Sunday, May 2, 2010

American Government 4/30/10

In Class - 2nd Period: Library Research. 4th Period: work in class on your group project.

Homework - QOW (Part 1) due by 11:59 pm tonight. Works cited page (10 source minimum, MLA style) due on Monday.

NOTE - Meet in the library on Monday (both classes).

21 comments:

Fidencio Romero said...

I am going to responded to Kenton Goodburn about the illegal immigrants in Arizona. I say there is different ways to stop this, by starting from the borders because that is were Latino immigrants come from. Instead of just racial profiling people on the streets to see if they are legal or not. Most of the illegal immigrants that do come here want to work because they want to live the American dream. As you can see them at Home Depot waiting to see if someone will pick them up to work for them. Yea some might not pay taxes but they are willing to work in the Unites States and will pay taxes if they had to. Yea there is a lot of illegal immigrants in the Unites States, but not all of them are Latinos. There are many illegal European immigrants and Asians. Why do they only target Latinos? Yeah there is different ways to fix the immigration problem, you can start from the borders as I said before. Yet officers will still judge people by their color because the stereotype that most illegal immigrants are Latino. “What's going on is a deliberate distortion to remove this from a question of enforcement to one of ethnicity.” (Napolitano, 2010)

Work cited

-Napolitano, Janet. "CNN Political Ticker: All Politics, All the Time Blog Archive - Napolitano Calls Arizona Immigration Law a ‘cry of Frustration’ « - Blogs from CNN.com." CNN Political Ticker: All Politics, All the Time - Blogs from CNN.com. CNN.com, 02 May 2010. Web. 02 May 2010.

Fidencio Romero Per. 4

Anonymous said...

This is a response to Davion Brown and his view of the new law signed in Arizona. First off, I agree with him when it comes to where he stands on how:
"There is alot of illegal immigration causing problems not only in Arizona but the United States as a whole." and that "People are losing their jobs to these immigrants because they probably will work for less money to support themselves and family members."
Illegal immigration is becoming a massive problem for everyone and we definitely need to take hold of this situation. Seeing as it's already out of control, because it's such a testy topic for politicians to touch bases on, that most just rather not deal with it.
Now, I respectfully disagree with him in regards with to his statement:
"They are basically saying whenever you leave the house you have to take all this information every where you go.For example, if your going to a resturant to eat with your family and friends you must take all that paper work with you."
This is drastic over exaggeration, because I sincerely doubt cops are randomly going to go up to an american of Mexican heritage and harass him for his papers in a restaurant. That would cause major problems if the cop got it wrong. The media could get involved and he could be stripped of his badge for racial discrimination. So something like that is just not very plausible and even if that were the case. The police are professionals and I'm sure if they did ask someone for their papers, they would have some evidence pointing to said person being illegal. I mean they don't just go around making allegations at people, calling them drug dealers. So why would they do the same with this.

Sean C said...

I’ve read a few of my peer’s responses to the question of the week and there is one by Davion B. that I completely do not agree with. I mean there is a part I do agree with but that part I had stated in my own question of the week. This is basically saying this causes a lot of racial profiling which is the only part I do agree with. The other thing that this kid is saying is that as an alien you are supposed to carry all of your papers with you wherever you go. This is kind of not a good example because as Americas we are required to carry around identification in some form which is the same as “papers.” Our identification has to be on us no matter where we are, so as American legal citizens we are required to carry around this information no matter if it’s convenient to us or not. So I feel that immigrants no matter their origin should be treated exactly the same and illegal should be deported because they tried to cheat their way into our system. Letting illegal’s stay in our country loses our legal American’s job’s. its just not fair because at some point in time every citizens or their ancestors were immigrants and they legally came here so everyone else should be treated the same and not just given their freedom.


Sean Cavenee
Period: 4

*julie* said...

I totally disagree with ally's comment. Illegal immigrants know that America isn't a "hotel”. Immigrants do not cross the border as "criminals”. I hate how some people can be ignorant sometimes and just come to a conclusion about someone. I really feel uncomfortable that she would say that, because of illegal immigrants; Americans have to pay more for taxes. That is plain out dumb and inconsiderate. Immigrants aren’t the only ones who use the well fare or any other government funding to support their families. Americans do it to! So I think she should take that into consideration. If people could switch lives for one week and find out how hard it is to be discriminated on just because they weren’t born in the United States their opinions and view would change dramatically. Illegal immigrants are really great people. Yea some do come for the wrong reasons but every single immigrant who crosses the border crosses it for a reason. They come to look for a better life. Give their children the life that they see on their television screens. To help them go to school and find a job so they don’t have to depend on any one or anything. To me immigrants are not a burden and I am outraged that the government would want to kick them out of the country.

eliziel said...

im am going to respond to eop jay.
first of all im pretty freakin sure that ILLEGAL ALIENS HAVE RIGHTS yes they might not have all of the rights that citizens have but they have rights. so yeah they are ILLEGAL and they do have rights and just to make sure that you remember look back at your ancestors they were immigrants too so i dont know why you are saying all this crap. So if your ancestors were alive then you are kicking them out too. this new law is also a way for the united staes too see how bad they will be affected when they start getting all of the immigrants and see that not every body is down to do the jobs that immigrants do and and they will see how much they freakin need us and they will hopefully get rid of that law.

Kimberly Becerra said...

I am responding to Bridget’s response regarding the new law in Arizona.
Her response made a lot of sense she had reasoning stating “what will be the reason to stop a person?” Are they going to go based on “race, color or national origin?” This law is very racist in my opinion. The police are going to stop you even if you’re from here, it would not matter if you have a license, and if you look suspicious you will get stopped. Also she said “what are people going to have to carry with them while driving or walking on the streets? If they carry their citizenship or green card they might loose it. That’s nonsense, I totally agree with Bridget’s response about some immigrants that are in the U.S to work for a better living, not all immigrants are the same. They should only go for the bad ones and not all of them. They just need to enforce rules more. This law is meaningless I disagree with it. How can officers tell people are immigrants, someone will have to teach them, it’s impossible. Will they go based on a person’s race, color and origin? Some other actions should be taken in place.

Giggles82 said...

I am going to respond to Melissa Ortega's post.
My view before was that the new law in Arizona was totally wrong and it's not right to racially profile anybody. But after I read Melissa’s response, I’m definitely in the middle now. To profile someone, makes things a lot easier. However, it still is wrong. Also, how she said that it’s not fair to Americans that they get free health care, and also our taxes have to go up. If they want to come to our country do it the right way. I liked how she said that there are consequences for people who break the law, and this is there consequence for coming here illegally. It’s very true, and I have a new look on the issue now. I still believe that we can come up with a better law for illegal immigrants. Racial profiling is just not the right way to me.

Shari Schopen. Period 2

cory909 said...

I am going to respond to Davion.B about the new law in Arizona. I agree with a lot of what Davion said. I agree that this law is going to cause a lot of racial problems. And think that there are other ways of handling this situation. And the fact racial profiling is going on in the street is another thing that is going to cause problems. However I believe that if the officers have good evidence that someone is an immigrant then that would be understandable. There is something that I do disagree with though. They are saying that as an alien your suppose to carry your papers. And I do think it’s okay because as Americans we do as well. This would be our California identification card. If we have to carry one then it shouldn’t be that much of a difficulty for aliens either.

Corina.C
Per.4

alexm said...

I am going to respond to Kenton's response. I mostly agree with what he says in his post. Illegal immigration needs to be dealt with and there are not many ways to effectively do that. I agree with Kenton when he says that police wont harass people who just show their identification. It's not very hard to keep identification on you at all times. I don't think that there is a problem with requiring everybody to have identification proving that they are a citizen of the United States. America has let immigration become such a big problem, so there is no easy way to fix it that wont seem to be racist.

arisbel said...

Im going to respond to julie's comment because I do agree that just because they are mexican everybody does think that they are lazy.I say that there is different ways to stop this, by making people see that mexicans are just much as good as any other race.They all think that they are criminals but there not.I say its true what julie says because illegal immigrants do cross the border for a good reason to give there children a life they never got some education.illegal immigrants have the right just as much as the americans do.
_Arisbel Miranda_
per 4

bRiDgEt said...

I’m responding back to Sean Cavenee about the law that just passed in Arizona. Which I totally disagree with Sean. First of all, what do you mean by them? We are all people and we have human rights, even if “them” are not citizens of this country. This country is made of immigrants, a typical American is not native from this country neither. Their ancestors immigrated from Europe, so if u say “them” not to be allowed here then no one should be here only the Native Americans. Because they are the true citizens of this country. "You cannot tell if a person walking on a sidewalk is undocumented or not ... (so) this is a mandate for racial profiling," (Alvarado,2010). So your admitting that this law is demonstrating racial profiling. Which by the way racial profiling is illegal to do. So why make it a law, when its breaking another one. Also “Eop Jay” I also disagree with you. Yes America is not a hotel but it is a melting pot like they say. Today we present America as one of the greatest nations, because we are made of different ethnicities. We are all humans and no one deserves to be treated bad. Another thing that I want to clear up is , ALL human beings have rights, even if they are illegal . Yes they might not have the same privileges as a US citizen, but they have rights. There are plenty of other things that we can do to stop illegal immigration and we can start at border of Arizona. How do illegal immigrants drag families down? Because I’m pretty sure that the ones that get more support from the government are the ones that are US citizens, because they take advantage of welfare and other benefits. I just got to say not all illegal immigrants come here to be criminals or do bad stuff. "I believe handcuffs are a wonderful tool when they're on the right people," (Pearce,2010). So why can we just go against people that are actually criminals and hurting our country. Because not every illegal immigrant are the same they all come here for different reasons. Just like most of them come to America to search for the American dream. Where their children can have a future that their parents never had and be successful in life.


Work Cited
-Schwartz, David, Tim Gaynor, and John John O'Callaghan. "Arizona Passes Tough Illegal Immigration Law| Reuters." Business & Financial News, Breaking US & International News | Reuters.com. CNN.com, 19 Apr. 2010. Web. 04 May 2010.

-Bridget Fuentes
Period 2 :)

LizzieG4 said...

I agree with what Amy On said about the new law in Arizona. I agree that people are being discriminated against and they are taking it too far. I mean what if an American citizen gets pulled over and not even a license is good enough anymore? People are just taking it too far, and I am sure many people are getting offended. I don’t think its right to just randomly ask someone that looks like they were born in a different country for their papers. I mean let’s say they break the law somehow and the police have to get involved then its okay for them to see some sort of verification that they are allowed to be in this country but not just because someone assumes it. I understand that there is an illegal immigration issue but i just dont suppot this way to solving it. There has to be an better way to solving this issue, without offending American citizens.

Missa.. said...

I’m going to respond to Fidencio Romero post. When I first heard about the law that passed in Arizona I thought it was absurd. But then I thought about it a lot. I mean honestly we have so many illegal aliens in this country. This bill will help us lower our taxes. We should not be paying more for their health care. It really isn’t fair. If they want to be part of this country they should get their citizenship or visa and pay their taxes too. But when I read fiedencios comment I thought about it really hard. The United States is made up of so many different cultures and races. We are one of the most mixed country’s. So I came to a final conclusion where I stand with this law. I’m in the middle right know because some immigrants do pay their taxes. Some come to the United States for a better life and a better future. Others just sell drugs and do really bad things, those I believe are the ones that should be sent back and punished for their actions not the good illegal’s. Not the ones that actually follow the rules and do what they are suppose to do. So many people have suffered to live and get a better life and they come to the United states to have a better one but is this really fair? Having the police racially profile them? Is it fair? I still believe that if you come to this country you should do it the right way and get your citizenship not just do it illegally. There are rules to everything you do but when you don’t follow the rules there will always be consequences.This law is a consequence of their actions.
Melissa Ortega
Period 4

gabby. said...

I think that everyones response was really logical. One particular respond stood out to me though, Ally's response. I dont completely disagree with her in a sense that I'm completely aware that immigrants do not pay their taxes and i don't agree with that. My thing with her response was the way some of her sentences are worded. "If it walks like a ducks, quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck". What kind of comparison is that? a duck? last time I checked immigrants are humans as well. I try not to take what some people say personal, but really? I have family who are immigrants and they are trying to become residents of this country, but the government does not make this process easy at all. All I can think of is what if this creates some sort of domino effect? and all of the sudden the California governor decides to jump on the same train? what the heck is going to happen to my family? I really think that immigrants are an easy target in this country, it's so easy to blame an immigrant for everything right?. Just because a person comes to this country for a better life doesn't automatically mean they're criminals. I honestly believe that if immigrants were'nt here, things wouldn't be the way they are! and I dont mean mean that in a way that I think this place would be better. I really think people should choose their words wisely, unless you want to sound completely like an ignorant. This of course, is just a matter of opinion.

Gabby Cervantes
period.2

aLeX said...

First off!!!!!!! I’d like to respond to Kenton’s post. Immigration is not as huge of a problem as the world makes it out to be. So they say they are the cause of the economy doing bad, excuse me there are many factors that lead up to that. In fact, illegal immigrants help contribute to our economy. I’m sorry but I have to disagree with you completely! Before you go and open your big mouth I would truly advice you to do some research to back your “arguments” up. So you say illegal immigrants are a problem because they don’t pay taxes and low ball every business? Yeah that’s pretty stupid of you to say seeing as about 60% of illegal immigrants are paid “on the books,” which incase you didn’t know means they work using false Social Security numbers. This means that they also have income tax payroll taxes withheld from every paycheck. Another factor I’m gladly going to add is that they all pay sales taxes and through rent, property taxes. Not only that but you say that they affect our economy and low ball their way into things? Well for your information all these hard working people pay taxes of some sort which help our economy and they don’t collect any social security when it’s their time to retire. The reason for this is because they don’t have that right, yet they still pay taxes that contribute to the social security that “we all” are going to collect when we retire because that is “our right.” And once again boy do you need to do research, when you get pulled over or stopped because you’re suspected to have done something because they base it on your race its called racism. You’re stereotyping them simply because of the way they look! SO WHAT IF THEY ARE MEXICAN IT DOESN’T MEAN THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO STOP THEM BECAUSE “MOST” ILLEGALS ARE MEXICAN! That argument is just beyond retarded, because if that’s not racist in your eyes wow I don’t know what is then. And I couldn’t help but laugh and your comment about Europeans, of course they would get mad and offended. The only reason they seem okay with the immigrating law right now is because they know it isn’t targeted towards them so they have nothing to worry about. So when you say it doesn’t depend what race you are damn are you wrong, it’s obviously targeted to the minority groups. One last thing, when the hell do you see an illegal Mexican laying in a corner asking for money. Why get rid of the hardworking people that obviously circulate the money into our economy, I mean they have to buy stuff to survive, so the real burden here are the lazy people, I don’t see how in the world the immigrants are a problem. Get it through your head they simply want to get the opportunity to make a living, an opportunity that many legal residents unfortunately don’t take advantage of. So think about this, “Illegal immigration is likely to be a crime that delivers net economic benefits to its average “victim,” even in tax revenue. Moral outrage is understandable when laws are not enforced, but let us not confuse hypocrisy with an economic burden” (Wasow).
Citation:
Wasow, Bernard. "Illegal Immigrants, Our Low-Income Taxpayers." News and Commentary. The Century Foundation, 26 May 2007. Web. 3 May 2010.

Alex Lopez
Per. 4!!!

LyDia:) said...

I disagree with Kenton. How is immigration the cause of our down falling economy? Immigrants help stimulate our economy. Sure in certain circumstances there willing to take lower pay and get paid under the table but in the long run they do pay taxes. They pay for it every time they buy something. You might think its ok that this new law specifically targets Hispanics but that’s simply immoral. If you don’t have to worry about carrying documentation around in fear of being asked for citizenship why should anyone else have to? This nation would not prosper without the help of immigrants and this law should not be passed in Arizona or anywhere else.

Lydia Jones
period 4 :)

sues said...

Anna Gonzalez said exactly what I said but way better. I agree with everyone that says immigration is a problem, though without it, I wouldn’t be here. Maybe I’m wrong (and it was a really long time ago)but didn’t America kind of make it easier for immigrants to become citizens at Ellis island. Are we too crowded now? Or do we just not want to have to deal with it? Should we even have to deal with this? I say yes. And no America isn’t a hotel, and yea our families are “suffering”. But are we REALLY feeling it that bad? I’m pretty sure all of us in the class have a roof over our heads and a meal everyday , if not three. We’re not the ones fleeing to another country for a better life, because MOST of us are doing alright. Yet here we are high and mighty, still complaining. I understand not all of us are doing alright of course, but think about why a person would go through so much just to come to our country. They must not be doing to well either. I think there should be more effort on setting up a MORE secure border, were immigrants could be put on the path of citizenship and let into the country. If they fail to keep up with the effort while in the country, they should be removed, without question, so at least we gave them a fair chance. This won’t go away, America has to deal with it. This new law, in my opinion, isn’t the way.

Anonymous said...

To respond to the remarks of my classmates Lydia Jones and Alex Lopez. This new law specifically targets illegal immigrants not Mexicans. There is nothing racist about that, get over it. The only people that should have something to fear are the illegal immigrants. Maybe tops 60 % illegals might pay income tax through a fake SSN, but that still doesn't make them legal enough to live here. None of us will get a chance to collect our social security we pay into when we retire anyways so they aren't missing out. The other 40% who get payed under the table, who are the workers who are willing to work for under minimum wage, believe it or not it isn't stimulating the economy. It's just making it worse. Unemployment is what starts a recession, you see there aren't enough jobs to go around. THE REASON WHY THE U.S.A HAS THIS THING CALLED A IMMIGRATION PROGRESS. IS SO IT CAN LET A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF IMMIGRANTS IN EACH YEAR DEPENDING ON CATEGORY/OCCUPATION AND RACE. SO WHAT HAS ACTUALLY TAKEN PLACE DOESN'T. Living in the U.S and just paying sales tax on everyday good. Doesn't make up for what the government actually spends in return on them. I will admit that immigration isn't the only cause for our rescission, but it's ridiculous to say that illegal immigration is at all helping us get out of it.

kenton goodburn p4

Anonymous said...

I disagree wtih Ally's comment. Many Illegal immigrants come to America cause most of the other continents in the world are completely screwed when it comes to the economy, job hunting, and overall government policy. While those who attempt to cross the border as drug smugglers shouldnt be compared to the same folks who cross for a better life. You cant exactly compare a woman who dies pregnant in the desert while attempting to cross to a couple of smugglers who come over here to ruin the lifes of others. America has been highly xenophobic throughout the centuries and its been even worse than todays time but i just dont think its fair for an american to scapegoat all the problems wrong with the government today on an immigrant attempting to cross. These people pay taxes too you know, oh sure they'll smooch off the government like the seniors and the americans who cant get off their asses and rely on welfare to see them through the day when they could just be out in the fields picking strawberries alongside the mexicans...but that's demeaning to a what,300 year old country that has literally no culture whatsoever compared to places like Japan, India, or Britain eh? Hell who knew that we were more xenophobic than japan, that's a surprise. Oh sure i could say that switching lifes with an illegal for a week could probably show you how screwed the people are that come here. sadly i know that wouldnt work. Fox news would have a better chance of convincining you people than any foreigner would...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY7YlvObNko

Brian Navarro

ramon castaneda said...

i am responding to Fidencio Romero. I agree that this new law will just be looked at as racial profiling. No one should be given the right to pull people over by suspicion of being illegal. People will ask what they did wrong and the cop will have to lie. Then who ever got pulled over will know that cop is just racially pulling them over to see if they are illegal. Not all immigrants are bad. They come over the border to find a new better life. They should only send the bad immigrants back to Mexico because they are the ones causing the problems here. They should not even just be sent there free they should be sent to prison because it is still not fair to the innocent people that are still in Mexico.

Ramon Castaneda per.4

Kaitlyn Morales said...

I chose to respond to Sean Cavenee in government period 4. He believed that this law is a good idea and that it is a step in the right direction. I understand his point of view but it is a bit harsh. Yes we need reform, there is no question about that; the only people living in this country should be legal American citizens. It is simply unjust for people to come over to America legally and then have selfish people who are simply too lazy to take the time to become citizens come to this country and take benefits from Americans. The truth of the matter is that everyone in America is an immigrant, but this law is hurting those Americans of Mexican heritage who came here legally. It is unjust to treat them like illegal immigrants. I don’t know what can be done but I do not think that we should judge someone based on their appearance and harass them accordingly. This should not be incorporated in any more states and should be removed from Arizona. Reform is needed but this is not the answer.

Kaitlyn Morales period 4