Monday 28 March 2016

Contemporary US Border Issues - Pro & Anti Immigration

Anti-Immigration
http://www.progressivesforimmigrationreform.org/

This website is rooted with a polemic intention, aiming to make the public aware of immigration statistics and how it damages the economy of the United States. For instance, they claim that 80% of population growth in America is due to relaxed immigration laws. What is surprising is the articles do not directly attack immigrants in a racist manner or discuss themes of assimilation and their effects on the nation. Instead, they debate the economic implications of such policies, suggesting that their allegiance lies with America as a traditional country. Also interestingly, many of the sources they use to back up their arguments are from the 1980s containing theories which have since been outdated and disproven in a modern context.

One feature of the site which is dominant is its Republican political agenda which often favours presidential candidates like Donald Trump. Contrastingly, these articles do not use theories or articles from any time to back up Trump's and their arguments. There is a clear attempt to silence the liberal media simply by clarifying the contradicting statements of the Republican party. Another political issue they concern themselves with is the American method of voting regarding immigrants and their voting rights. Their most recent article entitled 'Voting Rights for Foreigners Devalues American Citizenship' takes a highly journalistic approach with their opening statement calling foreigners 'aliens' which is often considered a racist term, especially to a Latino community.


Pro-Immigration
http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/

American Immigration Council is a government-based website which often shows the positive impacts of immigrants over the United States concerning mostly the Latino population. There is a section which focuses greatly on the economic and financial pros of Latino immigration viewed state-by-state. AIC dedicates its articles and journals to academic research and the facts of immigration based upon recent research. This includes papers debating the higher rates of immigration equating to lower rates of crime and also accepting the refugee crisis as a liberal enterprise while also discussing previous histories of such events.

Other than a few sections of the site discussing the current American government, a political party agenda is not specified and so remains neutral which provides a decided advantage over Progressives for Immigration Reform because it stays at a neutral level. Themes of assimilation are also raised in the blog section of the site with the discussion of research of refugees and there integration into American society, an issue often raised by anti-immigration agents.


Both sites have a keen following and have several social media outlets in order to keep in contact with their following. Immigration, particularly concerning the Latino comminuty, is clearly a deeply-embedded debate for the American population and these sites are able to provide a venue where the people can find others with similar views and also share them.

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