immigration is through the eyes of the immigrants, and the reasons why they might be trying
The border between the United States of America and Mexico always had been always a theme for a lot of discussions. And, in the book “Sunshine/Noir II” Juanita Lopez and Michael Cheno described, through texts, their point of view about the topic. Both authors represent that the control of the border has become way more restrict and militarized. In that sense, Michael Wickert presents his idea in a poem form, text named “The border Is a Fight”, that describes the dramas of a Mexican family that has to cross the border every day in a hope to get a better future. Whereas, Juanita Lopez demonstrates it through an essay that uses personal narratives of the author’s relatives to illustrate her point of view. Therefore, the both authors exploit their point of views using different text forms, and figurative images, like metaphors and personification, for delivering their ideas in the way they do.
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 on 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 light on the positive influences he had throughout his childhood and time in America.