In the article, “Amnesty? Let Us Be Vigilant and Charitable”, John F. Kavanaugh, a man who is both a Roman Catholic priest and a professor of philosophy, assaults the current governmental treatment of illegal immigrants, explores and attempts to justify the “unlawful” immigration of many Spanish individuals, and provides viable alternatives to the current laws surrounding this type of immigration.
Kavanaugh begins by introducing us to Maria, a woman who, due to her illegal immigration 25 years ago, has been torn apart from her family and deported to Ciudad Juárez, a city that has witnessed 600 crimes against women like Maria in the past 15 years. Kavangaugh’s introduction works to exploit the negative aspects of the American government’s current deportation system and how it can, knowingly, separate families and destroy the lives of productive individuals within our society. As Kavanaugh continues, his second paragraph brings into perspective the scope of the issue, quoting that there are potentially “12 to 14 million “undocumented aliens” (26) residing in the United States. Wh...
In April of 2006 the reformation of immigration laws was a major topic. Wondering why immigrants should be able to come to the United States without rights and still be able to work here and eventually becomes a U.S. citizen. In the article “The Border on our Backs” written by Roberto Rodriguez, an illegal immigrant supporter wrote about the failure of the bill. In response to Rodriquez’s article Parker wrote an article titled “Se Habla Entitlement.”
Ngai, Mae M. Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America. Princeton, N.J. [u.a.: Princeton Univ. Press, 2004. Print.
In the essay “Supporting Family Values,” Linda Chavez makes a case for allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S. because they bring with them a stronger sense of family values than native-born residents do. In addition to Chavez’s arguments, it is important to note that they also bring with them a desire to work and support those families. While many immigration opponents would argue that immigrants are a drain on our public resources and have higher crime rates, the facts show that many illegal immigrants pay their fair share of taxes, many more would if given the opportunity, and the crime rates are lower.
John F. Kavanaugh, a professor of philosophy and a Jesuit priest, wrote the article “Amnesty? Let Us Be Vigilant and Charitable” for an issue of America, a Jesuit publication. In his article he discusses the negatives of American immigration laws and argues for their reform.
There are several theories to look into when discussing the morality of borders. I specifically look into Stephen Macedo’s chapter “The Moral Dilemma of U.S. Immigration Policy, open borders versus social justice?” in Debating Immigration and Joseph Carens article “Aliens and Citizens: The Case for Open Borders.” Using political theory back up his argument, Carens uses Rawlsian, the Nozickean, and the utilitarian to support and explain his claims that there is little justification for keeping oppressed people from other countries seeking a better life out of the United States. Macedo also uses similar liberal philosophy referencing Rawlsianism to support the opposing idea of a more restrictionist society, posing the question of cosmopolitanism
Considering the ideas that both authors have brought to the table, I have concluded that in order to make progress in solving the problem of undocumented immigrants, we as a country must decide what’s best for our country. We either look at undocumented immigrants as an asset or a parasite. America is the ‘land of opportunity’ where millions of people want to live there and pursue the ‘American Dream’. We should not let people stop from achieving their dreams. But on the other hand, a quantity of immigrants leave their country because it does not have “stable democracies and free markets” that “ensure economic growth, rising standards of living and thus, lots of jobs”, because the countries of these immigrants “birth rates and native populations fall”.
In the article “An Immigrant Writes” Arnold Schwarzenegger argues, “America can have an immigration policy that strengthens and secures our borders while being sympathetic to immigrants” (26). By addressing opposing arguments, through the use of pathos, ethos, and logos and providing strong evidence, Mr. Schwarzenegger creates a convincing argument to support his stance on immigration.
Daniel, Roger is a highly respected author and professor who has majored in the study of immigration in history and more specifically the progressive ear. He’s written remarkable works over the history of immigration in America, in his book Not like Us he opens a lenses about the hostile and violent conditions immigrants faced in the 1890’s through the 1924’s. Emphasizing that during the progressive area many immigrants felt as they were living in a regressing period of their life. While diversity of ethnicity and race gradually grew during this time it also sparked as a trigger for whites creating the flare up of nativism. Daniel’s underlines the different types of racial and ethnical discrimination that was given to individual immigrant
“Immigration could account for all the yearly increase in population. Should we not at least ask if that is what we want (Hardin, 1974)?” Well! The audacity of Garrett Hardin’s 1974 essay, “Lifeboat Ethics: The Case against Helping the Poor” to ingeniously imply concern for illegal entry, but in all actuality supports partiality to who is advantaged to populates the United States! Thus, Immigration policies in America continuous changes reflects discriminatory processes of past and biased judgement by elected officials.
Medina, Isabel M. “At the Border: What Tres Mujeres Tells Us About Walls and Fences.” Journal of Gender, Race and Justice 10 (2007): 245-68.
“I do not believe that many American citizens . . . really wanted to create such immense human suffering . . . in the name of battling illegal immigration” (Carr 70). For hundreds of years, there has been illegal immigration starting from slavery, voluntary taking others from different countries to work in different parts of the world, to one of the most popular- Mexican immigration to the United States. Mexican immigration has been said to be one of the most common immigration acts in the world. Although the high demand to keep immigrants away from crossing the border, Mexicans that have immigrated to the U.S have made an impact on the American culture because of their self sacrifices on the aspiration to cross over. Then conditions
In response to the World War I for the following years from the flow of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. Congress of United States passed a law to limit immigrations, which named Immigration Act of 1924 or the Johnson-Reed Act. The Immigration Act of 1924 was an Act use to limit the big number of immigration entry to the United States. The Immigration Act of 1924 only provided two percent immigration visas from 1980s national census. Asians were not allowed to immigrate to the United States.
Smith T., 2006, The root causes of Immigration, Justice for Immigration a journey of hope, Catholic Conference of Kentucky
Wellman, Christopher, and Phillip Cole. Debating the Ethics of Immigration is There a Right ti Exclude?. New York : Oxford University Press, 2011. Print.
Ngai, Mae M. 2004 “Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America” Publisher: Princeton University Press.