Monday, May 7, 2007
END OF THE SEMESTER!!
I am so glad that the end of the semester is here. Today I finished up the last of my self paced classes, so I am extremely happy about that...and tomorrow is the second to last day of english. I can't wait for this summer. I so need a break from all the stresses that school brings. Anyways, I have to get back to finishing up my hw. I hope everyone does good on their finals and that everthing goes well for you!
Illegal Immigration
Illegal Immigrants
Are illegal immigrants from Mexico doing more damage than good to the United States; or are they helping us in the long run? What can we do to better both situations? Should they continue to be able to just walk (drive, etc) across our border illegally? Or is there something we can do about that problem? Should we make a barrier and make just a couple ways in and out of our state along the Mexican border; making it harder for illegal immigrates to get into our country?
Illegal immigrants have been a problem for the United States for decades. “According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), 54 million persons chose to immigrate to the United States between 1820 and 1987” (Borjas 3). In 1988 author Barry Chriswick said, “For the past decade, the Executive Branch and Congress have been concerned with controlling illegal immigration. Starting with the Domestic Council Committee on Illegal Aliens under President Ford, which issued its report in 1976” (Chriswick 2). “Immigrants have a significant adverse impact on the earnings and employment opportunities of the native-born. By crowding out natives from the labor market, immigrants take jobs away from natives” (Borjas 5).
Arizona Congressmen J.D. Hayworth said in 2006 “in each of the past two years the bodies of more than 200 people were found in the deserts” (Hayworth 27). “The Reverend Robin Hoover, founder of Humane Borders, a group that puts water in the desert for illegal border crossers says, ‘these deaths are as tragic as they are unnecessary. They do not…demonstrate why we have to reform our immigration laws; they demonstrate why we have to enforce our immigration laws. If our border with Mexico were sealed, as it should be, no illegal border crossers would be dying in the desert” (Hayworth 27-28).
Illegal Immigrates are risking their lives and they are risking American citizen’s lives. Some time illegals are even killing them. Here is a picture showing just 6 of the innocent victims that died at the hands of an illegal immigrate. The first picture is of a “19 college student from Mesa, who was hit and killed in his car by an illegal alien driving a load of illegals to Pennsylvania. The killer received a sentence of only 6 ½ years in prison.” This just shows you that illegal immigrants don’t get the punishment they deserve for the crime that they committed on some innocent person. Our system is messed up.
On April 9, 2007 President Bush was in Yuma, AZ and he “credited tighter security over the past year with deterring people from crossing illegally, here and all along the U.S. border with Mexico” (Holstege 1). The border patrol has put up “3 1/2 miles of primary corrugated-steel fencing and an additional 3 1/4 miles of secondary wire- mesh fencing near the San Luis crossing” (Holstege 1). The Yuma Sector saw a 64 percent drop in apprehensions since his visit last year.
If we were able to build primary and secondary fencing along we would be able to decrease the amount of illegal immigrates entering Arizona. According to Ted Robbins, President Bush signed the Border Fence Act, which says that a fence stretching 700-miles along the southern part of the United States will be built (1). It also says that it will cost about $3 million per mile to build (Robbins 1). The Arizona/Mexico border is around 400 miles long, so that would mean that it would cost about $1,200,000,000 but with Arizona having about 5.5 million people living in our state it would only cost about $218 per person to build the double fencing. In the picture on the previous page it shows some National Guards men building the fence and it shows just how deep into the ground it really goes, so the Mexicans will have a harder time trying to dig a tunnel under it.
71 percent of the people that took the survey in the picture at the right agree that we need more border security. I propose that all lawmakers pass a law saying that the state taxes are raised by .5 %. That would mean if you go to the grocery store and buy $50 in groceries, you would end up paying $54.05 with the current state taxes, but if they raised it by .5 %, that same $50 in groceries now would only cost you $54.30. After about 8 months, the taxes would have to go back down to what they are now. This would give the government the money needed to build the same double fencing used in Yuma currently.
I also think we need to not allow the illegals to get “free” medical care anymore. The illegals know that they won’t be turned away for medical care, so they use emergency rooms like a regular doctor’s office. Taxpayers have to pay for all the bills that illegals leave behind. I don’t agree with that. I know people may not agree with me, but just think, if you were to the emergency room and get some medical care, you wouldn’t be able to just not pay your bill. Eventually the hospital will send a collection agency after you, well why can’t they send one after the illegals? Everyone has the same rights, so we need to make everything fair. Randy Reaves agrees, he said “no, not at all” when asked the question of whether illegals immigrants should be allowed to get “free” medical care.
I know that illegal immigration will never go away in its entirety, but I want to fix as much of the problem as I, as an American citizen, can. “While they(border patrol) concede that it is unlikely that illegal immigration will be eliminated completely, due to the sheer length of the nation's southern border, they say they are confident that the flow of illegal immigrants can be eventually reduced to a trickle” (Update).
Are illegal immigrants from Mexico doing more damage than good to the United States; or are they helping us in the long run? What can we do to better both situations? Should they continue to be able to just walk (drive, etc) across our border illegally? Or is there something we can do about that problem? Should we make a barrier and make just a couple ways in and out of our state along the Mexican border; making it harder for illegal immigrates to get into our country?
Illegal immigrants have been a problem for the United States for decades. “According to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), 54 million persons chose to immigrate to the United States between 1820 and 1987” (Borjas 3). In 1988 author Barry Chriswick said, “For the past decade, the Executive Branch and Congress have been concerned with controlling illegal immigration. Starting with the Domestic Council Committee on Illegal Aliens under President Ford, which issued its report in 1976” (Chriswick 2). “Immigrants have a significant adverse impact on the earnings and employment opportunities of the native-born. By crowding out natives from the labor market, immigrants take jobs away from natives” (Borjas 5).
Arizona Congressmen J.D. Hayworth said in 2006 “in each of the past two years the bodies of more than 200 people were found in the deserts” (Hayworth 27). “The Reverend Robin Hoover, founder of Humane Borders, a group that puts water in the desert for illegal border crossers says, ‘these deaths are as tragic as they are unnecessary. They do not…demonstrate why we have to reform our immigration laws; they demonstrate why we have to enforce our immigration laws. If our border with Mexico were sealed, as it should be, no illegal border crossers would be dying in the desert” (Hayworth 27-28).
Illegal Immigrates are risking their lives and they are risking American citizen’s lives. Some time illegals are even killing them. Here is a picture showing just 6 of the innocent victims that died at the hands of an illegal immigrate. The first picture is of a “19 college student from Mesa, who was hit and killed in his car by an illegal alien driving a load of illegals to Pennsylvania. The killer received a sentence of only 6 ½ years in prison.” This just shows you that illegal immigrants don’t get the punishment they deserve for the crime that they committed on some innocent person. Our system is messed up.
On April 9, 2007 President Bush was in Yuma, AZ and he “credited tighter security over the past year with deterring people from crossing illegally, here and all along the U.S. border with Mexico” (Holstege 1). The border patrol has put up “3 1/2 miles of primary corrugated-steel fencing and an additional 3 1/4 miles of secondary wire- mesh fencing near the San Luis crossing” (Holstege 1). The Yuma Sector saw a 64 percent drop in apprehensions since his visit last year.
If we were able to build primary and secondary fencing along we would be able to decrease the amount of illegal immigrates entering Arizona. According to Ted Robbins, President Bush signed the Border Fence Act, which says that a fence stretching 700-miles along the southern part of the United States will be built (1). It also says that it will cost about $3 million per mile to build (Robbins 1). The Arizona/Mexico border is around 400 miles long, so that would mean that it would cost about $1,200,000,000 but with Arizona having about 5.5 million people living in our state it would only cost about $218 per person to build the double fencing. In the picture on the previous page it shows some National Guards men building the fence and it shows just how deep into the ground it really goes, so the Mexicans will have a harder time trying to dig a tunnel under it.
71 percent of the people that took the survey in the picture at the right agree that we need more border security. I propose that all lawmakers pass a law saying that the state taxes are raised by .5 %. That would mean if you go to the grocery store and buy $50 in groceries, you would end up paying $54.05 with the current state taxes, but if they raised it by .5 %, that same $50 in groceries now would only cost you $54.30. After about 8 months, the taxes would have to go back down to what they are now. This would give the government the money needed to build the same double fencing used in Yuma currently.
I also think we need to not allow the illegals to get “free” medical care anymore. The illegals know that they won’t be turned away for medical care, so they use emergency rooms like a regular doctor’s office. Taxpayers have to pay for all the bills that illegals leave behind. I don’t agree with that. I know people may not agree with me, but just think, if you were to the emergency room and get some medical care, you wouldn’t be able to just not pay your bill. Eventually the hospital will send a collection agency after you, well why can’t they send one after the illegals? Everyone has the same rights, so we need to make everything fair. Randy Reaves agrees, he said “no, not at all” when asked the question of whether illegals immigrants should be allowed to get “free” medical care.
I know that illegal immigration will never go away in its entirety, but I want to fix as much of the problem as I, as an American citizen, can. “While they(border patrol) concede that it is unlikely that illegal immigration will be eliminated completely, due to the sheer length of the nation's southern border, they say they are confident that the flow of illegal immigrants can be eventually reduced to a trickle” (Update).
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Illegal Immigration: An Annotated Bibliography
Illegal Immigration: An Annotated Bibliography
Are illegal immigrants from Mexico doing more damage than good to the United States; or are they helping us in the long run? What can we do to better both situations? Should they continue to be able to just walk (drive, etc) across our border illegally? Or is there something we can do about that problem? Should we make a barrier and make just a couple ways in and out of our state along the Mexican border; making it harder for illegal immigrates to get into our country?
In the following annotated bibliography my sources range from the years 1988 to 2007. This gives me a bit of history on my topic, and it gives me up to date information on what’s happening today with illegal immigration. Some of my sources tell of what may happen or what may become of the future. I found it helpful that not all my sources told about the history of illegal immigration, and not all of them tell about the future of it. There is a nice variety of information through out my eleven sources. I organized my sources in alphabetical order because I found it to be the most helpful way when I was had to look up a source. I was able to scan over my sources very quickly until I found what I needed. I think that other people will find my sources being in alphabetical order to be the easiest way to find the information they are looking for.
I found all my book sources at the public library, and I found all my Internet sources from yahoo.com’s local news page. The local news page gave me a variety of different web sources to look through. I checked this website every day and I usually found one or two new articles regarding illegal immigration. I didn’t have any difficulties finding information; there are a lot of books and other sources regarding this topic out there for the public to view. I just had a bit of trouble trying to find the up to date information I was looking for. I found quite a few books that were written in the 1980’s or 1990’s that didn’t have up to date information, most of those books just helped me with the history part of my topic. Overall, I found illegal immigration to be a very easy topic to research.
So far in my research I have come to the conclusion that illegal immigration has been a problem for a long time, and I feel that we need to figure out a way to stop it. According to the information that I have found thus so far, I have determined that illegal’s are getting away with stuff that not even U.S. born citizens are allowed to get away with. The one thing they can get away with that really bugs me, is the fact that illegal immigrates know they won’t be turned away for medical care, so they use emergency rooms like a regular doctor’s office. Taxpayers have to pay for all the bills that illegals leave behind. I don’t feel that is right and we need to change it, because U.S. citizens can’t go to the emergency room and get away with not paying our bills. We need everything to be fair.
Barbour, Scott, ed. Immigration Policy. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1995.
“By 2050,…whites may be near a minority in an America of 81 million Hispanics, 62 million blacks and 41 million Asians…The United States will have become a veritable Brazil of North America.” They say that the United States has and always will be peopled by immigrants. “In 1882, Congress came up with the first immigration Act, defining national immigration policy.” It goes on to tell about immigrations through out the years i.e. the 1980 Refugee Act etc. It also says that we need to stop immigration now for many reasons, one being environmental reasoning, and the United States population is already growing so fast.
I didn’t find this book to be helpful for me. It didn’t have the information that I was looking for. The publisher is a very well known publisher, so I thought it would be a good book, but it gave to much detail about the immigrants from the 15th century and I needed something a little more up to date.
Borjas, George J. Friends or Strangers: The Impact of Immigrants on the U.S.
Economy. New York: Basic Books Inc., 1990.
In this book, the author tells about how the “immigration market works,” “the impact of immigrants of native earnings and employment,” and “a statistical portrait of immigrants.” “America’s poor performance in the immigration market, suggests a need for reevaluation of our immigration policy.” “The skills of immigrants entering the United States have declined during the past few decades.” There are also a lot of charts and pictures that help you better understand just what they are talking about.
Despite the fact that this book is old, I found it to be helpful. I don’t know much about publishers so I am not sure if this publisher is a good one or not, but publishers aren’t that important to me in determining if a book is good or not. I just read the information that it provides, and this book provided some good information. I like that at the back of the book there are about 25 pages of notes that help you better understand just what the author is talking about.
Chriswick, Barry R. Illegal Aliens: Their Employment and Employers. Chicago:
W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 1988.
This book tells who they believe are illegal aliens. It tells of the “current” Immigration Law. (The “current” law it states has been changed and updated within the last five years or so). It tells of the wages that they are receiving for working here. “The average Mexican receive more than the minimum wage was at the time of $3.35 per hour, they received approximately $4.42.” This rate was in Chicago, but for Mexicans in the states along the border they received at or about minimum wage.
I found this book to be way too outdated. It was written in 1988. The information isn’t that helpful. The one thing I did like was the fact that this author did you quite a few outside sources in this book. I also like that this book had a lot of charts and pictures to help me better understand just what they were talking about.
Grado, Gary. “Prop. 100 execution hits snag with justice’s order.” 4 April 2007. 4
April 2007 <http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/ 7182?source=rss&dest=STY-87182>.
“Arizona’s chief Supreme Court…ordered that a judge must hold a special hearing to determine whether someone falls under Proposition 100, the voter-approved measure that denies bail for illegal immigrants accused of high-level felonies.” “Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, who authored the legislation, accused Maricopa County Superior Court of intentionally circumventing the law, citing a pair of memos directing court workers not to ask about or report on a person’s citizenship.” Chief Justice Ruth V. Mc-Gregor’s order requires police and prosecutors to provide the court with a “detailed explanation of the facts that cause an officer to believe that the defendant is in the country illegally.” “McGregor also concluded that employees with Pretrial Services, which conducts interviews and criminal background checks on people booked into jail, may ask about citizenship.” “Under McGregor’s order, the court has to have an evidentiary hearing to determine whether a criminal suspect falls under Prop. 100 within 24 hours of arrest, and the defendant can be held in jail during that period.”
I found this article to be very helpful. It was a relatively short article compared to some of the other articles I read, but this particular article was very beneficial to me. I think Prop 100 does have some loop wholes in it, and they need to be addressed.
Hauser, Pierre. The Immigrant Experience: Illegal Aliens. Ed. Sandra Stotsky.
Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1997.
“Illegal Aliens didn’t become a significant problem until WWII. When the United States started importing temporary Mexican laborers to ease its labor shortage.” Many people argue that we are all immigrants, whether from another country or continent, or the descendant of immigrants. There are lots of definitions for “alien.” “By basic definition, an alien is a person living in a country other than the one in which he or she was born.” “To many Americans, the term ‘illegal alien’ conjures up a stereotypical image of a ragged young Mexican sneaking across the U.S.-Mexican border…”
I think this book is a little outdated. It was written ten years ago and a lot has changed in that amount of time. Overall, I think this book was written well, it wasn’t hard to find information it was just too outdated for what I needed. I like that this author has a bibliography at the end of this book, it is a great place to look for other sources.
Hayworth, J.D., and Joseph J. Eule. Whatever It Takes: Illegal Immigration,
Border Security, and The War on Terror. Washington D.C.: Regnery Publishing Inc., 2006.
“Arizona has become the new illegal gateway to America.” Illegals might have been innocent in behavior a few years ago, but now days they are extremely dangerous. They have been known to cut down fences, steal vehicles, and even break into peoples home’s to steal their property. “So how much does illegal immigration cost America? According to the Bear Stearns Study, a lot. An estimated five million jobs have shifted to the underground economy, where workers collect wages on a cash basis and avoid income taxes. People born in this county can’t get free health care, but illegals can get free medical care. They know they won’t be turned away for medical care, so they use emergency rooms like a regular doctor’s office. Taxpayers have to pay for all the bills that illegals leave behind.
I like that Arizona Congressman J.D. Hayworth wrote this book. He is one of us (Arizonans) so he sees and experiences what we deal with also. I believe that the information is accurate, and I know that it is current, it was only written a year ago, so overall I found this book to be very helpful.
Holstege, Sean, and Daniel González. “Bush touts 4-point border plan:
President again pays visit to Yuma area, hails improvements.” 10 April 2007. 10 April 2007 <>
President Bush was in Yuma on Monday (yesterday) to inspect improvements made along the United States- Mexico border. “Although the stepped-up security is working, it alone is not the answer to the country's immigration problem, Bush said. Comprehensive immigration reform, which would include more resources for borders and a guest-worker program, is the solution, he said.” Yuma's decrease doesn't necessarily translate to the rest of the state. The border patrol has put up “3 1/2 miles of primary corrugated-steel fencing and an additional 3 1/4 miles of secondary wire-mesh fencing near the San Luis crossing.” That is what translates to less illegal immigrates coming into the US, but it is also hurt the farmers in that part of the state. “But Yuma farmers say tighter border security has also scared off legal workers who live in Mexico and cross daily to pick lettuce…(they) lost 5 to 10 percent of their lettuce crop this winter because they couldn't find enough workers to pick vegetables.” That is also something the Bush addressed.
I liked this article. It was informative, current, accurate, and the writing style was easy to read. These authors quote outside sources, mainly politicians.
Illegal Immigration: Opposing Viewpoints. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2002.
This book has four chapters with lots of subchapters per chapter. This book tells both sides of if illegals threaten America or not. It examines whether illegal immigrants are being victimized or not. It gives ways of how America should deal with and respond to immigration. And it asks, “Should U.S. Immigration and Refugee Policies be changed?”
This book is fairly new, meaning most of the info is up to date. I really liked that it gave both sides to some very important issues; it allowed me to better understand certain things. I think this book is good; the publisher is a well-known publisher so that makes this book a little more credible than some other books. I really like that at the back of the book there are a few pages about further questions to examine. There are also about six pages of organizations that I could contact for further information.
“Most illegal border-crossers are never prosecuted.”AZCentral.com 6 April 2007. 6 April 2007.
“For all the tough talk out of Washington on immigration, illegal immigrants caught along the Mexican border have almost no reason to fear they will be prosecuted. Ninety-eight percent of those arrested between Oct. 1, 2000, and Sept. 30, 2005, were never prosecuted for illegally entering the country, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data.” Those that were caught and weren’t prosecuted, were just dropped off on the other side of the border and told don’t come back. But few politicians are seriously suggesting the government prosecute everyone caught slipping across the border. They say about 1 million immigrants cross the border each year, and “The Justice Department have higher priorities and too few resources to go after every ordinary illegal immigrant. Instead, the department says it pursues more selective strategies, such as going after immigrant smugglers and immigrants with criminal records.” Instead they are going after the employers who hire illegal immigrants. ” Under federal law, illegally entering the country is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine and up to six months in prison for a first time. A second offense carries up to two years. If an immigrant has been prosecuted and deported and then sneaks back into the country, he can be charged with a felony punishable by up to two years behind bars. Those with criminal records can get 10 to 20 years.”
I really liked this article; I found it to be very helpful. It was up to date, and it didn’t just involve one state, it talked about Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. I also liked that the author of the article used outside sources and quotes from people that are directly related to this issue and are all over the United States. The level of detail on the subject was good. The author really knew what they were talking about.
Newman, Lori, ed. What Rights Should Illegal Immigrants Have? Detroit:
Greenhaven Press, 2006.
This book gives both sides to the question of whether illegals should receive health care for free or not. It also tells both sides of whether illegals are threatening U.S. health care or not. It says that undocumented immigrants are entitled to in-state tuition, and how they shouldn’t be entitled to it. It also says “strict immigration laws are necessary to fight terriosm.”
This book was helpful. It was written in 2006, so it is up to date. The publisher is a popular publisher so that makes me think this book is accurate. The author uses lots of outside sources also, so that allowed me to better understand this topic. I also like that at the back of the book there is a few pages about organizations that I could contact about this subject. I feel the information in this book will help me with my next essay I have to write on this topic.
Pitzl, Mary Jo. “Petitions target immigration: Group seeks tougher Arizona laws
Against illegal migrants.” AZCentral.com 28 March 2007. 28 March 2007 <http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0328immigration0328.html?>.
“Saying that they will do what the government has failed to do, a group of citizens spearheaded by a lawmaker and a former gubernatorial candidate on Tuesday launched twin petition drives to create tougher immigration laws in Arizona.” The first bill that they are trying to get past is aimed at the employers who “knowingly” have illegal immigrants working for them. And the second bill is to try and give local police more tools to crack down on illegal immigration. They are trying to get it on the statewide ballot in November 2008. “But not all police agencies want that authority. Nor do they believe they have the authority under federal law to enforce federal statutes, said Lt. Eric Edwards, a Phoenix police officer and legal counsel to the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police.” The decision will have to wait to see if it gets on the ballot, and even then the decision may be up to Congress.
I really liked this article; I found it to be quite interesting. I hope that this goes on the ballot in November 2008. I do think that it will be hard to prove if someone “knowingly” knew they had illegal immigrates working for them or not, we will just have to wait and see. Overall I think this article was current, accurate, and very relevant to my topic.
Are illegal immigrants from Mexico doing more damage than good to the United States; or are they helping us in the long run? What can we do to better both situations? Should they continue to be able to just walk (drive, etc) across our border illegally? Or is there something we can do about that problem? Should we make a barrier and make just a couple ways in and out of our state along the Mexican border; making it harder for illegal immigrates to get into our country?
In the following annotated bibliography my sources range from the years 1988 to 2007. This gives me a bit of history on my topic, and it gives me up to date information on what’s happening today with illegal immigration. Some of my sources tell of what may happen or what may become of the future. I found it helpful that not all my sources told about the history of illegal immigration, and not all of them tell about the future of it. There is a nice variety of information through out my eleven sources. I organized my sources in alphabetical order because I found it to be the most helpful way when I was had to look up a source. I was able to scan over my sources very quickly until I found what I needed. I think that other people will find my sources being in alphabetical order to be the easiest way to find the information they are looking for.
I found all my book sources at the public library, and I found all my Internet sources from yahoo.com’s local news page. The local news page gave me a variety of different web sources to look through. I checked this website every day and I usually found one or two new articles regarding illegal immigration. I didn’t have any difficulties finding information; there are a lot of books and other sources regarding this topic out there for the public to view. I just had a bit of trouble trying to find the up to date information I was looking for. I found quite a few books that were written in the 1980’s or 1990’s that didn’t have up to date information, most of those books just helped me with the history part of my topic. Overall, I found illegal immigration to be a very easy topic to research.
So far in my research I have come to the conclusion that illegal immigration has been a problem for a long time, and I feel that we need to figure out a way to stop it. According to the information that I have found thus so far, I have determined that illegal’s are getting away with stuff that not even U.S. born citizens are allowed to get away with. The one thing they can get away with that really bugs me, is the fact that illegal immigrates know they won’t be turned away for medical care, so they use emergency rooms like a regular doctor’s office. Taxpayers have to pay for all the bills that illegals leave behind. I don’t feel that is right and we need to change it, because U.S. citizens can’t go to the emergency room and get away with not paying our bills. We need everything to be fair.
Barbour, Scott, ed. Immigration Policy. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1995.
“By 2050,…whites may be near a minority in an America of 81 million Hispanics, 62 million blacks and 41 million Asians…The United States will have become a veritable Brazil of North America.” They say that the United States has and always will be peopled by immigrants. “In 1882, Congress came up with the first immigration Act, defining national immigration policy.” It goes on to tell about immigrations through out the years i.e. the 1980 Refugee Act etc. It also says that we need to stop immigration now for many reasons, one being environmental reasoning, and the United States population is already growing so fast.
I didn’t find this book to be helpful for me. It didn’t have the information that I was looking for. The publisher is a very well known publisher, so I thought it would be a good book, but it gave to much detail about the immigrants from the 15th century and I needed something a little more up to date.
Borjas, George J. Friends or Strangers: The Impact of Immigrants on the U.S.
Economy. New York: Basic Books Inc., 1990.
In this book, the author tells about how the “immigration market works,” “the impact of immigrants of native earnings and employment,” and “a statistical portrait of immigrants.” “America’s poor performance in the immigration market, suggests a need for reevaluation of our immigration policy.” “The skills of immigrants entering the United States have declined during the past few decades.” There are also a lot of charts and pictures that help you better understand just what they are talking about.
Despite the fact that this book is old, I found it to be helpful. I don’t know much about publishers so I am not sure if this publisher is a good one or not, but publishers aren’t that important to me in determining if a book is good or not. I just read the information that it provides, and this book provided some good information. I like that at the back of the book there are about 25 pages of notes that help you better understand just what the author is talking about.
Chriswick, Barry R. Illegal Aliens: Their Employment and Employers. Chicago:
W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 1988.
This book tells who they believe are illegal aliens. It tells of the “current” Immigration Law. (The “current” law it states has been changed and updated within the last five years or so). It tells of the wages that they are receiving for working here. “The average Mexican receive more than the minimum wage was at the time of $3.35 per hour, they received approximately $4.42.” This rate was in Chicago, but for Mexicans in the states along the border they received at or about minimum wage.
I found this book to be way too outdated. It was written in 1988. The information isn’t that helpful. The one thing I did like was the fact that this author did you quite a few outside sources in this book. I also like that this book had a lot of charts and pictures to help me better understand just what they were talking about.
Grado, Gary. “Prop. 100 execution hits snag with justice’s order.” 4 April 2007. 4
April 2007 <http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/ 7182?source=rss&dest=STY-87182>.
“Arizona’s chief Supreme Court…ordered that a judge must hold a special hearing to determine whether someone falls under Proposition 100, the voter-approved measure that denies bail for illegal immigrants accused of high-level felonies.” “Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, who authored the legislation, accused Maricopa County Superior Court of intentionally circumventing the law, citing a pair of memos directing court workers not to ask about or report on a person’s citizenship.” Chief Justice Ruth V. Mc-Gregor’s order requires police and prosecutors to provide the court with a “detailed explanation of the facts that cause an officer to believe that the defendant is in the country illegally.” “McGregor also concluded that employees with Pretrial Services, which conducts interviews and criminal background checks on people booked into jail, may ask about citizenship.” “Under McGregor’s order, the court has to have an evidentiary hearing to determine whether a criminal suspect falls under Prop. 100 within 24 hours of arrest, and the defendant can be held in jail during that period.”
I found this article to be very helpful. It was a relatively short article compared to some of the other articles I read, but this particular article was very beneficial to me. I think Prop 100 does have some loop wholes in it, and they need to be addressed.
Hauser, Pierre. The Immigrant Experience: Illegal Aliens. Ed. Sandra Stotsky.
Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1997.
“Illegal Aliens didn’t become a significant problem until WWII. When the United States started importing temporary Mexican laborers to ease its labor shortage.” Many people argue that we are all immigrants, whether from another country or continent, or the descendant of immigrants. There are lots of definitions for “alien.” “By basic definition, an alien is a person living in a country other than the one in which he or she was born.” “To many Americans, the term ‘illegal alien’ conjures up a stereotypical image of a ragged young Mexican sneaking across the U.S.-Mexican border…”
I think this book is a little outdated. It was written ten years ago and a lot has changed in that amount of time. Overall, I think this book was written well, it wasn’t hard to find information it was just too outdated for what I needed. I like that this author has a bibliography at the end of this book, it is a great place to look for other sources.
Hayworth, J.D., and Joseph J. Eule. Whatever It Takes: Illegal Immigration,
Border Security, and The War on Terror. Washington D.C.: Regnery Publishing Inc., 2006.
“Arizona has become the new illegal gateway to America.” Illegals might have been innocent in behavior a few years ago, but now days they are extremely dangerous. They have been known to cut down fences, steal vehicles, and even break into peoples home’s to steal their property. “So how much does illegal immigration cost America? According to the Bear Stearns Study, a lot. An estimated five million jobs have shifted to the underground economy, where workers collect wages on a cash basis and avoid income taxes. People born in this county can’t get free health care, but illegals can get free medical care. They know they won’t be turned away for medical care, so they use emergency rooms like a regular doctor’s office. Taxpayers have to pay for all the bills that illegals leave behind.
I like that Arizona Congressman J.D. Hayworth wrote this book. He is one of us (Arizonans) so he sees and experiences what we deal with also. I believe that the information is accurate, and I know that it is current, it was only written a year ago, so overall I found this book to be very helpful.
Holstege, Sean, and Daniel González. “Bush touts 4-point border plan:
President again pays visit to Yuma area, hails improvements.” 10 April 2007. 10 April 2007 <>
President Bush was in Yuma on Monday (yesterday) to inspect improvements made along the United States- Mexico border. “Although the stepped-up security is working, it alone is not the answer to the country's immigration problem, Bush said. Comprehensive immigration reform, which would include more resources for borders and a guest-worker program, is the solution, he said.” Yuma's decrease doesn't necessarily translate to the rest of the state. The border patrol has put up “3 1/2 miles of primary corrugated-steel fencing and an additional 3 1/4 miles of secondary wire-mesh fencing near the San Luis crossing.” That is what translates to less illegal immigrates coming into the US, but it is also hurt the farmers in that part of the state. “But Yuma farmers say tighter border security has also scared off legal workers who live in Mexico and cross daily to pick lettuce…(they) lost 5 to 10 percent of their lettuce crop this winter because they couldn't find enough workers to pick vegetables.” That is also something the Bush addressed.
I liked this article. It was informative, current, accurate, and the writing style was easy to read. These authors quote outside sources, mainly politicians.
Illegal Immigration: Opposing Viewpoints. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2002.
This book has four chapters with lots of subchapters per chapter. This book tells both sides of if illegals threaten America or not. It examines whether illegal immigrants are being victimized or not. It gives ways of how America should deal with and respond to immigration. And it asks, “Should U.S. Immigration and Refugee Policies be changed?”
This book is fairly new, meaning most of the info is up to date. I really liked that it gave both sides to some very important issues; it allowed me to better understand certain things. I think this book is good; the publisher is a well-known publisher so that makes this book a little more credible than some other books. I really like that at the back of the book there are a few pages about further questions to examine. There are also about six pages of organizations that I could contact for further information.
“Most illegal border-crossers are never prosecuted.”AZCentral.com 6 April 2007. 6 April 2007
I really liked this article; I found it to be very helpful. It was up to date, and it didn’t just involve one state, it talked about Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. I also liked that the author of the article used outside sources and quotes from people that are directly related to this issue and are all over the United States. The level of detail on the subject was good. The author really knew what they were talking about.
Newman, Lori, ed. What Rights Should Illegal Immigrants Have? Detroit:
Greenhaven Press, 2006.
This book gives both sides to the question of whether illegals should receive health care for free or not. It also tells both sides of whether illegals are threatening U.S. health care or not. It says that undocumented immigrants are entitled to in-state tuition, and how they shouldn’t be entitled to it. It also says “strict immigration laws are necessary to fight terriosm.”
This book was helpful. It was written in 2006, so it is up to date. The publisher is a popular publisher so that makes me think this book is accurate. The author uses lots of outside sources also, so that allowed me to better understand this topic. I also like that at the back of the book there is a few pages about organizations that I could contact about this subject. I feel the information in this book will help me with my next essay I have to write on this topic.
Pitzl, Mary Jo. “Petitions target immigration: Group seeks tougher Arizona laws
Against illegal migrants.” AZCentral.com 28 March 2007. 28 March 2007 <http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0328immigration0328.html?>.
“Saying that they will do what the government has failed to do, a group of citizens spearheaded by a lawmaker and a former gubernatorial candidate on Tuesday launched twin petition drives to create tougher immigration laws in Arizona.” The first bill that they are trying to get past is aimed at the employers who “knowingly” have illegal immigrants working for them. And the second bill is to try and give local police more tools to crack down on illegal immigration. They are trying to get it on the statewide ballot in November 2008. “But not all police agencies want that authority. Nor do they believe they have the authority under federal law to enforce federal statutes, said Lt. Eric Edwards, a Phoenix police officer and legal counsel to the Arizona Association of Chiefs of Police.” The decision will have to wait to see if it gets on the ballot, and even then the decision may be up to Congress.
I really liked this article; I found it to be quite interesting. I hope that this goes on the ballot in November 2008. I do think that it will be hard to prove if someone “knowingly” knew they had illegal immigrates working for them or not, we will just have to wait and see. Overall I think this article was current, accurate, and very relevant to my topic.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Research...
So far my researching for essay three/four has been going well. I have check out 8 books from the public library and I have 6 more on hold, waiting to be picked up. I feel that my topic will be a easy one to research. I haven't come up with a solution to the problem yet. I have quite a few ideas in my head, but I am going to have to read more books to actually come up with a solution. I have been extremely busy lately and I haven't had time to really do much hw. Work has been my number one concern at the moment, but that needs to change fast because I am falling behind at school. I have self paced classes that I need to finish,and this essay is going to need lots of attention, but its just a matter of actually finding time, which has been very hard these past couple weeks. Oh well that's life, busy, busy, busy!!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Works Cited(essay #2)
Works Cited
(it didn't align the way I had it in Word.
I had it double spaced and aligned
in correct MLA format,
but it messed up)
“Compare Cars: Hyundai Elantra-Interior Features.” MSN Autos. 7 March 2007.
http://autos.msn.com/research/compare/engines.aspx?c=0&n=3&i=0&ph1=t0&ph2=t0&tb=0&dt=0&v=t93634&v=t1695
“Honda Civic vs. Hyundai Elantra.” Car Space 2001. 21 Feb. 2007
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.ee9e647/638.
Matras, John. “2001 Ford Focus.” TestDrive. 26 Feb. 2007
http://www.nctd.com/review-intro.cfm?Vehicle=2001_Ford_Focus&ReviewID=801
Moorhead, Ron. “2001 Hyundai Elantra.” TestDrive. 26 Feb. 2007
http://www.nctd.com/review-intro.cfm?Vehicle=
Moorhead, Ron. “2001Volkswagon Jetta.” TestDrive. 26 Feb. 2007
http://www.nctd.com/review-intro.cfm?Vehicle=2001_Volkswagen_Jetta&ReviewID=919
Moorhead, Ron. “1999 Volkswagen Jetta. TestDrive. 26 Feb. 2007
http://www.nctd.com/review-intro.cfm?Vehicle=1999_Volkswagen_Jetta&ReviewID=570
Plunkett, Bob. “2001 Honda Civic.” TestDrive. 26 Feb. 2007
http://www.nctd.com/review-intro.cfm?Vehicle=2001_Honda_Civic&ReviewID=813
Thursby, Ray. “1999 Honda Civic.” TestDrive. 26 Feb. 2007
http://www.nctd.com/review-intro.cfm?Vehicle=1999_Honda_Civic&ReviewID=506
The used 2001 Hyundai Elantra(essay #2)
The used 2001 Hyundai Elantra
When I was looking to get a bigger car about a year ago, I decided a used car was the way to go. I needed a 4 door mid sized family sedan, with low mileage, something that was stylist, and it had to be at the very most $6,000. I compared the used 1999 or 2001 Honda Civic, the used 2001 Ford Focus, and the used 1999 or 2001 Volkswagen Jetta and this is what I found out. I put my criteria in the order that I feel to be most important to the least important.
Crash Test Scores were important to me. When comparing the Elantra to the 2001 Civic they both got “4 stars in the rear test, the Elantra got 5 stars (the highest possible) for the front and the Civic got 4” (Honda 1). So overall both vehicles are good vehicles with the test proving safety, but there are other reasons why I choose the Elantra.
I also wanted something that had average or above average gas mileage. The manufacturers estimated each of the cars to have the following miles per gallon (MPG). “The 1999 Civic gets 29 city and 35 highway mpg” (Thursby 4) “The 2001 Civic gets 32/37 mpg” (Plunkett 4). “The 1999 Jetta gets 19/28mpg” (Moorhead 4). “The 2001 Jetta gets 19/28 mpg” (Moorhead 4). “The Ford Focus gets 25/33 mpg” (Matras 4). “The Elantra gets 24/33 mpg” (Moorhead 4). Upon calling the current owners of a certain car, I determined that the manufactures were wrong. All the Civics owners I talked to got about 30/35 mpg. The Jetta owners got 17/26 mpg, and the Focus owners got about 27/33 mpg. Well the most shocking thing I found was, that most Elantra owners got more than the estimated mpg. They were getting about 26/35 mpg, and now that I am an owner of an Elantra, I can tell you that is true, I get about 27-29 mpg in the city. My boyfriend owns a Ford Focus and I can tell you that he gets about 25-27 in the city, which is around what the manufactures said Focus’ would probably get.
Another real important deciding factor in buying a used car was to see how many miles were on the car. I looked at one Ford Focus and it had close to 110K, now that would be fine if the car was 6 or more years old, but when I was looking at cars, it was in the beginning of 2006 meaning that they should have just over the average for 5 years. The average number of miles driven a year ranges from 15K to 20K. That would means when I was looking for a 2001 car at the beginning of 2006; I wanted something with 75K to 100K. Well when I found the Elantra, it only had 61K, which is great! I knew I couldn’t pass up on a car with such “low” miles. Buying a used car really doesn’t give you much choice in how many miles a car will have on it, but if you have a choice, choose a car with as low of miles as possible, it will save you from more problems (mechanically) down the road.
When I was looking for a used car, I wanted something that was practical, something that I wouldn’t have to do a lot of up keep on. I needed something that didn’t have a lot of damage to the outside or inside of it. Going with a used car, I knew I didn’t really have much say in this but, I was able to look at different cars before I choose to buy the Hyundai.
Another important feature for me was the interior design and features. “The Elantra has 39.60 in. of headroom; it has 38.00 in. of read headroom” (Compare 1-2). It also has “53.00 in. of front hip room, and 55.60 in. of rear hip room” (Compare 1-2). “It overall interior is more spacious then both the 1999 and 2001 Civic and both of the 1999 and 2001 Jetta” (Compare 1-2). The Elantra seats 5 average sized adults comfortably. I knew at certain times, I would need to fit as many people in my car as I could, and I wanted them to be as comfortable as possible.
So with the criteria that I had, my decision was made easier with the help of the Hyundai Elantra. It was exactly what I wanted, and I have and will continue to recommend it to anyone.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Spring Break Is Over =(
So today is the first day back from Spring Break, I am not looking forward to today. The paper we have to turn in today, I feel, is one of the worse papers I have written. I don't know what more to do, I am driving myself nuts with it!
Anyways, I had a wonderful Spring Break, this is the first time I have ever gone anywhere for Spring Break, and I am so glad I did!!
Anyways, I had a wonderful Spring Break, this is the first time I have ever gone anywhere for Spring Break, and I am so glad I did!!
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Spring Break!!
Ok so today is Tuesday...that means one more day of English and its Spring Break. I am so excited, I need a break from school. I can't wait to go to Bellevue(Seattle)...it should be very exciting. I get to see my love KJ!!! I haven't seen him since the end of January!!! I know that my time up there is going to fly by and then I have to face reality again and come back to school, and go about my normal day life, oh well...School will be over in a year, so I am happy about that!! Got to run back to school now!
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Reflection (essay #1)
Tropical Girl
Professor Matthew Jolly
English 102
30 January 2007
Unnecessary Freeway
I am going to start off by looking at the content of my letter to the
In my essay I am sure to establish credibility, right off the bat, so
In my opinion, I explained how logically Ahwatukee would not get
I appealed to all the drivers in Ahwatukee that have to sit in the
My purpose for writing this letter to the editor was; I want everyone
In conclusion, I think I achieved exactly what I was trying to
Professor Matthew Jolly
English 102
30 January 2007
Unnecessary Freeway
I am going to start off by looking at the content of my letter to the
editor. I will determine if I used ethos, logos, and pathos. I will also look
at whether I achieved some part of the rhetorical situation. When looking
at these I will also show some examples that I used for each one.
In my essay I am sure to establish credibility, right off the bat, so
that my readers would understand that I am not just some outsider
looking in on the situation. I am one of them. “I am a nineteen-year-old
college student who has lived in Ahwatukee for the last fourteen years.” I
also established ethos, by my signing my name at the end of the letter. I
may not have that much credibility by just signing my name, but it proves
that I am a real person, who is willing to stand up for my words and my
opinion; I am not just some machine.
In my opinion, I explained how logically Ahwatukee would not get
that much use out of the proposed freeway. “If the freeway was built, I
highly doubt that the majority of people from Ahwatukee are going to
drive all the way out to 55th Avenue just to have to sit in eastbound traffic
trying to get into downtown Phoenix.” I also showed how logically it’s not
worth it, with the proposed freeway going to “cost us taxpayers $1.7
billion dollars.”
I appealed to all the drivers in Ahwatukee that have to sit in the
Broadway Curve traffic. If the freeway was built it’s would only “bring
crime, noise, and more pollution to the Ahwatukee area, and it will lower
the value of the homes in Ahwatukee.” With Ahwatukee being known as
having high dollar houses (mine being one of the lower end ones), I highly
doubt that so many people would be willing to give up that kind of
lifestyle just for the convenience (or inconvenience, depending on how
you look at it) of the proposed freeway.
My intended audience for this letter to the editor was the community
My intended audience for this letter to the editor was the community
of Ahwatukee. I believe my actual audience was still the community of
Ahwatukee. I think that I appealed to them in just the way that I wanted
to. I feel that I appealed to everyone, not just the people that go to work
and have to sit in that traffic, but also to the stay-at-home-moms and
dads. If the freeway was built the stay at home parents would have to
watch out for more crime that would come to our community, and those
that work would still have to sit and wait in the Broadway Curve traffic,
that can back up until past Pecos Rd on I-10.
My purpose for writing this letter to the editor was; I want everyone
in Ahwatukee to know that if ADOT builds this freeway, it won’t help the
majority of us get to work, school, or appointments that much faster. It
would only bring more harm then good to our community in the long run.
My genre for this essay is a letter to the editor. The form takes on a
business letter format. Which meant that I had to put the newspapers
address on the top left corner, and I had to put my address at the very
bottom, under where I physically sign my name.
In conclusion, I think I achieved exactly what I was trying to
achieve. I got my point across to the audience I was aiming for. I used
ethos, logos, and pathos. Not only did I use ethos, logos, and pathos, but
I also gave examples of exactly how I used them. I was able to use the
rhetorical situation to help my audience better understand what my point
to writing this letter was, and for them to understand the reason why I
used the form of writing that I used.
Letter To The Editor (essay #1)
January 30, 2007
The Ahwatukee Republic
106 E. Baseline Road
Mesa, AZ 85210
Fax (480) 516-0112
Dear Editor:
I am writing in response to the editorial “Freeway no help to Foothills traffic; funds better spent elsewhere,” of Jan. 24, which is written in response to the editorial “Freeway must get past planning stage,” of Jan 18.
I am a nineteen-year-old college student who has lived in Ahwatukee for the last fourteen years. I agree with Patrick Panetta, the author of “Freeway no help to Foothills traffic; funds better spent elsewhere.” I think that if the proposed freeway connecting Pecos rd. to 55th Avenue were built it would not help the congestion around the Broadway Curve. Mr. Panetta said it perfectly “The congestion that backs up from the Broadway Curve onto U.S. 60 and I-10, is not…due to the sheer volume of traffic, but rather to the transition of merging two four-lane freeways into one five-lane freeway.” If ADOT built the proposed freeway it would be used as more of a bypass for trucks going from Los Angeles to El Paso.
If the freeway was built, I highly doubt that the majority of people from Ahwatukee are going to drive all the way out to 55th Avenue just to have to sit in eastbound traffic trying to get into downtown Phoenix. As it is right now, most people work in or around the downtown area. So unless ADOT can find a way to fix the mess they made of the merge, the problem of the congested traffic is still going to be just that, a problem.
Even if the freeway is built it will not help with the number of vehicles going around the Broadway Curve. So there is no need to build this freeway, it will only bring crime, noise, and more pollution to the Ahwatukee area, and it will lower the value of the homes in Ahwatukee. To top it off it will cost us taxpayers $1.7 billion dollars, for something that is not going to help Ahwatukee residents with the congestion around the Broadway Curve.
Maybe in the future, the building of this freeway would help, but it is not needed now! We have and always will be known as the “giant cul-de-sac.” Lets keep it that way.
Sincerely,
Tropical Girl
123 E. Island Ave
Maui, HA 12345
The Ahwatukee Republic
106 E. Baseline Road
Mesa, AZ 85210
Fax (480) 516-0112
Dear Editor:
I am writing in response to the editorial “Freeway no help to Foothills traffic; funds better spent elsewhere,” of Jan. 24, which is written in response to the editorial “Freeway must get past planning stage,” of Jan 18.
I am a nineteen-year-old college student who has lived in Ahwatukee for the last fourteen years. I agree with Patrick Panetta, the author of “Freeway no help to Foothills traffic; funds better spent elsewhere.” I think that if the proposed freeway connecting Pecos rd. to 55th Avenue were built it would not help the congestion around the Broadway Curve. Mr. Panetta said it perfectly “The congestion that backs up from the Broadway Curve onto U.S. 60 and I-10, is not…due to the sheer volume of traffic, but rather to the transition of merging two four-lane freeways into one five-lane freeway.” If ADOT built the proposed freeway it would be used as more of a bypass for trucks going from Los Angeles to El Paso.
If the freeway was built, I highly doubt that the majority of people from Ahwatukee are going to drive all the way out to 55th Avenue just to have to sit in eastbound traffic trying to get into downtown Phoenix. As it is right now, most people work in or around the downtown area. So unless ADOT can find a way to fix the mess they made of the merge, the problem of the congested traffic is still going to be just that, a problem.
Even if the freeway is built it will not help with the number of vehicles going around the Broadway Curve. So there is no need to build this freeway, it will only bring crime, noise, and more pollution to the Ahwatukee area, and it will lower the value of the homes in Ahwatukee. To top it off it will cost us taxpayers $1.7 billion dollars, for something that is not going to help Ahwatukee residents with the congestion around the Broadway Curve.
Maybe in the future, the building of this freeway would help, but it is not needed now! We have and always will be known as the “giant cul-de-sac.” Lets keep it that way.
Sincerely,
Tropical Girl
123 E. Island Ave
Maui, HA 12345
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