When I first began my blog I had no idea what I would write about, but finally  I came to the conclusion that I would talk about Latino immigrants and what role they play in politics and other social issues. I had no idea that I would find out as many things as I did. Seeing all of the remarks being made against Latinos seemed racist and saddened me.

Latinos are one of the biggest ethnic groups here in the United States and have been the talk of the town when it comes to immigration issues. It seems that when it comes to these kind of issues the only kind of immigrants that our government is worried about or focusing on are Latinos. I was astonished to find out some of the statements that people like Donald Trump had to say about Latinos and Latino immigrants coming into the country.

In a an earlier post I talked about some of the racist statements Trump has said in regards to Mexicans immigrating into the country. On one account he even stated during one of his speeches, “I will build a great, great wall on our southern border and I will make Mexico pay for that wall.” Here we can see his desire and focus on trying to keep Mexicans away from our country.

To see that so much hatred is going towards our Latino community truly affected me. To me this is an obvious form of racism that is not being recognized. Rather than talking about the different types of races of people immigrating into the country, it is repeatedly point out that Mexicans and other Latinos are always coming in, and they are trying to find solutions to keep them out.

On other accounts Trump has even referred to Mexicans as “rapists” saying that they there are not good people and that the only Mexicans being sent into our country are the “bad ones”. This is a generalization, and on no other account has he mentioned that there are immigrants of other races who come into the U.S as well and have not been much a benefit for our country.

Them being criticized and accused of coming into the country to have “anchor babies” which I talked about in my earlier posts, I also find to be racist. People from all over the world, not just Latin American countries, come into the country and have children too.

 

 

Overall I believe that many of the statements that politicians have made about the Latino community are racist. I would hope that people would try and become more aware of this. Our country is a melting pot and we should be accepting of all people regardless of their race, gender, etc.

We should all go out of our way to try an support all people and all races when they are under attack with generalizations and racist remarks. We need to allow this country to be of benefit to anyone who decides they want to come and live here for a better life.

From doing most of my research I have decided that although Birthright Citizenship causes immigration problems, we must keep it because it is part of our Constitution here in the United States and it is also a part of our American Principles.

Part of what this means is that our country is known as the land of opportunity, people come here looking for a better life and more opportunities in the future. I feel that taking it away would make people change their perspective about our country and what it has done for many people.

Back in the 1800’s around the time of the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment was passed, this grants all people born in the United States the right to citizenship, so for us to get rid of it would mean that we are taking away something that was adopted in our country over one hundred years ago. It would make our country look bad if we were to abolish a law that has been a part of our 14^th Amendment for such a long time.

Every day there are thousands of babies born in the country, so I feel that automatically giving them citizenship if they are born here is simply right thing to do and getting rid of it would make things a lot more complicated. This is not an issue that can be solved from one day to another which is why it is better if we just keep it in order to prevent complications. Going through a process of trying to figure out whether the parents of a child born here are documented or not would take a lot unnecessary effort. For years our fourteenth amendment has guaranteed citizenship to any person born on American soil, therefore eliminating this rule would go against a principle that our country has followed for years and would only cause more complications.

I find it especially cruel that many opponents to this right mainly focus on babies that are coming from Mexico. Trump often makes remarks saying that Mexico is not bringing anything good to this country and that their people are only coming here to have babies. It is rarely mentioned that there are also many immigrants coming into the country from places like Ireland and Europe having babies too. Immigrants are coming from all over the world, not just Mexico.

 

It would be a dangerous and cruel to send babies back to their home country because they are undocumented. All people want for themselves and their families when coming to the country is a better life and more opportunities for their children’s futures. In an earlier post, a woman named Ariz Nogales talked about the dangers she faced when being deported and how all she was looking for in this country was a better life. Rather than taking away the opportunity of a child they should be allowed to pursue their dreams if they were born here in the land of opportunity.

Overall I feel that all people should be accepted here in the country. Children of such a young age, especially new born babies should not at be at risk of having to get deported. This process is not something that any child should go through or have to remember. Being a young woman who was born here to undocumented parents who are now citizens allows me to say that we are here for a better future and only want to succeed, we are not here to hurt the country in any way, we are here to reach for our dreams.

 

 

 

 

Although there are many opponents to Birthright Citizenship, supporters such as Hillary Clinton believe that abolishing this law would only create more problems within our U.S economy and overall go against our American Principles.

Unlike people who oppose this right and have argued that abolishing this law would prevent many immigrant problems in the United States, supporters of this right argue that in fact abolishing this right would only bring economic problems since it would cost millions of dollars to eliminate it. In an article from the Center of Immigration Studies it says that on average it would cost about $600 dollars for each baby to prove that they are legal, if we were to abolish this law. This cost would start to add up and cost a lot of money for our country.

Hillary Clinton has shown her support for the people who are affected by the controversy time and time again including the moments where Republicans have referred to children who are born in this country to undocumented parents as “anchor babies.”  She once tweeted that instead of referring to them as “anchor babies” they should simply be called “babies”. This shows that she supports birthright citizenship. Our American Principles start with our Constitution and this right was given to these children under the 14th Amendment, therefore she understands that they should be regarded to with respect.

Supporters of this right also argue that eliminating this law would go against our American Principles since this right has been in our country for over a hundred years. As I talked about earlier, this right was given to us under the 14th amendment, therefore getting rid of this law would go against certain rights that our country fought for during the Civil War.

Our country is knowns as the land of opportunity, so people come here for a chance at something better for their future. According to an article from the NY Times a woman named Ariz Nogales who was eight months pregnant reportedly had to carry scissors with her while she was being deported back to Mexico through the desert, afraid that she might give birth on the way. This woman was at obvious risk of giving birth at any time, yet she was still forced to leave the country with her family.

All children born in the United States should have the opportunity to pursue their education and dreams alongside their parents, without the fear that one day they might all be deported alongside their parents who fought so hard to try and give them something better. Ariz Nogales even stated, “All I want is a better life.” People who are fighting to stay in the country only want a better life for themselves and their families. Our American Principles go way back as being a country where everyone has the right to happiness, an education, safety and more. Yet what was done to this woman goes against our American morals. The life of her and her baby should not have been put at risk.

It is clear that abolishing this right would only hurt on country. So why do are so many people still fighting against it?

 

 

In the past months there has been much discussion on the debate of Birthright Citizenship.While many support this idea, Republican politicians like Donald Trump argue that the 14th Amendment is incorrect for giving citizenship to children regardless of their parents’ citizen status, and that immigrants are abusing this right in order to stay in the country longer or even permanently.

 

 

Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump has made it clear that he would like to change many laws in our country, but he has not been more consistent and outspoken with anything than his desire to get rid of birthright citizenship.

Donald Trump argues that the 14th Amendment does not cover children born to illegal immigrants and that their parents are abusing this right and having babies in the United States as an “anchor” to stay in the country.The term “anchor baby,” has caused a lot of controversy since it is considered to be an incorrect and offensive form of referring to a child born of undocumented parents, regardless Trump insists that there is no other way to refer to them and repeats the term consistently.

Trump believes that this law is what attracts more immigrants into our country which is a problem since there are constantly too many immigrants coming into our country. An article from CBS states that he said, “This remains the biggest magnet for illegal immigration.” As you can see Trump believes that keeping this right will only attract more immigrants into the country with hope that their children will one day maybe grant them citizenship.

This is one of the biggest magnets since it has even been seen that there are advertisements on the Mexican side of the border for people to come and have their babies in the United States. In an article from the NY times it states that such ads like a billboard at Mexican border say things like, “Do you want to have your baby in the U.S?” This goes to show that in fact there are people promoting for people to come and have their babies in this country which gives opponents the right to be angry and assume that people are coming to have babies in the U.S.

You may be wondering how exactly someone could abuse of this law, but it’s actually simple. Here in the United States any child of undocumented parents can help them get a green card after they turn twenty one and show proof that they are able to support their families. Opponents such as Trump believe that this is attracting more immigrants to come into the country so that sometime in the later future they have a chance at obtaining a green card for the United States.

Opponents to this right argue that abolishing this right would prevent as many immigrants from coming into the country, especially those who come to have babies. Undocumented parents would not have much reason to have babies here since they children would also be illegal and they would be at risk of getting deported with their whole family.

It is clear that the majority of the people who are in favor of abolishing this law are conservative and have a firm desire to abolish it as soon as they can, regardless of the fact that they understand it would be unconstitutional since this right is in fact stated in the 14th Amendment. Will our country actually gain more than suffer if we were to abolish this law?

 

In the next couple of posts for my blog I will be focusing on whether or not our government should get rid of birthright citizenship.This is the right which gives all children born in the United States, even those born to illegal immigrants automatic citizenship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the past years there has been much debate in our country on whether or not we should keep this right, a right that was fought for during the Civil War in the 1860’s. Some believe that getting rid of it would help with immigration problems, while others believe that eliminating it would go against American principles and would make defining a citizen more difficult.

The 14^th amendment which was passed in our country on July 28, 1868 states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” This amendment was ratified more than a hundred years ago and established that anyone born in our country would automatically become a citizen, yet there are people who are against this idea and want to abolish it.

This is a difficult problem to resolve for multiple reasons, with one of the biggest being that this has been the law of our country for years and we have no other rule that could replace it. Some argue that not having a new law that helps determine who is qualified as a citizen in the U.S makes things more difficult, there are no qualified lawyers or judges in the hospital room at the time a baby is born to determine whether or not the parents of the baby are legal citizens.

This issue is complex because it involves young innocent children and economic issues. People who support it have argued that it would have a huge negative effect on our economy since it would cost millions of dollars to get rid of this rule. A NY Times article written on August, 2015 states, “Americans would have to pay for this new bureaucracy, which would be tasked to decide the citizenship of some 4 million babies born in America each year.” What this means is that a new process would be required to be made for every new baby born in the United States which would cost a lot of money and add up.

If getting rid of this law were to pass, not only are illegal parents at stake of being deported, their children are at stake as well.

For people against birthright citizenship and immigration, this is not a problem. In fact, they believe that birthright citizenship is not a right that illegal immigrants should have honored to them . Congressman Tom Tancredo, argues that we should eliminate Birthright Citizenship saying that, “[…] subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” which is part of the 14th Amendment does not include illegal immigrants. In the Scholastic Article he also states, “Giving citizenship based merely on where you are born is bad public policy.” He is obviously against this right and believes that it should be removed in our country.

Due to all of the controversy and statements that have been put out on the news, it is clear that this a current topic of debate. While I look into this some more I would like to learn more about how it could truly affect our economy if we were to abolish this law.

 

 

 

Donald Trump is the leading Republican candidate as of now running for presidency. Being that he is one of the most controversial candidates we have seen in a long time, it doesn’t seem that this has affected how many followers he has.

Donald Trump has made it clear over the last couple of months that he is against immigration and will do whatever it takes to stop more immigrants especially Latinos from entering into the country.

It was clear from the beginning that Donald Trump was against Mexican immigrants, claiming Mexico was only sending in bad people like rapists and criminals. However, it has been proven that the majority of immigrants being deported from our country are in fact non-criminals. This is a problem because it can lead others to believe that this is true when in reality many immigrants are struggling and only trying to live in the United States to ensure a better life and promising future for their children and themselves. It is clear that many Latinos will not be voting for Donald Trump this election year due to the numerous shocking statements he has made in regards to them and immigration.

What is even more interesting is that the candidate has never provided any proof to demonstrate that his statements are actually true. Studies have actually proven the opposite which has been pointed out to Trump, yet he disregards the facts. Trump stated that he had read that immigrants were rapists from a Fusion article. Trump was informed that the article stated that about eighty percent of Latino women immigrants were actually the ones being raped when coming into the United States. When Trump was corrected he respond by saying that it was probably other immigrants coming in who were the ones raping them. Trump has decided it is okay for him to put out statements without having anything to back them up which is clearly a problem.

Donald Trump has also made it clear that he is against “anchor babies”. This term is used to make reference to children who are born in this country to a non-citizen mother. On multiple accounts he has stated that he will make sure children like these are no longer given citizenship in the United States. Lauren Carroll states in an article that Donald Trump has said, “Many of the great scholars say that anchor babies are not covered, ” what he means is that these people have not been covered in the Constitution so they should not be given birthright citizenship. He believes that the parents of these children must be legal citizens before they are given citizenship.

Additionally Donald Trump has claimed he would like to build a wall at the Mexican border in order to prevent illegal immigrants from coming into the country. Not only has he stated that a wall will be built, he also claims that he will make Mexico pay for it. An article on KQED states that Pennsylvania Representative Tom Marino said, “On one key issue, Trump doesn’t literally mean what he says.” Tom Marino is trying to say that when Trump claimed he would build a wall, what he meant was that he would advance technology at the border to secure that more immigrants are not coming in. If that was even the case, Trump really needs to start making himself more clear.

Trump is obviously not for immigration rights, therefore we can presume this will affect the amount of Hispanics who will choose to vote for him during the election. Regardless, I would like to look into this more and see how many Hispanics have shown support for Trump.

Hillary Clinton claims she is a supporter of Latinos but has always seemed ambivalent based on statements she has put out in regards to immigration.

Hilary has been one of the top Democratic candidates this election year. As a liberal Hilary claims she will help Latino immigrants and even says she will do the worrying for those who are scared of any deportation issues. In an ad campaign video that Hilary used this year which was posted on the New York Times, she talks to a young hispanic girl who is worried about her parents being deported because they just received a deportation letter. Hillary shows empathy and reassures her that everything will be ok, so let’s take a look to see what Hillary has actually done to help the Latino community.

Although Hillary has shown much support for immigrants, from doing research it seems that Hillary has always had mixed feelings with Latino immigrants and seems to be supportive on some days but quite harsh towards them on others. On a specific topic, in 2008 when running for president she stated that she would try to allow illegal immigrants to receive a driver’s license. Later on she stated that she no longer supported that idea, and that she would not let that law pass if she was elected as president. Just to make matters more confusing she went on to change her mind again saying that she would support this. It seems like Hillary isn’t very sure about where she stands when it comes to dealing with some immigrant rights.

Hillary also recently started a new campaign slogan aimed towards Latinos called Estoy Contigo. She has used this to try to show her support for the Latino community. The former secretary of state has also claimed to help Central American families who are calling for some help. She has stated that although she can not guarantee that she can avoid all immigrants from being deported that she will do her best in trying to look at every person’s specific situation to try and help them from being deported. It’s important that Latinos can see that our candidates are showing support and that they want to make an effort in helping us with issues we have going on.

Mrs. Clinton has also gone on to say that she was one of the primary candidates to speak out against Mr. Trump when he made disrespectful comments against Mexican immigrants. This statement was made in Las Vegas, Nevada during one of her debates with Bernie Sanders who is also running in the Democratic party. It is vital that they speak out to Hispanics especially in Nevada considering that according to this article they are about twenty eight percent of the states residents.

An article by KQED goes more into depth of the constant debates between Bernie Sanders and Hillary when it come to immigration. Hillary makes a very strong statement in regards to immigrants saying, “I do not want to see them deported.I want to see them on a path to citizenship.” If elected Latino immigrants will expect a difference after a statement as dauntless as this one.

It is clear that Hillary is speaking to Latinos and listening to their issues, promising to help. However she will have to prove it through her actions in order for the Latino community to see that she truly cares. If she is elected will she make a difference for Hispanics dealing with deportation issues? How will our country be affected if we allow more immigrants into the country or give the ones already here citizenship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Latino immigration issues have been a prevalent problem for the last couple of years in the United States. Due to an increase in Latino immigrants, the government took action in trying to fix this problem by deporting any illegal immigrants. During President Obama’s campaigning years he stated that he would try and help latino immigrants in trying to grant them more opportunities with work, education and citizenship.

What many people don’t realize is that Obama has made many promises he can’t keep such as helping with immigration reform, and deportation actually increased exponentially during his time in office.

During his campaigning years, President Obama claimed he would help with immigration reform. Let’s take a look to see if he accomplished anything over the years. One of president Obama’s main goals was for immigrant children to be able to find work and further their education with the Dream Act. The Dream Act was a great program made in the United States which grants citizenship to immigrants if they follow all requirements such as going to college. However it seems that during his presidential years there was only an increase in deportation for illegal immigrants. It is important that these issues are responded to because all young children in the United States deserve the right to live their life with a feeling of security rather than worrying that their parents could be deported at any time.

When looking at the statistics you will can see how illegal immigrant deportation increased during his presidency. As you can see on the chart from the Pew Research center, there has been an increase in the amount of immigrants being deported from the United states in the past years. In 2001 there was only about 189 thousand immigrants being deported where as in 2013 which was one of the years that Obama was president, there were about 348 thousand immigrants who were deported.

From looking at the chart you will also notice that many of the immigrants who are being deported are actually criminals, but a great majority of them are not. There is an understanding that our country would want illegal immigrants who are committing crime to be deported from our country, but to see that the great majority of Latinos being sent home are non-criminal immigrants is awful.

According to the Pew Research center, president Obama and the government have tried to exempt certain immigrants from being deported such as those who have children who are U.S natives. These children need their parents and should be allowed to continue their lives here in the United States with their parents, even if they are undocumented.

These numbers seem really high, but what you might find even crazier is that these are the numbers that came out even after over half a million immigrants were given permission to stay in the country due to the Deferred Action for Childhood arrivals.  If it wasn’t for this the number of immigrants being deported would be even higher.

It’s important that what candidates are claiming they will do for the Latino Community is done in order to secure their votes in the future.

 

 

 

 

For my blog I will be focusing on the issues Latino Immigrants face in our country accompanied with the way that politicians and other leaders are responding. Throughout the history of the U.S, equality for all and power to the people has been the basis for how we run our country.

Latinos are currently facing many adversities which is why it is important that they speak out and try to obtain a response on these points of issue from candidates and other political leaders.

Latinos have been promised to be given immigration rights for years, yet it seems that no political action from leaders has been taken. Latinos make up a huge part of our country with an average population of fifty one million living in America today and the amount of immigrants coming in is only increasing. A timeline from PBS states, “By the middle of the Century the Latino population is expected to reach 127 million.”As we can see population is expected to rise.

Immigration is an issue that Latinos have been struggling with for years. The chart above shows the amount of Latinos eligible to vote in comparison to the ones that are actually doing so. The results seen are due to the fact that politicians are not addressing immigration issues appropriately. During this 2016 campaign many candidates have addressed immigration issues, some claim they will help grant citizenship to immigrants under certain circumstances, while other candidates such as Donald Trump are against the idea of more people coming in at all. These are important topics of issue that Latino immigrants are constantly looking into during presidancy campaigns.

A timeline from PBS shows the history of Latino immigrants here in the United States and  we can see that it has always been a prevalent problem. This chart goes back for many years, we can see that in 1954 during the Supreme Court Case of Hernandez v. The State of Texas,  that there was already issues with lack of equality for Latinos. Latino immigration rights has always been a prevalent problem. We have leaders such as president Obama who claim to help the community yet not much a difference was seen during his presidency, which leads me to want to look into what he did some more, and what other candidates claim they want to do for Hispanics.

Democratic candidates such as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sander have had multiple debates when it come to discussing the issue of immigration and both are speaking of these issues an claiming they would like to give them more opportunities to gain citizenship and make a difference for the Latino Community. Whether or not these candidates are saying they want to help is not what matters. Their actions are what Latino immigrants are looking at when figuring out what politicians they want to support.

Eventually I would like to learn more about what former presidents have actually done to help Hispanic citizens. How are the candidates running this election year responding to these issues? Can immigration issues be resolved if more Latinos speak out and vote? How are other political leaders responding to their issues? Who will Latinos immigrants be supporting the most? And what candidate is currently responding to Latinos the most?