Run, Jump, Swim

Immigration has played a huge role in the United States for many years. The United States has become a melting pot country for its wide range of individuals coming from different cultures, races, ethnicities, etc. Although these individuals have come and spread their ways of living in one given country, recently it has been seen in a completely new light. What was once a country of “freedom and opportunities,” has taken a shift to “freedom and opportunities for those with papers.”

            In an article we read for class about Latino immigration experience, it touched on the Mexican labor here in the United States and the discrimination and injustice Mexicans receive. Many immigrants, whether they’re Mexican or not, come to the United States to seek better opportunities and provide any way they can for their families. They are paid ridiculously low amounts of money for work they deserve more for. They fill shoes other individuals are not willing to fill, yet they are constantly talked down to. Ask yourself where the United States would be if immigrants were not around. I am sure half the industries that are around would not be here or would not be as successful without the work immigrants put in.

            Also in class, we viewed a movie, Lost in Detention, which revolved around an agency known as ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Through ICE, they developed secured communities which is set up to remove illegal aliens, arrest and put them into jail, and overall take these “criminals” off the streets. Since Obama has been president, the number of immigrants detained and deported has drastically increased despite his efforts for immigration reform. The video opened my eyes to how these detentions are and how poorly men and women especially, are treated. One of the most unsettling things t hear was how the guards did not deny the notion of sexual assault/trading things for sexual favors. An agency that is supposed to maintain society is only doing damage to these individuals and breaking families apart.

            Immigration has caused much controversy over the past years and continues to remain a problem to those here in the United States. Despite what immigrants bring to the country, people still believe that they are no good here and should be removed from the country. Having friends and knowing families who are immigrants, it is hard to see the things they face because of their status, whether they are dealing with work, their education, publicly, they go through things many of us would not even understand. To be denied the opportunity to work or the right to an education, is unbelievable. The change begins with us, and we need to start NOW.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/08/immigration-ice_n_5951970.html?utm_hp_ref=immigration-reform

https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/immigration