Immigration reform has taken new steps this year as President Obama has revived talks around creating effective immigration legislation that leads to the pathway for citizenship for the 11 million immigrants currently undocumented in the U.S.
**I recently changed two of my sources…my 2 new sources are: Huffington Post & Fox News, along with my original sources, Immigration Policy/Impact, The National Journal, and the New York Times
All sources emphasize a comprehensive immigration legislation plan that includes a pathway to citizenship by 1. Waiting in line for 8yrs (before obtaining permanent residency), 2. Paying a fine and back taxes 3. Passing background checks and 4. Learning English and the history of the United States. However, some sources argue a lot more for immigration reform from the standpoint of lawmakers. While the others arguments more center around an immigration reform that reflects the ideals and realities of the millions of undocumented immigrants.
The National Journal covers the debate around immigration reform in a broad sense. It looks into the core and the importance behind creating changes in the current immigration laws. One example of this is an article titled “Democrats Dilemma on High Skilled Immigration Reform.” This article argues for more H-1B visas given to foreign citizens, which will then increase the rate at which green cards are distributed. This will result in those educated in the U.S. given the opportunity to stay here while also attracting more immigrants. Lastly, both groups will ultimately be allowed to live and work legally.
Immigration Policy/Impact argues many of the same points as The National Journal except Immigration Policy/Impact discusses immigration in a more relaxed and laid back tone of voice, while still making brilliant points as to the massive importance of a new immigration legislation. An example of this is an article titled “Skilled Immigrants Come Through All Immigration Channels.” This article basically states that immigrants complement native born workers; and also reforms in immigration is needed to provide opportunities for immigrant entrepreneurship in order to spur innovation and job creation.
The New York Times and Huffington Post (HP) offer similar reports on the debates of immigration reform. Both sources share the decisions and plans from Washington as well as contributing blog posts from everyday people. However, NYT more discusses immigration reforms for all immigrants, while HP leans more towards the discussions of immigration and the effect on Latino’s. For eg: a NYT article titled “Illegal Immigrants Actually Hurt the U.S. Economy,” asks the question, if deporting the 11 million undocumented workers mean more jobs, lower taxes, and a stronger economy? An economist, Giovanni Peri, concludes that undocumented workers do not compete with skilled laborers, instead they complement them. Another difference between HP and NYT reporting is that, HP does not only speak about reforms and how the government is going about creating those reforms, but they also discuss the rights of immigrants, the daily lives of immigrants as well as their struggles and concerns that helps to influence aspects of the legislation. An example of this is the article titled “Congress Must Address Real Roots of Immigration,” that explains the main factors that drive many immigrants to illegally migrate to the U.S.
Fox News offers all the facts and information surrounding the new immigration legislation, but mostly, only from what lawmakers and the President decides. A great example of this is the article titled “House Reps Push Specific Immigration Changes, Say Reform is Not A Race,” in which several Reps focused more on improvements in the visa system for immigrants who graduate from American schools and dealing with immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. In addition, the article goes on to say that House Leader Cantor also supports the Senate plan for stronger enforcement of border security, employment verification, and a guest worker program as part of reform plans. Fox News is essentially making the point that, the House Reps are more cautious before passing any form of immigration legislation. The Reps want to carefully look into the current laws to understand what is going on.
Another example of Fox News bias reporting, from the point of view of only Washington, is an article titled “Reps Rip Obama Immigration Plan; Rubio Calls it Dead on Arrival.” This demonstrates that House Reps does not agree with and criticizes the White House plan on immigration reform that would allow immigrants to become permanent residents within 8yrs.
