Latino Immigration Websites

http://latinosunited.org/immigrationreform/

Th first website I have chosen can be described as being Pro Latino immigration in the United States of America. Latinos United for Immigration Reform is an unprecedented campaign led by Latino leaders and organisations from across the political spectrum, representing business, labour, community, faith and civil rights advocates coming together to urge the passage of immigration reform that is based on the following principles:

• Provides earned legalisation and a path to citizenship for hardworking undocumented immigrants and their families;

• Promotes economic growth by creating workable legal immigration channels aligned to the needs of our economy while upholding labour protections;

• Preserves family unity and reduces family backlogs;

• Restores the rule of law through smart enforcement that improves safety, prevents discrimination and respects due process.

One of their main arguments is that the detention and eventual deportation of illegal immigrants is not the answer to dealing with issues of immigration. The website provides useful information on the facts of immigration including the founders belief that the immigration system in American is broke. Each year, more than 350,000 people are incarcerated in detention centres, including people seeking asylum, legal residents, children, the mentally ill, and the chronically ill – sometimes in appalling conditions, often with no access to legal counsel.

Overall the website is filled with a lot useful information for those seeking to find out about whats currently going on in the immigration system. Although its not as sophisticated as other website i have seen, its sole focus on information rather than its appearance is rather interesting.

http://www.fairus.org/

The second website I have chosen in FAIR- the Federal For American Immigration Reform, on the websites "About Us" section it states that FAIR is 'a national, nonprofit, public-interest, membership organisation of concerned citizens who share a common belief that our nation's immigration policies must be reformed to serve the national interest.'

They argue that the United States is receiving more immigrants than at any time in its history. Immigration has become an important issue because it affects virtually every aspect of life in America. With more than a million legal and illegal immigrants settling in the United States each year, immigration has an impact on education, health care, government budgets, employment, the environment, crime and countless other areas of American life. It is evident to most Americans that large-scale immigration is not serving the needs and interests of the country.

In the list of immigration issues they list national security and societal issues. I found this interesting as they listed attacks similar to those that occurred in 9/11 as being a main issue, which i found extreme. They also argue that "hit-and-runs" are a result of immigration, which i found very odd because although statistically hit-and-runs are a result of gang violence, you cannot label immigration as the sole cause of this.

One interesting thing about the website I noticed is its use of the term 'illegal aliens', which to me seems like a discriminatory term and really negative. Although the website is sophisticated and states that many of its supporters are in high-ranking government positions, it is in a way in danger of creating negative stereotypes as many of the people pictured on the site as supporters are mainly middle-aged male Caucasians. However, it is undeniable that the site provides a wealth of statistics and information about the issues of immigration that are actually factual such as the rise of poverty in areas where the number of immigrants is high.