Computer Science Homework Help
SDSU Immigration Policy in America and Idea of Inclusivity Discussion
(1) What is your opinion of the immigration policy in America? Why do you feel this way?
Now watch the following videos and respond to the questions below.
Follow-up Questions:
(2) Overall, in the last decade, how do you think Americanperspectives on immigration have changed? Why do you think this has happened?
(3) Why do you feel the topic of immigration is so polarized? (i.e., many people feel so strongly one way or another)
(4) If you had the power to change the immigration policy in America, how would you change it? Why?
(5) Now, put yourself on the opposing end of your previous answers. Why do you think someone else may view immigration differently?
(6) After watching the 3 videos above, do you feel any different than you did when responding to question #1? Why? Why not?
https://youtu.be/Pi1TjE13S3s
https://youtu.be/ZUt4EbIMx14
https://youtu.be/6yiQAmgI5s4
https://youtu.be/tW0GowO_MaM
https://youtu.be/7ASpKCnx4D4
Reply:
1)
Prior to watching the videos, I reflected on my opinion of the immigration policies in America. Coming from a family practically entirely made up of immigrants, I definitely feel a certain way about the policies and treatments in place against these innocent individuals. I believe the policies in place are not meant to be in favor of these immigrants. We call ourselves a “United” country, but are exactly failing to do so by keeping families apart for multiple decades even. Immigration policies today have strayed away from what they are intended to do. Rather than being a reason to reunite families and give people a greater opportunity, immigration has become a matter of race and has fallen into the hands of individuals, who it should not have, to make the decision if an individual is granted citizenship.
After watching the few videos provided, I was able to gain greater knowledge on this matter. Immigration has changed a lot over the last decade, but I still find it to consistently function on the same basis. I feel as though immigration laws are always changing as people in charge change as well. The United States was once a country that entirely banned the Chinese race for many years, and this was in the 1900s. Just in the past ten years, the United States was also a country that placed a travel ban on Muslims. My family is Middle Eastern, but not Muslim, and I vividly remember during this time that my uncle was going through the immigration process and this ban put him at a huge halt. It seems to be that the common basis here is that immigration is widely affected by race, which we heavily saw discussed in the videos. I also feel this is why the topic of immigration is so polarized. No one will ever admit that their views of such a thing are solely based on race. This is why immigration sparks such intense conversations. Being on the end that policies need to change, we strive to understand why others do not feel that way when they won’t admit it is for racial reasons. We try to understand that maybe these individuals come from generations of families that never had to experience such a process, so they simply just don’t understand. But I feel we need to stray away from having the topic of immigration so polarized. Like discussed in the videos, immigration and its policies need to be talked about and people need to be educated on it.
If I had the power to change immigration policies in America, I would start by not having it be such a strenuous process. I would also make the process welcoming and comfortable for the individual, as I am sure they feel anything but that when trying to gain access to a country they do not feel will accept them. There is no deep reason behind this besides the simple fact that this is already such a difficult process and we shouldn’t make it any harder. While I have my set views on that, it is important when it comes to any topic to also understand the other side. The only reason I feel that someone else may view immigration differently is like I said, because they have never experienced it. Ben Huh in his Ted Talk said how when it comes to immigration, parents pay the cost, children reap the benefits, and grandkids will take it for granted. There are some individuals who do not understand this. They have generations of family that never had to undergo the immigration process and without experience, you lack understanding. While I can understand that, I still feel it is important for these individuals to educate themselves and understand just how lucky they are.
To conclude, after watching the three videos, I do not feel any different than when I responded to the first question. I feel that because of my family’s background and knowing what they went through, I have a great understanding of what immigration is like. The videos provided were very knowledgeable and only solidified my already existing thoughts regarding this matter.
Hi, Nika! I loved your post this week as I found myself agreeing with a lot of things you mentioned! While writing this post, I too said the same thing for the changes in the immigration policy. The fact that the process is so long and strenuous makes it feel like an impossible task! If this process was easier and less painful for the immigrants, the number of illegal immigrants would drop drastically! Great post.
2)
First of all, happy Larry Itliong Day. Larry Itliong was a Filipino-American labor organizer that built the United Farm Workers alongside Cesar Chavez and many other Filipinx and Latinx colleagues. He immigrated to the United States from the Philippines in 1929 and did great work for the California farm labor movement. In 2015, the first middle school to be named after Filipino-Americans in the United States was named after him and his colleague Philip Vera-Cruz.
When it comes to immigration policy in America, I think it is ridiculous. I think that the United States makes it too difficult to become a citizen of this country, yet makes it so easy to fall into the “American Dream.” There are so many push and pull factors that come with immigration. The United States has imperialized many countries and drained them of their resources, which forces people of those countries to want to immigrate here. For example, the Spanish-American war occurred in the Philippines. War was a huge push factor for Filipino immigrants, it forced them to flee their motherland since violence and destruction is happening there.
The racist perspective on immigration is terrifying right now. I think that many Americans, as Ben Huh touched on, forget that this country was built by immigrants. Immigrants (or better described as colonizers) that forced their way here, immigrants (slaves) that were forced to be here, and immigrants that needed to be here so that they and their descendants can survive. People nowadays that are heavily against immigration do not even see immigrants as people. In my Capstone Communication class, my professor pointed out how you can tell a lot about a person’s opinions on immigration by how they label undocumented immigrants. If they call them “aliens” or “illegals,” they are unlikely to view undocumented immigrants as humans. But people that remember that the United States is an immigrant-made country, value the immigrant story. It is the baseline of our families, our history, our struggles and our wins. We celebrate immigrants because it takes us to work twice as hard to only get half as far as our white American counterparts. We build for ourselves and our families. We recognize that it is a privilege to be here and we do not want to waste it, even if the rest of the country is against us.
Overall though, whether you are on the side of immigration or not, the narratives around it are fear driven. Those against it are afraid of immigrants, those for it are afraid for immigrants. I went to a diverse high school and during my senior year (2017-2018), I had so many friends that lived in the daily fear that their parents or grandparents or close relatives would get swooped up by ICE and deported. I also think that it is polarized because one side does not understand the lived experiences of immigration and the other side knows it too well. I understand that the opposing side of my views are afraid. They do not know much about immigrants, they are too used to the America that they know. The news and politics feed them narratives that undocumented immigrants are “criminals” and are “taking our jobs.” But if they just took the time to educate themselves, they would understand and hopefully actually view immigrants as real humans. And take the time to remember, unless they are indigenous to this land, that they are probably immigrants too. If I had the power to change policy, I would abolish ICE. That organization is so cruel for what they do, it is so racist and inhumane in my eyes. It boils up anger in my just thinking about it. It’s difficult to talk about changing immigration policy when I know how much damage first world countries have done to other countries. It’s difficult to think about the push and pull factors that shouldn’t even exist. I wouldn’t want immigration to be the matter of life or death for people and their families. But regardless, I just don’t think the immigration policy should discriminate by race. It may be more diverse than it has been, but it’s still racist.
I don’t feel any different after watching those three videos. If anything, they just confirmed and empowered my perspectives on immigration, while also showing the racist ideologies about immigration. This country was built by immigrants, whether people want to accept that or not. And I also want to point out that this land was stolen from the indigenous natives by “immigrants” aka colonizers. So I just think it’s so ironic that the descendants of those colonizers are so quick to keep other immigrants out of this country. Immigrants are humans, documented or not.
Hi Taryn,
I really enjoyed reading your post! I had no idea that today was Larry Itliong and what it entailed, so thank you for including that in your post as I find it to be very relevant with the prompt. I see that we had very similar views throughout our post and the main one being the basis of immigration policies, racism. Much like you, there is a lot regarding these policies I believe need to be changed and you pointed out a great one which was to abolish ICE. I think another great thing that we both mentioned is the importance of being educated and also how our views after the videos where reinstated and strengthened. Great post!
3)
- I am not that familiar with the current immigration policy in America. Both of my parents immigrated here from Lithuania, and I know that from their experience it is not easy to obtain a Visa and the whole process of becoming a citizen is very long. It honestly seems to be based on luck from what I know. I am not sure how it works currently though, I am sure that it probably has become harder and more difficult to obtain citizenship.
- Based on the last video, we seem to be letting in more immigrants. But because this topic is so political a lot of people are opposed to letting in immigrants because they think they are just criminals. This could be because of terrorist attacks, etc. which makes sense. On the other hand, I do think that there are a lot of people who are also welcoming of immigrants.
- First off I think that immigration policies are very political, so if you belong to one political party you think one way and then if you are on the other side you think another way. I think that it’s so polarized because people think they have to think a certain way in most cases. Also, I believe that people who have not witnessed what being an immigrant may be like affect this polarization. Someone who may have immigrant parents will view this in one way compared to someone who does not. There is also a stigma around immigrants that may cause people to feel a certain way.
- I would make it easier for people to obtain a visa or make the process of becoming a citizen easier. It takes so long for someone to even get started with the process. There needs to be structure. I do not think we should just let anyone in, but I think we should not make it so difficult because then that’s why people are illegal here hence creating the stigma that comes around it. I also think that there should be a better system in place for immigrants here to make it easier for them to adjust.
- I think someone may view immigration differently because they do not understand the process of obtaining a permit to come here. They may not understand how difficult it is to become a citizen. They also may think that people here come illegally and just take things from Americans. Most of the time people come here to give their children a chance at a better life or to be able to work and send money to their families where they come from. Therefore people have to understand that other places do not have it as we do, and we should be able to give people the chance.
- After watching the 3 videos, my perspective did not change about immigration. If anything it got stronger, I feel like people do not have empathy for immigrants because of the stigma that comes around it, and because they have not witnessed it in their own families. Therefore, I think that my point of immigration in question one stays the same.
Hi Urte,
I really enjoyed reading your post! I agree with you that the way we view immigration policies has become closely related to our political views as well. I think this contributes largely as to why the topic is polarized, as many individuals would rather not talk about something that may be viewed as controversial. I agree with you that people may lack in understanding why such policies are wrong because they have never been in a position or had family in the position of being an immigrant. This is why it is still important to stay educated on the matter, even if you do not personally connect. Great post!
