· Who
Discrimination and Racism is something that is directed towards people of a different race than the attacker. Discrimination and Racism can be directed towards a minority as well as a majority group.
According to the film "The Divide", the people tend to be angry and blame the illegal immigrants (Mexicans) for coming into their town and taking their jobs and businesses. While this starts out as an immigration issue, you could see there were reserved prejudices and discrimination that come out during the heated arguments and rallies. Before, when the blacks used to do all the work no one wanted to, now the Mexicans did it was mentioned as well.
There are two types of immigrants, legal and illegal's. Legal immigrants come to the U.S. with proper papers and have a work authorization and also pay taxes. Illegal immigrants bypass the system and tend to live on cheap labor and on cash without paying taxes. These immigrants can be any race or color, they are just people.
Also post-9/11 reform on immigration, laws were targeted against Arab and South-Asian men of Muslim religion.
· Why
Main reason for immigration reform was because the immigrants were taking jobs from U.S. citizens. They also drove down wages for people hired in the United States as the immigrants were for much lower wages.
Other reforms were made to legalize long term illegal immigrants living within the United States. This was done so that the immigrants would be considered legal to work and start paying taxes as well as don't drive down wages.
Also the post-9/11 immigration reforms were mainly done due to terrorism concerns. Although these were aimed specifically towards a certain race and religion, they were done to protect the U.S. borders.
· What
"The Immigration Act of 1990 increased the level of employment based immigration and allotted a higher proportion of visas to highly skilled immigrants".
The welfare reform act of 1996 also played a part in the immigration laws. The reform made the immigrants lose their government assistance programs such as welfare, food stamps, and supplemental security income. It also gave states the power to revoke Medicaid insurance from immigrants (legal and illegal both).
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1996 increased the U.S.-Mexico border security, heavily penalized employers hiring illegal immigrants, denied illegal immigrants to social security and driving licenses and also grant amnesty to long term illegal aliens who had been within the United States since 1982.
Post 9/11 reforms took place mainly due to terrorism. These reforms included more stricter immigration availability and security, also made sure international students were accepted to colleges before they could enter the country and also allowed the government to racially profile people according to the patriot act.
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· How well
While the government continues to work on immigration laws, they have not handled it too well. A lot of the laws are flawed and vague. Also giving illegal aliens amnesty every decade is not good sense as they get used to it.
· What you personally think should be done
First of all, the legal immigrants who are in this country should receive full benefits as citizens do since they pay the same taxes there are. Also the illegal immigrants who are here, majority of them do not pay employment taxes as they are paid under the table and should not receive ANY government benefits period. That pretty much handicaps them and makes the taxpaying Americans to pay for others as well.
Although the racial profiling after 9/11 does seem extreme, it is a necessary evil in my opinion to keep everyone else safe. The people who are there to harm us do not give the civilians a choice, so it's something that must be done no matter how bad its criticized. I personally have been selected for "random" shoe checks many time at the airports, but I have no problem with those extra 2 minutes to make sure I am safe.
I agree wholeheartedly that we must tolerate sensible efforts to protect our security and safety. I also have been stopped based upon my appearance (and so has my 80 year old father) but I don't mind.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your opinion about drawing the line on illegal immigrants. A classmate was quite offended by my blog post on the subject. I bet he would not feel the same way if I broke into his house and demanded to be provided for. No difference.
See, there's a very very small difference between you being randomly shoe checked and others being racially profiled is that you were random, they were targeted because of their race.
ReplyDeleteI think racial profiling probably seems extreme to you because it is just that, extreme. People that are here to harm us are going to try and harm us regardless of race. I think it's definitely an evil, but I'm not quite sure it's necessary.
That is exactly why I put random in quotations, I am sure I was not random due to my race, but I did not have a problem with it. No one should have a problem with a shoe check or an extra measure of security if they are truly innocent. It is a necessary evil in today's world as you have no idea what the race or origin people will be when it comes to terrorists, but as far as today goes...there is one group of people who have the majority in trying to blow up planes and innocent people.
ReplyDeleteOK, I agree with you that the legal immigrants should receive full benefits as the citizens, However I still don't understand why you think illegal immigrants are receiving free aid by the government. What kind of benefits exactly do illegal immigrants receive? More research should be done because most public assistance programs require a social security, which is the one thing they don't have because they are undocumented. And I know one type of tax they pay, SALES TAX because EVERYONE PAYS.
ReplyDeleteI also think that legal immigrants should receive the same benefits as American citizens. However, you keep mentioning that illegal immigrants do not pay taxes, are you merely repeating what some sources claim or have you done extensive research regarding the taxes debate? The Congressional Budget Office indicates that between 50% and 75% of unauthorized immigrants pay federal, state, and local taxes. The studies conducted by the Congressional Budget Office estimate that illegal immigrants pay about $7 billion a year into social security, yet they are not eligible to receive that money back. The federal and state governments receive large amounts of unclaimed tax revenues that come from illegal immigrants who work with fake social security numbers or names so they cannot file for a return. But even assuming that they cause a deficit greater than what they contribute, then our government has its share of responsibility due to their failure of passing a comprehensive immigration law. Let's elaborate on the legality aspect of the situation, first of all, there is a reason why laws change, they are not always correct the first time around. For example, there was a time where slavery was legal and then segregation was legal, were they any less fair back then than they are now? No, these laws were always UNFAIR, however, it took our legal system a very long time to figure that out and amend the law. You posted your opinion in a very respectful manner and I really appreciate that.
ReplyDeleteWhen I said the illegal immigrants do not pay taxes, I meant it was the income tax. Income tax is around 30-40% of one's income which they clearly don't have to pay. That is why I am a big supporter of fair tax since that will definitely resolve this issue. You pay taxes on whatever you consume, period. Also to keep giving amnesty to to illegals makes our country look weak and anyone can come in and expect the same thing again in another 10 years.
ReplyDeleteAlso the passing of the Dream Act today in the House was what gave amnesty, but the bill also allows illegals to call over their family who are in other countries and be legal citizens here. Thats obviously a step in the wrong direction with the unemployment levels so high today.