THE CLASS BLOG FOR ENGLISH 110
Sunday, July 24, 2011
4th Group Summary
The blog we chose for this weeks discussion is http://www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights/arizona-immigration-law-threatens-civil-rights-and-public-safety-says-aclu. This blog focuses on immigration problems in the United States, particularly in Arizona. We found this blog to be interesting because we constantly hear stories in the news regarding immigrants and how they are effecting our economy. Many of you at one point in your life may have felt discriminated against and can relate to this article. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
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I find this blog to be about an issue of great concern. As immigration becomes a great issue within America, it is as if no government can please everyone. Many people wish the US would crack down on immigration issues while others believe the government should focus on other issues in society. I understand the reasoning behind this bill considering the proximity Arizona has to Mexico but it worries me that the police force may be too busy searching for illegal immigrants and not focusing on the real issues in Arizona, ones that could potentially hurt an innocent person. I can understand if a cop catches someone robbing a store or mugging someone and then questioning the citizenship, but to stop someone solely on this issue seems unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Obama's response, although he doesn't agree with it, he legally cannot do anything about it. States have the right to create their own laws and to create a national law against a law one state has may be a waste of money considering we still have soldiers dying over seas. This blog makes me question if certain parts in America are focusing on the major issues of society or just spending their time avoiding controversial things and doing whats easiest.
You need to find something else to post, as this doesn't count.
ReplyDeleteRemember: you are supposed to find AN ENTIRE BLOG. Not just a single article.
Please find another blog and repost. I will give you more time, as I just now caught this.
(Actually, looking through that site, you could probably just re-write that paragraph and give everyone a link to THE ENTIRE WEBITE instead of just linking to a SINGLE ARTICLE FROM this website. Please email me if you're confused.)
ReplyDeleteHi everyone sorry for the mix up. This is the new blog, even though it is still about immigration. The blog we chose for this weeks discussion is http://www.aclu.org/blog/project/immigrants%27-rights. This blog focuses on immigration problems in the United States, particularly in the South. There has been a recent law that has been passed in Arizona as well as Alabama. This law restricts immigrants from coming into the state without their citizenship papers. We found this blog to be interesting because we constantly hear stories in the news regarding immigrants and how they are effecting our economy. Many of you at one point in your life may have felt discriminated against and can relate to this article. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteComing to the website, i was a bit startled by the first headline. I mean, being locked away forever doesn't make me feel good, so naturally, i read it.
ReplyDeleteOh god, does that suck. Committing a crime, serving prison time, THEN being indefinitely detained (without notification of any time limit). He did commit a crime and did serve the penalty for it.However, he had no way of appearing in front of a judge to plead his case. That sounds a little counterintuitive based on what our court system is based on. So, the problem, as it seems, is that criminal immigrants will get detained, in a ton of red tape, indefinitely after serving their prison term . That doesn't seem just to me... They at least deserve some sort of hearing. PLus the cost of detaining them is something i don't think anyone wants to pay.
In the article, "Protecting All of Alabama," I found this new House bill 56 to be very controversial and interesting. "H.B. 56 invites police to racially profile people during traffic stops by authorizing immigration investigations on "reasonable suspicion" that someone is in the United States illegally. The law puts officers in the position of relying on stereotypes about what an "illegal immigrant" looks or sounds like." There is certainly something wrong with this picture. This depicts an invasion of people's rights. Just because you may look like you're from out of the country, does not mean police can assume you're in the United States illegally and begin to hound all of those people. Assumptions can not be made this way. There needs to be a reasonably suspicion for police to ask and essentially interrogate people of other ethnicities. How does everyone else feel about this new house bill?
ReplyDeleteI think this blog about immigration is crucial. Specially advising the quote from the Arizona Immigration stating,"every police agency in Arizona a mandate to harass anyone who looks or sounds foreign, while doing nothing to address the real problems we're facing." To me, I think that is just pity and unnecessary when other crimes are more serious. What if I was just different color or sounded different because of who my parents are and that a officer arrests me because he is profiling me to be an immigrant when actually I'm a citizen because my parents got their green card and I was born in America. I think that is very ridiculous for people to just profile you in the category "immigrant." And funny how Obama cannot put a say into this, for the "secure communities" is just funny because I recall Obama wasn't even a born citizen in America, with his father not being a citizen and his mother only age of 18 with needing 10 years of becoming a American Citizen.
ReplyDeleteImmirgration problem is truly a big issue, especially for United States. As an international student, I always hear of people surrounding immigrated to other countries.And most of them decide to go to United Stated. When I was young, the first impression that US takes to me is the race mixing pot, because it has so many groups of immigrations from either fareast or south africa.Gradually, I hear some stories about discrimination of early immigrants, for the reason that they always live in the bottom of the society. Their poverty, their less communication with local people, their color of skin all seem consist of reasons to be discriminated. However, the biggest reason I think is that they have considered themselves as discriminated group before they come to US. In other words, in these immigrants' deep thought, they have already regarded themselves as lower layer group. As a result, when they chat with local, shop outside, take a taxi, they often feel being disparaged. Actually, if the same thing occurs in their home country, they won't consider it as an issue. But if they confront it in United States, they may tend to feel discriminated. I believe that it is due to oneself inferior inside and finally cause a feeling of being depreciated.
ReplyDeleteI part of agree with what Congcong said. I have ever heard my friend complaint. She told me that one day when she entered into North Commons to have dinner, she was blocked by the guard, because it was already past 8:00 pm. She explained to the guard and wished to get permission but failed. She complained to me that if she were american guy, she would be allowed to enter. That is an interesting topic. Why does she feel that if she were a local person, she would gain more benefit? I asked her when she was in China, did she ever meet this kind of thing. She thought for a while and told me that it occured very often. For example, when she deposited money in bank, the stuff there was always very rude and impatient, as well as bought train tickets in station. Then I asked her whether she had felt being discriminated. She said definitely not. Comparing the impolite stuff in China with guard who just obeyed the regulation, who is right. I think that is the truth. If she has intended to consider herself as being disparaged in US, she would treat everything unequal to her as a kind of discrimination.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jen. I feel like police having the ability to question someone only with"reasonable suspicion" is unfair of all those involved. Even though there may be many illegal immigrants living in the US, there are many immigrants who are not illegal. Those whom are not illegal deserve to be treated just as every other american is treated. They do not need to go day to day being interrogated with regards to their citizenship when they have worked very hard to earn it. Technically those who are in our country illegally are at an advantage but there are, just as you have all said, much greater and dangerous crimes for the police force to focus their attention on.
ReplyDeleteWell, I think the treatment those unfortunate immigrants are receiving is really unfair and in some cases even inhuman. But then again, the whole planet isn't fair either. Most law officials take advantage of this to abuse their power as in the case of the female detainee who was raped. What they don’t get is, if everyone on the planet was just one single color, body type, height and even gender, the world would be a very uninteresting and boring place. Variety is the spice of life that keeps things going. One of the reasons the U.S is the greatest nation is because it is made up of so many different people. I believe a middle ground can be reached between the law officials and the immigrants that would make everyone happy.
ReplyDeleteFrom this article, the problem presented about being detained as an immigrant without a definitive trial date is addressed and slammed by the ACLU.The problem presented is indeed unfair and unjust in my opinion, but i would be interested to hear the other side of this argument as well. Since this article was posted by the ACLU it definitely favored opposition, with the "contact your congressperson today to oppose" comment plastered at the bottom of the page. The way they present the topic there appears to be no benefits form this act, which I find hard to believe that our government would do something this inhumane for no reason. If anyone knows any explanations of the government's perspective, I would be interested to hear about it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the way the government treats the immigrants is unjust and not fair. There are many criminals in the U.S. that that commit serious crimes, but are eventually released into the communities after a certain period time and it's unfair to not let immigrants have the same right. I also don't think that detaining immigrants indefinitely for long periods of time is very fair either because not all of them are heinous criminals and is unfair to give them all the level of treatment.
ReplyDeleteYihui Liu, I'm confused with what you were saying about your friend who could not get into the North Commons. Perhaps she was not allowed in simply because 8:00 was the closing time. How can your friend assume she was being discriminated against? It could have been a person of any race and that guard would still not let the person in because it was closing.
ReplyDeleteI think immigration is a big part of America's culture. In America's history, almost all citizens move here by immigrating. So from this point, we are all not natives here. But in this way, it has built a fabulous diverse culture for this 300 hundred years old young country. So immigration is necessary for America. But be honest, be an immigration here is never easy. Just like this website presents, the restriction of getting into state for immigrants. It would be a really inconvenient and hard life for the immigrants who just get here. The immigrants usually need to work here for at least 8 years so that they could apply for citizenship. But it is hard to determine whether it is a kind of discrimination. Because some restrictions for immigrants is just for protecting citizens' benefit. But in the process, some discriminations may be created like a company hiring, they may want a citizen come first but not a immigrants.
ReplyDeleteAaron, the point you made is very interesting. I would like to know the other side of the story as well. I find it hard to believe that there are no benefits that come with this newly passed law as the government after all is here for the people. Perhaps this law is simply trying to enforce all immigrants to carry their proof of citizenship with them all of the time to reduce the amount of illegal immigrants in their state. I would also like to learn more on this.
ReplyDeleteAs also an international student, it let me resonate with what Congcong and Yihui said. I have already heard a lot of stories about the immigrant. They always feel a sense of unsafe and being discriminated every day. Sometimes the unfair treatment is exists undoubtedly, but for sometimes, we have to say that those immigrants’ over sensitivity also leads to the problems become more complex. Since they have already treated themselves as immigrants, it will difficult for them to treat the country as their own. In my opinion, if you want to receive respect from others, you must respect yourself at first. I do not know if it is reasonable to say that, if we never teat the country as our own and never cherish it, in turn, it is also difficult for the country to treat us as a fail way?
ReplyDeleteI read the "Protecting All of Alabama." At this moment, law becomes a weapon stripping people's privacy off. As long as the law is approved, no matter how ridiculous it is, police and officers can invade others' privacy without worrying about that. What's absurd is police guess who is suspect according to people's appearance and voice. I am not very familiar with the situation happened in the south areas adjacent with Mexico but I feel that illegal immigrants are a big problem there and the government would like to protect the legal rights of American citizen. However, this kind of extreme methods is not so appropriate because meanwhile, the others' freedom and privacy are largely violated. Minority and discrimination will be an eternal topic worldwide.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I find the whole idea of "reasonable suspicion" in Arizona's immigration law sketchy at best. What constitutes reasonable suspicion in regards to searching for illegal immigrants? The only thing I can of would be racial profiling. And as several people stated above, there are countless immigrants who are living in this country legally. So suddenly, it's okay to harass these people simply because they look foreign or speak a different language? It feels... slimy.
ReplyDeleteBill H.R. 1932 just seems nonsensical. I'm trying to figure out how continuing to detain immigrants after they've served their prison time is a good use of resources. If anything, you'd think it would only cause more resentment towards the US government, which might even lead to further violence in the future. I'm not against locking up people who've committed crimes and deserve to go to prison, but keeping them detained when there's no way or intention to either send them back or release them is just inhumane, not to mention a massive waste of resources,
I read the article "Georgia Is Not a 'Show Me Your Papers' State, and I thought it was interesting in the part where they stated that "The Georgia law criminalizes everyday folks who have daily interactions with undocumented individuals in their community, making people of faith and others vulnerable to arrest and detention while conducting acts of charity and kindness." I don't understand how they could punish someone who has been in an interaction with an illegal immigrant. If this were true, then I would have been labeled as a criminal just by working at my old job, because there are many people that work there that aren't legal immigrants. I don't think that Georgia has the right to say that other people in the community are guilty by association. That is too much.
ReplyDeleteActually, my standpoint is a little embarrassed when talk about this issue as an international students. For sure I don't like this policy as it concerned with myself. Think about it, when I'm at the gate of Giant Eagle and suddenly am stopped by a police and he asks my "papers" to verify my legal identity. That means I have to take my passport and I-20 every day. That is really ridiculous and inconvenient. However, I believe nothing is unrelated. So there must be a reason for someone to anti-immigrated people. Maybe the criminal rate of international people is high, things like that. I can't tell which side is right. However, I hope all the standard international people have a friendly environment in America.
ReplyDeleteIn response to everyone talking about "reasonable suspicion," this law is not only for immigrants, the police can stop anybody on the street if they have reasonable suspicion to do so. That is part of the law and although it sounds annoying and unnecessary, if a cop saw sketchy guys loitering by a convenient store, questioned them, and discovered they were about to rob the store, everyone would things reasonable suspicion was a great thing! But when it comes to something like immigration, it's unconstitutional? I think that's just how America works though. We love something, as long as it doesn't directly effect us. And clearly Alabama made that law because they were having a large issue with immigrants in particular. I am by no means discriminating against immigrants or anything at all! I'm just trying to explain that our legal system creates laws to protect citizens, not hurt them and people should try to keep that in mind.
ReplyDeleteI understand that the government is trying to stop people from violating immigration laws. However, I think it is completely wrong for officers to harass people while doing so. No one should be discriminated against simply for the fact that they are an immigrant.
ReplyDeleteThis blog really reminds my lots of my personal experience. I studied abroad when I was 12. I was so young at that time and unluckily I am the third Chinese in the international school I studied. At the very beginning, all my classmates keep a distance from me and I was so lonely at that time...I did hated my classmates and I thought they hate me too. But everything changes when I suddenly found out I lived in the same building with a girl from Georgia(the country, not the state in America). We started to walk home together and she introduced me to join a dance club. Generally I meet with more people. They started to talk with me about what they heard about China and what they think is ridiculous in China. I tried my best to answer their questions and for the questions they think most ridiculous, I told them the culture reason why Chinese do so, then they started to respect my culture and in the next three year, I made many good friends in my school.
ReplyDeleteSO what I want to emphasis here is the only way to elimate discrimination or misunderstanding is communication. As a minority people, what we can do is show who we realy are and I believe people would respect the real us.