Kenneth Jost: Immigration Conflict In The United States

“Immigration Conflict’’ Amanda Victoria Phillips
Kenneth Jost INTL 101-007
Accessed: Selected Readings in Human Society and Globalization Dr. Mongi Bahloul
9 March 2012 Journal Entry #1 Due Date: 8 Sept. 2014

Synopsis:
Kenneth Jost addresses the issue of
the Alabama legislation with regard illegal aliens in the United States. The bill passed into a state law on April 5, 2011. According to the new legislature, the police were granted prerogatives to crack down on individuals suspected of being illegal immigrants in this country. This measure and its enforcement have been received by various communities and groups in Alabama and other states with mixed feelings and attitudes. Some thought it was unfair; others saw it as the most effective way to combat the waves of immigrants flowing into the US. Republicans, for instance, viewed it as a way to increase more job opportunities to US youths in search of employment. Jost, then, went on elaborating on legal matters that occurred prior and after the adoption of the law – points that are hard to summarize here.

Main Points:
Big issues as a result of law adoption
Immigration law basics
Background focusing on the chronology of events
Cracking down on illegal aliens
Getting tough
Current situation
Political parties’ approaches to this issue

Analysis:
The most targeted by immigrants and suffers most from illegal immigration country is the United States where 10 of the 40 million immigrants are illegal.
In 2011, Alabama legislator had enact an anti-immigration law (HB56) and with this law there was several implications. There is a lot consequences of this new law because in a certain way, it is a racist because this law allows police officers to ask for papers to any person if there is any suspicion that he or she is illegal in the country. Businesses and schools have to make sure their employees and students are legal. It is known that most illegal immigrants in the United States of America are from Central America and Mexico, so the suspicion of the officers will be based on skin color, stature and typical physical people. Certainly, one factor is the economic crisis and the fact that many Americans unfairly blame illegal immigrants for the bad situation of the country. Some politicians have realized that they can gain power by exploiting the widespread suspicion that immigrants take jobs from citizens and empty government coffers. Attacking illegal immigrants, who have no one representing their interests, can give them the boost that they need to win the elections. Furthermore, there is enough Latinos in the United States willing to vote for candidates who really understand the Hispanic community and to be able to defend it against unfair attacks. But it’s not everybody that think that unlawful aliens must get out of
the United States because most Americans have a generous attitude towards illegal immigrants. A recent poll conducted by Latino Decisions for Univision had revealed that 58% of Americans are in favor of the idea of becoming citizens of the United States illegal immigrants who have not committed crimes and pay their taxes and they speak English. (Among the Latin, the support for this idea is 67%).
After the attacks of 11 September 2001, the government of the United States intensified the control of foreign entry into the country and in 2005 the possibility to enter and remain in the same illegal considerably reduced, because all the scripts that are made to enter in the country are under constant watch.

Personal Reflection:
In my opinion, as we see by the history of the United States, the immigration was always been a tricky question because as evidenced by the history of immigration presented within the article, immigrants have faced hurdles of integration at all levels and across all borders. For example, any immigrants to the United States in the 1790s were subject to persecution based on both the social and cultural borders that were in place within this country at the time because they had enact a law called ‘Alien and Seditions Act’ and with this law a xenophobia were established because this law was caused by the French Revolution, so the president of the United States were scared that some French revolutionaries could immigrate to the U.S.A so they were a lot of restrictive measure, such as increasing the time of permanence to gain American citizenship or that the president could deport any foreigner who was dangerous to the peace and security of the United States. American borders is constantly being replaced by new versions, because if you check American history, you will see that every time, they established a new type of xenophobia and nowadays, this is happening with Central America immigrants.

Conclusions:
In the United States of The America the immigrant are free to continue using their own language, practice their own religion and can work wherever they want and here the wealth, health and wellness are better then the other countries. And these are the factors that attract illegal immigrants to the United States, mainly from Mexico and Latin.So believe that the United States should remain a country free and open to those from other countries.